Daytrip to Montepulciano & Pienza

This Friday, blessed by the first truly hot and sunny day of the year, we headed off on the trail of famous movie-settings as we went first to Montepulciano, the setting for the hit vampire flick, New Moon, and then to Pienza where some scenes from the 1996 epic, The English Patient were filmed.  In Montepulciano, our guides showed us some of the key sites used in the New Moon movie and told us about some of the biazzare souvenirs the fans took home with them, including some of Robert Pattinson's ashtrays stolen from his hotel!

However, there's more to this beautiful hill-top town than its use as a movie location and the guides also took us inside the Cathedral to show us Taddeo di Bartolo's golden triptych hidden inside its rather unimposing exterior.  And, of course, no trip to Montepulciano would be complete without tasting some of its famous Vino Nobile red wine so our guides took us to an historic wine cellar where traditional wine-production methods are still employed.







After a leisurely lunchbreak spent enjoying some traditional Tuscan culinary delights and admiring the breathtaking views of the rolling Tuscan countryside, we all got back on the bus and headed to the tiny hilltop town of Pienza where we took in even more breathtaking views and sampled even more culinary delights, especially the local pecorino cheese.