Pienza…ahh, Pienza…you swept me away…the smallest of the towns we visited and maybe my favorite…because I could see myself there in a small artisan shop in an ancient building (inviting all my friends to come visit, of course…will you?)…working on art, chatting with customers. Long meals, lovely days…but first the lay of the land…
The most important order of business was the morning cappuccino, but when I saw this chocolate fountain I was quickly seduced in another direction…
Then to the church (which allowed pictures) and the town museum (which did not). This church has foundation problems, but being a true Californian I thought about earthquakes a lot while I was inside…and wouldn’t you know the day we got home two above 4.0 quakes happened on faults near our house…yikes…
The cracks…
The above is a glass insert put in to measure amount of movement.
Best of all were the alter boys getting ready for service…looked about sixth grade age
The stroll to find lunch in a cafe with three tables and many wine bottles and tasty sandwiches.
Looking for artisans
We found a potter
A fabric artist
And a watercolorist…her bookmark/business card and some delightful watercolors I bought…they are 2″x2″ and now so many miles away, they make my heart skip when I look at them…
On our way back down the road from Pienza we opted to explore a dirt road that takes you to a monastery named Sant’ Anna In Camprena. It was the setting for the Italian part of the movie The English Patient and I figured that it was the closest I would ever get to Ralph Fiennes. (Since we have been home we rented the movie to watch again and were amazed at how young the actors looked. Luckily we were alone while we watched because we kept yelling out things like…I stood next to that cypress…we were right next to that wall…remember those crosses…)
This is where Juliette Binoche met Willem Defoe for the first time…
My driver noticing that we couldn’t go inside because it was 2:00 and it was closed from 12-3:00 in the fashion of the country. Love the colors of this facade…
You may note black dots in many of my pictures. These are Jackdaws similar to our crows and always flying around the towers we saw in Italy. (From Wikipedia)
Great photos. I love Pienza too. Tuscany is truly a paradise on earth! Tom
Tuscany was heaven! I so want to go back!! (I so agree with you that the Snapseed app is terrific, too. You do really nice things with it.)