After reading about several of the nearby cities for daytreking, we opted for Pienza, a little town southeast of us about 50 km. Pienza is known for its Peccorino cheese - a sheep milk product that ranges from very mild and smooth (fresco or young) to quite pungent and tasty (secco or aged.) The shops in the pretty little town are filled with all varieties and it's quite easy to see (and smell) the progression from looking at them stacked on the shelves. The mildest Peccorino has a bright orange wax coating, the interior fairly white and hardly an aroma at all. The most aged has a dark black almost moldly looking exterior and a darker yellowish brown interior that is harder and dryer. And whew! Quite aromatic. In fact, just walking by the shops offers a breath of aged Peccorino.
We stumbled upon a little diner for lunch that offered all sorts of bruschetta and crostoni with various toppings, most with Peccorino, of course. And we also felt obliged to get the Peccorino tasting plate and were instructed to eat from least to most mature so we could best appreciate the progression in flavor. It was served with a fig-type jam offering a really tasty complement. Wonderful!
Drew also had the good fortune to order Ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup with bread in it that he said was outstanding. Of course, by the time he offered his review his bowl was empty and I couldn't try a bite. Smart boy. If you're interested, the diner's website is: http://www.latavernadireartu.com/offerte.html.
You may think by our food descriptions that all we do is eat! We actually did visit a palace in Pienza in addition to smelling and eating cheese. The Piccolomino family (peek-oh-LOH-mee-noh) were basically the head honchos there and when their son became Pope Pius II, they remodeled the entire town to suit such an honor. The remarkable thing is they did this huge rebuilding in only three years and renamed it Pienza (previously Corsignano). Voila! The family lived in this palace until 1962 and they had some ingenious ways of fooling the Nazis during WWII (so as not to loot the art) so the place is very much intact with outside frescoes visible and original wall silks, etc.
Of course we did the usual lounging by the pool and cooling off when we got back to the castle. Then we made our own dinner of pasta, salad and bruschetta. Turned out great!
Pictures today of us posing in front of a street in Pienza and a close-up of the Piccolomino family crest that adorns everything in the town.
xo
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