Rhonda Bracey: At Random

We went to the medieval walled town of Montepulciano today. It was really lovely, but I’m quickly learning that ‘medieval walled town’ in Europe invariably means a bloody big hill, often with no accessible roads, and typically with LOTS of steps and cobblestones/uneven ground. Also, often with LOTS of tourists (and yes, I’m well aware of the irony/hypocrisy of making that statement when I was there as a tourist too!) and tourist-trap shops. We took the train to Montepulciano station from Siena (there are only a couple of regional trains a day on this route), then a bus to the bus station below the walled town. What no-one told us was that there’s another little bus that takes you from the bus station up and up to the town. We found that out after we’d climbed the steep hill… Yes, it was hot.

There was also a little tuk-tuk type vehicle up there that took you around Montepulciano for EU10 – well worth it in the heat and with tired feet! It has several pick up/drop off points, with the main one being in the piazza.

After we were done with Montepulciano, we walked back down to the bus station. We weren’t going to be able to catch a bus that would make the 2pm train back and didn’t want to wait for the 3:30 train, so we decided to take the bus to Siena. And it was here that we discovered that the bus routes take you through the backroads and stop in all sorts of small places. At least the bus was air conditioned (as were all the trains we travelled on)!

The bus dropped us at the Siena train station and instead of taking a cab back to our apartment as we’d done previously, we thought we’d take a local bus into the city centre, spend a bit of time at the Piazza del Campo (yes, that name will be emblazoned in my memory forever!!!), then walk or cab back to the apartment to pack for our early start tomorrow.

‘Take the bus into the centre of town’, they said. ‘It’s much cheaper than a taxi.’ ‘You just have to go across to the shopping centre over the road, then go down below and all the buses are local and will take you into town.’ Problem was, that info was wrong and we caught the WRONG bus!!! We caught the bus that had Piazza del Sale on its sign, and I assumed that was the piazza in Siena (20 July 2025: I’ve just looked this up and the Piazza del Campo in Siena is sometimes referred to as the Piazza del Sale!!! Quote: “The Piazza del Campo, Siena’s main public space, is sometimes referred to as Piazza del Sale due to its historical function as a marketplace.”)

After we’d passed the outer walls of Siena and headed into the beautiful Tuscan countryside, we realised we were probably on the wrong bus. Fortunately, the young couple sitting opposite us spoke good English and they confirmed our fears. They advised us to get out at the next stop, cross the road and catch the next bus back to Siena. The bus we were on wasn’t going to the piazza in Siena at all, but to the piazza in Grosseto, some 75 km away!!!

We got off on the outskirts of a tiny town (Isola d’Arbia) some 15 km out of Siena, walked across the road and consulted the bus timetable (in Italian, of course) posted at the stop. By this time it was well after 4pm. On a Saturday. In the Italian countryside. And I think I mentioned it was hot. From what we could read and interpret, the timetable indicated that the next (and last) bus *might* come around 7:15pm… Mild panic set in—we had reservations to catch trains from 8am tomorrow to be in Civitavecchia to embark on our cruise!!! I called the only taxi company in Siena (I hadn’t had a good run with them but it was the only option). Fortunately, the person I spoke to spoke good English and told us a taxi would be there in about 15 mins, but that we’d have to pay the fare from Siena and back. At that point I didn’t care what they’d charge!!!

After about 20 mins the taxi arrived, thank every god under the sun! Yes, it WAS expensive, and yes we did get dropped off at the Piazza Del Campo where we’d originally intended to go an hour or two earlier. We wandered about for a bit then had a long cold drink and a well-deserved pizza, before heading back to pack for our early taxi ride to the train station tomorrow. Never a dull moment!

Looking over the Tuscan countryside from Montepulciano

What colour leather would you like?

The tuk tuk was able to go up the narrow streets of Montepulciano

Piazza del Campo – at last!

Able to laugh about getting on the wrong bus! A mojito and a shared pizza helped, as did my linen dress and cool sunnies from Florence.