Our rule of thumb on the lazy meandering drive through Tuscany back to Rome was simple: No tour buses. If we saw buses, and we often did, we passed on by the walled city. Which meant no going to Pienza or Montepulcino but brief stops in the pretty little villages of Trequana, which has a charming checkerboard stone facade Romanesque church and one coffee bar, and Montisi, where we found a little grocery store where the women sliced us selections of their favorite local salamis, which, combined with the Siena cheese we got yesterday and a picnic table in an empty playground in another small village, made for a fine picnic.
Rome was crazy on a Saturday night. A total crush of humanity, many Americans. Trastevere felt overwhelming so we walked across the river where there was slightly less chaos, found a relatively quiet square with a snack bar and had beer and mediocre pizza. On the way back to our hotel, we decided to embrace the chaos (when in Rome) and stopped on the bridge to listen to an excellent funk band and then an apparently cowboy straight out of Nashville playing country blues.
TakeBetsywithyou 