Today I took a bus ride through the lovely Tuscan countryside to this perfect little hilltop town. Set amidst olive groves, vineyards and rolling green hills it is difficult to describe its qualities. The walls were constructed in the 1220s and the town was a defensive stronghold for the Republic of Siena against its perpetual enemy, Florence. Made more famous by its inclusion in Dante’s Divine Comedy it is on the Italian equivalent of the Camino … the Via Francigena on the pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome. The views are amazing from this little town. It is tiny but charming with a church and a town square and a couple of little back streets through which the pilgrimage route runs. It has a museum of arms and you can walk the walls. You enter through one of two gate; one from Florence and one from Rome.
There are some lovely little shops, pleasant bars and enticing restaurants. A lovely place in which to spend a few hours. At this time of year there were few tourists and hikers, a couple of USians but in general it was Italians enjoying a Saturday out.
The bus from Florence dropped me at the foot of the Via Francigeno and it was quite a climb up the hill to the town. A memorable day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Francigena
Escape to myself 
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