Day 5 – Roma to Montepulciano

So begins the driving part of the holiday. It took a little while to organise the van and to negotiate our way out of Roma even with a GPS but no mishaps.

First stop Villa Lante, another beautiful formal garden in a small town near Viterbo: hedges, paths and water. Probably not as liveable as D’Este, a garden more obviously for show than for sitting in.  This is nevertheless a very nice garden. In particular it uses the terrain very nicely to create a combination of long distance vistas and local spaces very well. After visting the garden we had lunch at a restaurant in the town centre nearby. After lunch the short hop to Montefiascone for a look around and a gelato.

On then to Montepulciano. The apartments are fantastic!! They are large and comfortable, the view is simply wonderful and they are right in the main street. We settled in, had a light dinner (Vino Nobile, Est!Est!Est! some mortadella di Toscana two different sorts of pecorino and some fruit ). The evening was filled with the candle lit street procession for the Bravio. Very photogenic!

Each contrada parades in full costume along a candle lit path to the main square where there is music, speeches and (eventually) fireworks. The party went well into the night.