We set aside Wednesday to drive to some of the little towns our host had mentioned. Our route promised amazing views, including some “Punto Panoramic” pullovers, but the what we first thought was smoke in one area turned out to be dense fog. At 10:30 a.m. you still could not see into the valleys alongside the road. We saw a couple road warning signs that said “Frana!” When we checked google translate, frana is landslide, yikes!
Not to be missed, we decided to take the exact route home and see some of the towns while it was foggy. Some of them are so tiny you are in and out of them before you realize you were there. Asciano, on the other hand, was sweet and full of history.
No other tourists could be found on this chilly Wednesday morning in Asciano. But as we strolled with the few people walking their dogs or starting their work day, we found a sign that said they have festivals on 3 different Sundays in February. Apparently you are encouraged to wear masks and Renaissance costumes, because we saw stores that sold or rented them, and there was confetti everywhere! Some clever rock collectors put together this faux bread and cheese spread, which was coated in silly string 🙂
We had coffee and pastry with the locals and found the smallest store that sold yarn and a needle and thread for sewing a button on Mike’s coat. A few stores seemed closed down and apartments for sale.
There was a plaque for a man in the 1300’s who served as a notary during the plague, quickly trying to help people document their worth before they passed. One in three people died and parts of the area never fully recovered their population. He died later the same year.
And every town has a church, usually two or three.
We saw a building with a sign we didn’t know at all. Google translate said it was a bowling alley! Mike looked in the small windows and it looked more like bocce ball. And for my farm community friends, there was a very tall cement structure with “Silo” written on it right in town.
We have seen only a few pickup trucks since we arrived in Italy, even in this farming area. This 3-wheel version was pretty cute!
Our exact route back started out a mess and soon we realized we were heading into the city of Siena. We doubled back and found our road again. This area, though not far from our fertile soil bursting with grapes and olives, seemed dry and gravelly with huge wheat fields. Each hill had gullies in the earth that took the water to the center.
One of the scenic pullovers had a plaque that honored the names of people who were killed in an air strike of civilian bus during World War II, google-translated below.
Our host had noted there is a small store only 4 km from the house. Turns out it had everything you could need, from a small coffee, wine, sandwich bar, to cereal, milk, fresh pasta, soap, and pastries. We grabbed a couple things and enjoyed an evening in. Now that the bedroom window is shut haha, the house is pretty comfortable!
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