Vic gives the manager of L’Ippocastano a hug goodbye as the group prepares to leave.

A last group shot as we leave the Camucia area.

A right turn at this intersection and we'll be in Bettolle where we will pick up our lunch for the day.

This is the scenery as we climb towards Pienza.

Pienza

Pienza was conceived as a Utopian "New Town" by Pope Pius II. The site Pius chose was the village of Corsignano, where he was born- the first of 18 children. The construction on Pienza began in 1459.
Tradition claims the new pope wished to avenge himself on Siena - which had unjustly exiled his family - by building a city that would be both Siena's antithesis and its superior. It's also claimed Pius could not live with the shame of having come from a village as humble as Corsignano so he renamed it Pienza. His Architect on the project was Bernardo Rossellino, who worked on all the major buildings here under the guidance of Leon Battista Alberti, the great theorist of Renaissance art, building and town planning.

After consecration of the cathedral, Pius rechristened the "city" Pienza in his own honour. He died two years later and the city, intended to spread across the hill, never grew beyond a couple of blocks to either side of the main Corso.

The hill drops sharply down in to the valley below.

It was almost a shame to have been in Italy so late into the fall as we missed what I am sure would be spectacular flowers and colours in all the planter boxes throughout all the towns we visited.

All the restaurants and cafes had outside tables. How nice to sit under the Tuscan sun and enjoy great food and wine. We usually had the cheap and cheery sandwiches from the cafes as eating in restaurants was fairly costly.