New Heights

In Tuscany's hill towns

By Mark Smith

July 21^st, 2024

Continuing our Italy adventure

After saying farewell to Emily in Florence, Nancy and I took the train 90 minutes south to Chiusi, rented a car and drove to our new base in Macciano - a small town in the heart of Tuscany.

We loved our casita - situated high above a green valley, with expansive views. A friendly cat made sure that the local critters didn't bother us.

Our Airbnb hosts Alistair and Maria live on the property in a separate home built during the Italian Renaissance - 500 years ago.

Exploring Tuscany

During our four days here, we visited the small hill towns of Montepulciano and Orvieto - and also Cetona, which turned out to be TOO small for us. More about that in a minute.

Montepulciano

Wine lovers may know the name Montepulciano from the area's famous vintages. We found the town itself to be just as enjoyable.

We parked at the base of the town and walked through narrow streets that wound upward, past homes, shops and restaurants. And of course, churches.

And at the top? A nice piazza and tower, more restaurants, another church - and oh yes, a Museum of Torture. Maybe it's there to keep the American tourists in line :-)

Cetona - a short story. Part 1

Cetona ("Cheh-TOE-na") is a lovely little village. But unless you live there and own a tiny vehicle, it is nearly impossible to navigate.

Heading northeast from Macciano, we drove uphill (a one-way street) to Cetona's town square, to have lunch. Unfortunately, parking was limited to 30 minutes, so we began searching the neighborhood for a space - with Google Maps confidently urging us forward.

However, within literally 60 seconds the streets got progressively narrower, with just inches between us and walls and parked cars, and moments later we found ourselves headed steeply downhill at a cockeyed angle - like a one-way street for mountain goats.

We jerked to a full, stymied stop and considered our limited options.

Going forward was out of the question, for fear of becoming a permanent part of Cetona's history. And the street was so steep and narrow we couldn't properly back up without bashing into something, or someone.

We were in limbo, on an empty stomach.

Cetona - Part 2

Just then a few folks emerged from their homes to see what was going on.

One Good Samaritan came over to help, and based purely on his urgent STOP! and GO! hand signals - and the strict laws of physical science - I began the process of turning around, four inches at a time.

The reactions of the other Cetonans ranged from mild bemusement to a sullen snit (no doubt at having been pulled away from his daily soap operas, when he was asked to move his car three feet). Nearby, an old dog yawned and went back inside.

At first, purposely getting sideways on this "road" seemed like a terrible idea but eventually, after a 33-point-turn, this strategy got us pointed back toward the land of the living.

Our luck had turned. We followed our new Italian friend in his teeny vehicle back down to the town square, where he introduced us to a very nice local woman who:

spoke excellent English
told us to ignore the 30-minute parking signs (!)
recommended a restaurant (literally 50 feet away) for lunch - which was excellent; and
gave us simple instructions on how to exit the town

For some reason, this is the only photo we have from this memorable visit :-)

Orvieto

A bit calmer was our visit to Orvieto, 30 minutes south on the autostrada.

It was strikingly beautiful, even exceeding our now sky-high expectations for what a Tuscan hilltop town could be like.

Our time in the Tuscan countryside was ideal - a (mostly!) relaxing break after busy visits to Venice and Florence, and the perfect respite before reaching our next destination two hours to the south: Rome.