On our drive back to Podenzano from Napoli, Elena and Enzo decided to take me to two towns in Tuscany; Montalcino and Siena. Montalcino is famous for their wine, particularly for their Brunello. Being a teetotaler myself, I had never heard of Brunello, but I looked forward to Elena and Enzo trying the degustazione (or tasting) of 3 varieties of this wine. The town of Montalcino was ancient, small, and pretty. But the first thing we noticed was that we were surrounded by tourists. From every direction we heard American voices and tour groups.
Some of the tour groups were on bicycles. We watched as frightened cyclists rolled down the slippery wet pavement gripping their brakes tightly. It occurred to me that this was the first time I had been in a touristy place since I’d arrived. We went to a nice restaurant and had dinner and the wine tasting, surrounded again by American tourists. The Brunello wines that Elena and Enzo sampled each smelled very different. But the two I liked the smell of were the two they purchased. The nose knows, after all.

Our next stop was Siena, a famous town all over the world for their twice annual Palio, or horse race. There is one horse from every neighborhood in the city, and the fantino (jockey) must ride his horse bareback. If he falls off, it doesn’t matter; if his horse comes in first, his neighborhood still wins. As we stood in the square, someone said 10,000 people stand there during the race. I was glad I was there on a rainy day in October.
The two paintings on this page were done in my travel journal.