A beautiful Tuscan morning greeted us as we drove to the hillside town of Monteriggioni. The town sits perched on a hilltop and is completely surrounded by 13^th century stonewalls with 14 watchtowers. The vineyards and olive orchards gently roll along the smaller hills and valleys below the village.

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Inside the walls we were able to walk around the 3-4 small streets and enjoy the Tuscan stone architecture. Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta was a typical small village church with a simple interior and rustic wooden bench pews.

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There were also several local artists in the market square and adjoining alleys. Our favorite artist was an elderly wood worker who had items made out of local olive wood. Liam and I purchased wooden rings, Faywen an olive and pickle fork, and Faywen and I picked out an olive wood spaghetti serving-size measuring board. Liam found a quaint little vender who made terra-cotta bird whistles. We got a leather necklace for Turah and some ceramic cats for our kitty collection.

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We loved walking the ramparts and visiting the Knights Templar Museum as well as the local town history museum. The entire town smelled like lavender, olives, and old mossy stone! We ate at the Templar’s Café, had gelato, and came home to rest.

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After a wee respite we walked to the Castello’s pool and enjoyed a relaxing couple of hours by eating apricots from the garden tree, swimming, and viewing the local orchard. It was a great way to spend a warm Sunday afternoon!

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 Once cleaned up we drove to a local Tuscan restaurant named Caminetto del Chianti. Our waiter was very friendly and for 2 hours we ate, talked, and drank out on the veranda overlooking the setting sun that caused the silvery olive trees to sparkle!