Excursion to Montecchiello

 Montecchiello is a tiny medieval village at the top of a wooded hill about 5 miles from Montepulciano.  Our school offered an interesting hike-guided tour-dinner excursion which sounded doable so I said, 'yes!' The hike was a bit more grueling than I had imagined, with lots of steep hills, etc.  But when we got there, it was worth it.  It is in the province of Siena and has a history of being "owned" by several provinces over the centuries.  Like so many, it was 'owned' by Florence and the Medicis at one point so there are the occasional Medici crests here and there.

When we arrived the the city portal, we were met by Roberto.  He was born and raised here and was even here during WWII when there was a unique altercation between the retreating fascists and the arriving Americans.

There was a terrifying stand-off right outside the city gates where Mussolini's men were ordered to line up citizens against the wall and shoot them because they had heard that the American 'liberators' were not too far away.  In a heroic moment, a nobleman from the village talked them out of it.  But this metal sculpture commemorates that horrific moment:

The city church is beautiful and has some lovely frescoes:

After, we had dinner at Bronzino's in the piazza.  Glorious local cured meats, cacio e pepe, lovely local wine and vin santo and biscotti:

Then a huge storm hit and we had to run for our lives, through the windy medieval streets, down to catch our taxi.  Just TOO fabulous!!!