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Medieval Hill Town with gorgeous views
"Beautiful walled town on a hilltop"
The first time we visited Tuscany we had driven the Chianti Wine Route several times and decided to change to the S2 since it was closer to San Gimignano, our day trip of choice. We fought our way through Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, swearing never to return (we did) and as we arrived at Barberino Val d'Elsa, we noticed a fantastic view with a parking lot on the hill opposite. We zipped up to park and raced back down to take photos or the lovely Chianti countryside.
As we walked back to the car, we looked up the road and noticed a huge stone gate going up a hill. We couldn't pass that by so we hiked up to and through the gate to the city, up the hill into a beautiful medieval village. It is just perfect. You can't take a bad photo there. You walk right through to a gate on the other side of town with a small park outside and more stunning views. Coming back, we walked the other main street and found a beautiful church with a palm tree in the courtyard. The town is lovely and I took many photos. I decided to paint the door of #68 here and it shows how neat and well-kept the town is.
There are other more famous villages in the area, but this one is just beautiful and very quiet and neat.
"What a beautiful village"
My husband took one look at this place and grabbed my camera. He took about six shots of it hoping to paint one of them. The trouble is there are so many pretty buildings, doors, scenes . . . that you just can't decide what to paint.
"Yes, a real palm tree"
We live in California and see these trees all over the place, but it seemed odd to see one in Italy where it gets quite chilly in the winter. I guess it is protected in the church courtyard.
If you walk past the church, there is a piazza with fabulous views over the Chianti countryside.
