May 1, 2025 - Monteriggioni

 This morning started out very simple. I have two loads of laundry to do and there is a washing machine here. It is a front loading washing machine and I have one hell of a time figuring out how to use it. It probably took me three hours to do two small loads of clothes. I’ve noticed here that most people hang their clothes to dry on a clothesline. And that’s what we’ve been doing.

By 2 o’clock, we’re finally ready to takeoff for the day and Richard has come upon an old town up on the mountain called Monteriggioni and it’s only about an hour drive from here. We will check this out instead of driving to Siena. Siena is the oldest town in Italy and I have already visited it the last time I was here  

We passed through a lot of little towns and hamlets along the way, including Poggibonsi, one of the towns. I stayed in back in 2012 when I was in Italy. We didn’t stop and I couldn’t remember exactly where we stayed so we carried on.


Just before we arrived at the castle, we decided to stop and have a bite to eat. It was a very cool old café/bar. We decided to order the Tuscan soup and a salad. We probably won’t be doing that again because it was more like a vegetable stew with no broth in it. You ate it with a fork. It was OK, but I would’ve much preferred some pasta. Oh well, you’ve got to sometimes try the regional foods.

We carry on up to the castle and the walled city. There was no cost to get into the city, but we paid a small amount to walk along the wall and go into the museum.



The views of Tuscany down below are breathtaking and we have yet another gorgeous day.




Another bunch of steps!! We will be so fit when we get home
This is inside the church where we had a nice conversation with the parish priest, Father Emmanuel, who was originally from Tanzania on Mount Kilimanjaro. His birth name was Tumaini which means HOPE in Swahili. He gave us each a blessing.





Where’s Richard ??


Now it was time to take a break and have some of the ice cream we had seen other people walking around with.

Our next stop was at Abbadia A Isola
Lots of kitties over here. 




This is an old burial site right in the courtyard of the convent


It’s getting to be about 7 o’clock and time to return home. Every day is so darn busy, but that’s OK.

This is the cloud with the silver lining that has been following us around since April 1st (and of course the penny in my left shoe). 

Goodnight all! 😘


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