HANNAH SHARES

I’m starting this post while sitting on the balcony of the hotel on our last night here. We have visited Montalcino, a small town in Tuscany, several times. It never gets old. I love many towns and regions of Italy, but this tiny village is by far my favorite. And to be honest, there really isn’t much to do here. It’s just a quaint, quiet place to wander, pop into shops, taste (in my opinion) the best wines Italy has to offer, and take in the breathtaking views. 

This weekend was my second to last weekend in Italy and we decided to take a two night trip here. We drove down on Friday and arrived at the hotel around 5pm, got cleaned up and headed into town. We always stay at Si Montalcino Hotel. I wouldn’t stay anywhere else if coming here. It’s a few minutes outside the town on a quiet road.

I was surprised to find the town was super quiet Friday night. It’s never been overly busy, but it was especially quiet this weekend. We walked around for a bit before heading to dinner at Il Grifo. We have walked by several times on past trips, but this was our first time eating there. We split a bottle of wine, pasta, and a very yummy steak, a MUST in Tuscany! Lucy was very happy with her pasta a bianco (buttered noodles as I called it growing up 😂). It’s always a safe choice for her and keeps her happy and busy through a dinner out. 

We started Saturday morning with breakfast at the hotel – one of the top reasons to stay here! Eggs, meats and cheeses, brioche with jams, and lots of little pastries. It’s always delicious. The town was very quiet again Saturday morning, and shops aren’t open until after 10am, so we wandered the streets and popped into a few churches for an hour or so. There was a cat we came across on our walk that decided to join us and followed us for a long time! Lucy was thrilled. The cathedral at the very top of the hill in town has a great playground right next to it, and we had fun on the swings looking over the stunning views of the valley below. 

We spent the rest of the morning looking in the local shops and then stopped at another new-to-us restaurant for lunch, Ristorante Trattoria L’Angolo. The forecast had said it would be 70 degrees and sunny all day; but it was pretty overcast and a little rainy most of the morning. Not enough to ruin the day, but I was really hoping for sun! We came back to the hotel for Lucy’s afternoon nap, and when the sun came out at the end of her nap we headed right back out! 

Right when you drive into the town there is a little public park area with walls built into the hill to sit on and enjoy the town’s view. There was a little hut set up right there selling wine, so we grabbed a half bottle and sat in the sun while Lucy climbed up and down the stairs. This is also the best spot in Montalcino to watch the sunset over Tuscany. (The photo at the top of this post was taken there.) We walked all through the town again and stopped at a pasticceria for some treats and shared them on a park bench before walking back up to the park for more swinging. 

We ended the evening at Alle Logge di Piazza for dinner. We ate here when we first came as a family, it’s a fun spot right in the center of town. Lucy decided to drench herself from head to toe in butter from her pasta, so she got to hop in the shower before bed when we got home.

Traveling with a child presents lots of challenges, one being that we might not want to go to sleep when she does at night, but it’s hard when we’re all sharing one room in a hotel. I love the rooms in this hotel because they have little garden patios, so we can still enjoy the evening with a glass of wine after Lucy goes to bed. 

Every time we go on a trip I always want to go back to wherever we visited. Realistically, I know there is no chance we’ll be able to revisit everywhere we’ve been. But I know for sure if we ever return to Italy, Montalcino will definitely be one of our stops. It’s a relaxing, timeless Tuscan town that you can visit with no plan. That’s my favorite thing about it.

On Sunday morning after we left Montalcino, we stopped in Siena, about an hour into our drive home. We specifically wanted to see Siena to visit Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico, home to several relics of St. Catherine of Siena. She has a really interesting story, and her head and thumb are actually both incorrupt (they haven’t decomposed) over 600 years after her death. This is a great article to read about her life and after her death. Anyways, on our drive there I looked up the hours for the Basilica and realized we were actually visiting on St. Catherine’s Feast Day! There were several special celebrations listed on the website, so I knew we were visiting on a perfect day. I still can’t believe the chances of the day we chose to visit.

We parked near a really pretty panoramic lookout spot where you can see the Basilica and the Duomo di Siena. We visited the Basilica first, and as we walked up a group of nuns leaving came up to us smiling at Lucy and gave her a prayer card. You can’t take any pictures inside the Basilica, which I was really bummed about, but wanted to be respectful. You can look up photos online. Inside, there is a case that holds her thumb and then a separate chapel where you can see her head. It was really amazing to see. The altar in front of her chapel was covered in flowers people had brought for her Feast Day. Right when we got there, there was a large group of Red Cross Nuns. I’ve never seen them before, but it was so fun to watch them as they processed through the church to celebrate the Feast Day Mass. They wore the classic white nurse dresses with long navy blue habits.

We spent the rest of the morning walking all through the city, and came across a ceremony happening at St. Catherine’s family home that is now a beautiful sanctuary. The Feast Day celebrations were starting there and then processing up to the Basilica for Mass. There were tons of people! We walked through town and up the steps on the back side of the Duomo. It is so stunning and reminded us a lot of the duomo in Florence. On our walk back, we stopped back at the sanctuary after the ceremony was over. There is a really pretty small chapel, pretty views of the city, and a gift shop.

As we were walking, we came across these drummers and flag bearers in traditional medieval dress all around the city. I was very confused, but assumed it had something to do with the Feast Day celebrations. One of the groups had hundreds of people following in a parade with these flags tied around their necks. I looked it up afterward and found out there are 17 districts of Siena, each with a Patron Saint. The one with all of the people following was the one with St. Catherine as their Patron. But all other 16 districts march around the city, too. They do this festival on the Sunday of each of the district’s feast days. It was a really cool tradition to witness!

We finished our visit with a quick bite to eat at a little cafe near the lookout point we first came across. I still can’t believe we happened to be there on one of the most important days in the city. I was really impressed with the city, mostly because I haven’t heard of many people visiting it and didn’t know what to expect. If we had had more time, there were lots of cute little shops I would have liked to stop in and it would have been neat to tour the Duomo. Siena is definitely worth a visit and I’m glad we squeezed it in before we leave!