Bea, Tom, Peter and I drove to Castiglon Fiorentino, a hill town that, on the map, looked fairly close. However, as we continue driving through Italy, we are reminded more and more of the lack of good road signage (or is it our lack of good eyesight?). One sees at a roundabout a sign pointing in a certain direction for a particular town and at the next roundabout, which could come within the next mile or even less, no sign for that town! Winnie, we need you! It's really too bad that we didn't get the Magellan card for Italy!
In any case, we eventually found Castiglon Fiorentino, described by our tour guide Andrea Pastorelli as "a medieval rock on the top of a mountain....beautiful fort and old town." How true! We were surprised by the lack of tourists and determined that it is definitely a working, living town perhaps not yet truly "discovered" like lovely Cortona. The inhabitants of Castiglon whom we observed were mostly very well dressed women and children. Were the husbands/fathers professionals working in Arezzo or Siena?
Like every excursion day, our first stop was an outdoor cafe on the main drag for cappuccino. We observed signs and flags all over town and finally realized that a Palio was scheduled for this coming Sunday. We leave Tuscany on Saturday!! Unlike Siena with 16 boroughs, Castiglon has only 3, so this Palio is smaller but maybe just as exciting as the one in Siena. Just outside the wall of the old town, we watched at a large parking lot as town workers were enclosing the course with wooden walls and laying the course with a thick layer of dirt. Should be a lively day and we're sorry to miss it.
After our daily cappuccino, we continued our stroll and then bumped into some Americans--Liz, Ed, John, Mim and Tony!!! We chatted a bit and made plans to meet for lunch before leaving Castiglon. Our small group continued to stroll around town, shopping, observing, taking photos and enjoying the day!
Peter was still searching for "perfect pizzas" so we let him decide where to eat. He had seen and smelled a place, Pizzeria Roggi, just as we'd entered town so we went back there for lunch and sat outside overlooking the Duomo and the verdant Tuscan countryside. Most of us had pizza and it was delicious...maybe a 19 in the CASTE rating? Peter did observe that the pie itself had no cornice or edge around it! Liz and I scooted down a couple of alleys to see if the church was open only to discover a sign "permanente chiusi," permanently closed; it did look like some construction was happening.
The drive back to Foiano was easier and shorter and we saw many signs pointing us in the right direction. The route went through beautiful countryside where we observed abandoned villas in ruins. Before returning to the villa, we made a couple of stops for kitty provisions. Back at the villa, preparations were already underway for dinner. Some relaxed at the pool, some relaxed in their room and some played cards.
Meanwhile, Jan, Lou, Masa and Drew returned from their day in Siena and Gary and Carol from their day in Orvieto. Peter and Bill also went on a successful late afternoon scouting mission to find Scrofiano and Villa Bea which we had rented for a week in 1997.
Dinner with Team 3 in charge began with a delicious Tuscan platter of cheese, cured meats, cheeses and olives. At the al fresco table again we found our places (thanks, Liz, for our new set of place cards) and enjoyed Fuffi's spaghetti and meatballs and salad. After dinner we had a surprise celebration for Gary's imminent birthday. 16 of us participated in "This is Your Life, Gary!" The first group did a skit about Gary's neck; the second group told stories about Gary's high school and college escapades; the third group sang a song about Gary's annual ski trip with "the boys" and his insistence on bringing his own ski boots out West; the last group, depicting Gary's "adulthood ??" danced to "Mustang Sally" with Drew in costume as Gary (thanks, Masa, for providing the "costume!" The evening ended with birthday cake and goodbyes for Carol, Gary, Masa and Drew who were leaving very early the next morning for Rome. The O'Connells are flying home but some of us will meet Drew and Masa in Rome on Saturday.
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