We awoke to a beautiful, light rain in Radda. Between showers we were able to make it up to breakfast and have a final meal at the daily hotel buffet there. Before we left, mama miraculously found the sunglasses she thought she had lost in Siena. We had all agreed that they were gone - but apparently the universe disagreed.
It seems that just when I am getting ready to leave a place - we do! Radda was absolutely gorgeous, and for being such a small town it really did have a lot to offer, however I was ready to get on the road again for more exploration.
Before leaving town we decided we needed to send off a couple boxes of laundry to lighten our luggage load (so we could shop, obviously). Daddy and I quickly learned once inside that the lady working the counter didn't speak a lick of English and wasn't interested in sign language or even slowing down to help us understand. She was pleasant enough, but man it must have been funny watching us struggle through that. The forms - also in Italian - were another hurdle that we managed (by grace of our hallowed iPhone translators) were able to somewhat fill out to expectation. What might have been about a 20 minute visit ended up taking probably about an hour to an hour and a half... But we prevailed! Now we will just have to see if our stuff makes it back. Daddy kept reminding me in my brief moments of frustration/exasperation that it's all part of the experience.
Once the boxes were mailed we got on the road for Montepulciano. We have a tire light on our car dashboard but since the users manual is all in Italian it looks like it's there to stay, (and mama just takes the corners a tad more gently).
Getting into Montepulciano was yet another challenge. The streets are ancient, narrow, winding cobble-stone and brick mazes with just enough room for a a little car. When we finally did find the hotel, which is located in the middle of the town, we realized that they were closed for lunch for two hours. Mama, in all her wisdom, asked a local shop keeper if she could pay her to watch our things while we waited for the hotel to open and re-park our car. The woman - who is one of the sweetest people I have met in my life- told us it was no problem at all and led us downstairs in her shop to her "secret" closet. Mama bought a cute purse there and we thanked her gracuousness and generosity.
While waiting for the hotel to open we had lunch at a little bar. We were all pretty famished at that point, so food was good. After we explored the city a bit more before checking in at the room.
After checking in, we relaxed a bit in the room and talked to our hotel desk worker for some recommendations on places to eat in town. Our plush room was a nice place to rest a bit before heading back out to re-park our car in the notorious "lot 8" ... Which we are still not sure we've found!
Before dinner we tried a little wine spot called Talosa that had an amazing cellar and some incredible wines. Their vin santo was 29€ for a half liter and is aged in chestnut barrels for 15 years!
At dinner we had some wonderful food (I found fish again which is rare in hill towns) And also met a really nice couple from Yorkshire named John and Heken. The food was delicious and the conversation was the perfect way to end our full day.
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