Well, it was a long drive to Tuscany. Very long. While I thought I was supersmart to not plan our vacation for August, when pretty much all of Italy is on vacation, mainly within its own country, I failed to realize that we started our drive on SATURDAY, the 1st of September. This meant, that all of Italy was on its way home from vacation within its own country. For a drive that should have taken us maybe 9 to 10 hours, we needed almost 14 hours. We barely made it to our agriturismo before it closed for the night. However, it seems to have meant to be. Five minutes before we got to the place, we drove by San Gimignano in the distance, and - I kid you not - there was a double rainbow in the sky. I promise, this is not a photoshop trick, the rainbow was right there.

The reason why I wanted to come to Tuscany in the first place was, that I had this image in my mind... I wanted to see the Tuscany of rolling hills, fields, cypress lined winding roads connecting small villages. On the quest to find it, we made our way to Siena. The Piazza del Campo really is beautiful, a big fan shaped place surrounded by medieval buildings, most prominent the Palazzo Communale with its tall tower. Noah got to run around and chase pigeons, so the kid was happy :) The piazza has to be wonderulf in the evening hours, when there is music and people sitting there laughing and chatting. I would love to go to Siena when the Palio is going on, the horse race that is based on so many traditions, but lasts less than two minutes.

From Siena, we went on to Pienza where I found what I've been looking for...