No trip to Tuscany is complete without seeing Siena, Florence’s historical rival According to legend, the city was founded by Senius and Aschius, the sons of Remus and nephews of Romulus, boys saved from the Tiber river by a she-wolf, who were the main characters of Rome’s foundation myth. Senius … [Read more...]
Montepulciano – Famous for its Vino Nobile
Montepulciano - A Hill Town in Tuscany that's Famous for its Vino Nobile: One of the pleasures of travelling in Tuscany is visiting its many charming medieval hill towns, Montepulciano being one of them. Set on a ridge of about 605 metres above sea level, Montepulciano is one of the of the … [Read more...]
Siena – Famous for its Medieval Heritage and the Palio
Siena - Home of the Palio and Panforte Capital of Italy: At the heart of central Tuscany lies Siena, a hill town that is famous the world over for its Palio and the Siena cake or panforte. Siena was built on three ridges which converge into the famous scallop-shaped central square, the Piazza … [Read more...]
Siena is the Panforte Capital of Italy
Enjoying Panforte in Siena - the Panforte Capital of Italy: For our visit of Siena, one of the things on my to-do list was to buy some Panforte from the city where this cake originated. Siena panforte is a dense fruit cake with candied fruits and nuts. But what makes it different from other fruit … [Read more...]
Via Francigena – Siena and Saint Catherine
We had happened to be in Siena on the day of the Palio, a fiercely competitive horserace. After visiting Il Campo where preparations were being made for the race later in the day, we found ourselves back at the piazza in front of the Duomo where the procession of the Contrades, representatives of … [Read more...]
Tour Routes in Italy
Suggested Tour Routes to make the best of your holiday in Italy A Suggested Route around Italy A comprehensive tour of Italy would take a long time, and if limited to the usually visited sights would omit many interesting experiences. However, here is my offering, and I'd say this was a 24 day … [Read more...]