Don't Touch the Animals! Travel with the Baysides: Italy

Highlights from Italy ...

We left France and made our first stop in Italy in Montecatini Terme, known for its thermal baths. We had a relaxing two days, checked out the hotel's grotto, a sauna-like place in an underground cave. Nice, but neither of us really felt like sweating that day, so we headed out to do other exploring. We had a delicious lunch on one of the main pedestrian streets and took the funiculare up to Montecatini Alto. The "Alto" was very, very alto! The hill grade went from 2% to 32% as we neared the top and the view was extraordinary.

On board the funiculare!

After getting uphill on the funiculare, we had wine on the main square in Montecatini Alto.
As a side note: A Prosecco/Aperol spritz is also quite nice. (Thanks, Milli!)

The historic Montecatini Alto - a lot of uphill walking!

600-year-old stairs in one of the defense towers (now the clock tower)

Next we headed to Quirico d'Orcia where, on our first day, Richard scoped out his new car.

In Quirico, we stayed just inside the in the old town gate in a B&B in a place that dated back to the fourteenth century. We walked around the old town in the afternoon. In the evenings, things really emptied out. On one of our days, we visited the sculpted gardens created by Diomede Leoni in the late 1500s, located just off the main piazza. Leoni designed the gardens as part of the restoration of the old town after the town wall was destroyed in the war between Siena and Florence.

The sculpted gardens

Our street in Quirico d'Orcia

The main piazza in the evening

One afternoon we enjoyed just sitting out in front of our B&B with a glass of wine.

I loved the arch and glass-panel doors of the entry

While we were in the area, we also visited the Sante Marie di Vignoni winery for a tasting. What a beautiful place to sit and relax! Our drive through the countryside was filled with amazing views of hills, valleys, vineyards, and olive trees. After wine tasting, we tried for Bagno Vignoni, which was nearby, thinking the Roman baths would be interesting to see, but the site didn't seem compelling once we got there. Instead, we headed to Monticchiello, another stunning hill town not far off. Note to self: Monticchiello would be another wonderful place to stay for a couple of nights. There's also a community theatre that puts on performances in August, and an adjacent restaurant that supports the theatre.