Sky Blue Val d'Orcia, Saturday, 9/17/22
Hill Towns & Etruscan Ruins
Pienza
After a lovely breakfast and drive, our group is about to step back into time. Our destination: an Etruscan cave on the edge of the hill town of Pienza.
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As is usual now, Rudy finds the perfect parking spot just outside of town and drops us off. We climb the hill (getting our steps in to be sure) and meet our guide. After a brief explanation of where we're going, we take off to the edge of town, stopping when we reach a gate. Once through, the sky begins to darken. We continue on down the path and it begins to rain. It's not a downpour exactly, but it's enough to add a bit of moody mystery to our tour of the Etruscan cave dead ahead.
Pienza Personal Time
While Pienza is small, it's big on fabulous views in every direction. Being compact means it's almost impossible to get lost which makes it the perfect town for a little "me" time.
After we tour the ruins, we have an hour or so of free time to do as we wish. Since there is not enough time to do what we both want to do, Rita & I split up (and follow our respective bliss). I spend my hour tracing out the charming little alleys that make up Pienza. Rita checks out the cute shops. Once we come back together, we have a blast comparing notes on our individual private Pienza experience.
Sky Blue Val d'Orcia, Saturday, 9/17/22
Family Farm Tour
Most Moving Tour Moment:
During our family farm tour, the grandson of the farm's patriarch shared a personal story that was handed down to him by his grandfather (grandfather was under the weather but later waved to us from his home's second story window). What follows is one of my most memorable and moving tour moments.
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As was the case in Pienza, it rains during our farm tour. This time it is no light drizzle, it is a torrential rainstorm accompanied by thunder and lighting, and a violent wind that has everyone running for cover in a nearby barn. As the rain hammers the metal roof, our guide, a proud grandson, begins.
The Italian people were more or less enslaved by the Nazi during WWII with little in the way of weaponry to fight back. Finally the day came when the United States joined the fight. Still, for a fairly long period, Italy was on her own. So when news came that US soldiers were arriving on Italian shores, the word excitedly spread from one Italian citizen to another and another with the words: “Gli americani stanno arrivando”, roughly translated it means, the “Americans are coming!”
The American's are Coming!" The exclamation is his (the grandson) not mine. The story is told with such emotion (and relief and gratitude) that it's a momentary conduit to the past. I can almost feel what the Italian people felt back then.
I want to take this story home and tell it to everyone I know, but there is no way I can transfer the feelings I experienced in the barn. The power of the story comes from experiencing the personal perspective and different worldview from the people who lived it. Travel through the backdoor. I think this is exactly what Rick Steves had in mind. (This visit made the American Cemetery visit more poignant, too).
After the rain stops, we pop inside the adjacent farmhouse to enjoy a taste of the family wine and olive oil (really, we are served what amounts to a lovely lunch).
Left. Our farm guide. If he looks familiar it's because he was also present during yesterday's winery tour and lunch.
