Pienza, San Quirico, Montechiello

Today we travel in a circle, leaving Montepulciano with the hills still shrouded in early mist, to make our way to Pienza. Pienza pays homage to local-boy-turned Pope, Pius II, who in 1458 began to rebuild the city in his honour. Pius only got as far as the piazza before the papal coffers ran out, building a magnificent church on one side, a palace for himself, a palace for the bishop, and a palace for the government. Pius died in 1464, and Pienza left the church as it was and largely as it appears today. Built right on top of a cliff edge, the church is beginning to show subsidence as you can see large cracks in the side walls, and through the altar floor, where it threatens to slide off the edge.

Pienza showcases pecorino cheese, with dozens of small enotecas and delicatessens offering fresh, semi-aged and aged varieties. Shelves are absolutely stacked with whole cheeses, cheeses wrapped in vine leaves, cheeses infused with truffles. We buy some aged, and semi-aged cheese to have later with wine.

Driving on from Pienza, we reach San Quirico d'Orcia by midday - an immaculate honey-toned hill town with two bleached 13th C churches. San Quirico is absolately bursting with greenery, vines winding in and around doorways, enormous terracotta pots of perennials and herbs. We stop by a medieval church front to admire two stone lions supporting the entrance doors; they're worn almost smooth over time and have a fantastic patina of age.

On to Montechiello, high up on the oak woods around southern Tuscany. Montechiello is still at lunch, and we are flagging after climbing yet another steep slope to reach the upper town. We're back in Montepulciano by mid-afternoon just before the thunderstorm begins. The rain is so heavy that our view of the valley below is completely obscured. Thunder rumbles around the bowl of the valley and lightning flashes very close. As I write this, the storm is over, the stars are out again and the street below us is shining from the rain.