Montepulciano, Tuscany

Want to see a great view? Head to the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano.



You may have heard of Montepulciano's famous wines. The grapes are grown in the vineyards around the area. Maybe that's one in the view below.



The town is made up of neighborhoods called contrade, each of which is represented by its own flag.



You know when you've crossed into a different contrada when you notice the change in flags.



The contrade compete each year in a bizarre uphill wine barrel-rolling contest called the Bravìo delle Botti. Afterwards there is a procession in 13th-century dress. We weren't there on race day, though. We enjoyed the sight of the flags anyway.

Pienza, Tuscany

Haven't had the chance to blog for a while. Will try to post photos taken over this past stretch of time.

Pienza is a picturesque town in Tuscany. We went there on a day trip this summer with friends. Here's a corner of the main piazza.



Like many medieval and renaissance-era towns, it has a surrounding wall. This wall has a pleasant walkway alongside.


Another viewpoint of the wall:



This couple seems to be enjoying the view.