Cultural Trip: Sorano and Montalcino (Part 2)

I know, I know. It really shouldn’t take me a week just to upload the second part of a two-part post. I never said I was perfect, but, if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been having some (ongoing) internet problems here.

It’s partly a blessing because it forces me to actually leave my comfortable homestay and go and out and, you know, interact with real live people.

But I recognize the adverse effects on the Blog and I apologize.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The second day of our trip, we visited an impressive fortress in Sorano, including, you guessed it, underneath the structure itself.

Yes, there were spiders. No, I don’t want to talk about it.

This particular fortress has been sold off in parts because, understandably, its a tad expensive to upkeep. So now partially it’s a tourist attraction as an incredible structure, partially it’s a museum, and partially it’s a hotel.

All of which are just Incredible

Talk about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

When this is your first view of a place, you just know that it’s going to be gorgeous

Afterwards, we took a bus ride to Montalcino where, after lunch, my Presence of the Past professor took us on a miniature tour of the gorgeous little city.

A view from Montalcino: According to my professor, on a clear day you can see the sea in one direction and Siena in another.

The views alone made Montalcino worth the visit. Hearing the history of its relationship with Siena was just a plus.

I guess I need to explain that, unlike traditional field trips, when I’m in Italy I actually enjoy the learning part of a field trip. Surrounded, as I’ve mentioned, with so much visible history inspires a sense of academia. You want to learn because you want to understand why everything around you exists.

After Montalcino, we visited the nearby Abbey of Sant’Antimo.

This abbey had a roof.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the church, but it was a gorgeous. We walked around the inside, making the same procession pilgrims on their way to Rome would.

It makes you realize that you are quite literally standing where pilgrims stood and that everything you see could be seen hundreds of years before.

That can get a bit overwhelming.

Afterwards, we went to a wine tasting to de-whelm ourselves and rode home during the Tuscan sunset.

Part of me still doesn’t believe that I actually took this picture.

I’ve never been happier to see Siena. Visiting Venice didn’t feel as exhausting as the two days of this cultural trip and, as you well know, I’m always happy to come back to the city that feels like home.