Pienza: Tuscany Like the Pictures

Guys guys guys guys guys.
They gave me sheep cheese.
I'm never leaving this place.

This day (Thursday) day was special, so it gets its own post.

So: this was the second cultural trip (I really love these, they are excellent). We went to Pienza, a small town in the province of Siena, which was the birthplace of Pope Pius II. We toured his family’s ancestral home, the Palazzo Piccolomini, which was exceedingly grand, and saw historical furniture and paintings. This was all very interesting, but the really striking thing was actually the garden, which is built overlooking the surrounding valleys and farmlands. The view is absolutely, gut wrenchingly beautiful. It's not just Tuscany, it's "Tuscany", so beautiful that it's sort of a cliché. Not to mention that the town of Pienza may be the most picturesque place I've ever been (there's stiff competition, but it's up there. I found myself rather frustrated with my own photography skills, as I cannot, for the life of me, fully capture how spectacular this place is).

After touring the Palazzo Piccolomini, we met up with our cultural classes for a short field study session. Since I'm studying food and culture, this means we essentially ate our way across town through various local deli grocery things (I'm not entirely sure what the term is). The first one was especially exciting. It was entirely devoted to pecorino, traditionally made Italian sheep cheese (the Italians strike me as caring very much about authenticity and the old way, more on that later). For those of you who haven't been exposed to my rants, sheep cheese is one of my favorite things. It's also something I don't commonly see in the states, but apparently Tuscany is prime sheep country, and pecorino is a local specialty. I was incandescent, very quietly bouncing up and down with excitement as we looked around, and talked with the owner about the old way, sheep, and types of cheese. It was at this point that he started pulling down blocks from the shelves, and cutting up samples, so that we could taste the different methods of preparation. And different additives. Like truffles. I had pecorino with truffles. PECORINO. WITH TRUFFLES. It was really exciting. I bought some. Also wild boar sausages with truffle, because when else am I going to find wild boar sausages, especially with truffles?

Next we went to a butcher, where there were various animal body parts hanging on the walls, and an entire roast pig behind the counter. We bought a slice of roast pig; it was salty, but still bursting with porky flavor. Delicious. Then a pasta shop with the most charming rainbow pasta, colored with vegetables.

Afterwards, a bus to Monte

Oliveto Maggiore (A Benedictine

monastery), for a three-course lunch and a tour. Lunch was variable: Pici (long thick noodles) with an amazing fresh tomato sauce was amazing. Next though, chicken, turkey and french fries. The french fries were pleasing, with a nicely subtle flavor, but the poultry was dry, and I couldn't shake the feeling that they were giving us the dreaded "American treatment". The horror. For desert, gelato in plastic cups, which was good... but lacked presentation. The Pici made that meal, but it lacked support.

The monastery was gorgeous, with stunning frescoes and architecture. It was an active monastery, so as we toured, we saw signs of daily use, which was cool. Our tour guide was very well informed, and had many things to tell us about the painting of the frescoes, the establishment of the monastery, etc. It was all very interesting, but I wish she had given us a moment or two to really appreciate where we were. We could hear the monks chanting through the walls, but didn't stop to listen. I wish we had.

The day ended with a bus ride home through the aforementioned stunning valley, with rolling hills, and fields of sunflowers.

This place is pretty awesome.