Pizza? I know a great little place: Montalcino

If you happen to drive from Rome to Florence, tell your GPS to avoid the toll roads. Not because you are a cheap old man like myself, but just for the fun of it. The time is same, but chances are you will end up on the S2, which is really one of the most beautiful roads that I ever drove.

We’ve decided to drive to somewhere meaningful for lunch and after laboring over 10 different maps, Lidia came up with the name: Montalcino.

Montalcino turned out to be a fantastically cute Tuscan village on top of a mountain which is big on wineries and wine-tasting kind of tourism. Tourists are present, but not dominating over the local atmosphere, which is a blessing.

We eat at a pizza al taglio place in the main street – 5 people for about 12 euro, including a large bottle of Coke. The pizza is great and we get to eat it the right way: while sitting on a bench in the street outside the shop, glaring at the people passing by.

The place should also be famous for something close to 45 degree steep streets. The GPS attempted to send us rolling down by some gravel road cutting through the vines, but my sweaty palms told me not to and we went back down the same way we came up, probably just as fast and somewhat safer.

Hot, hot, hot: +34 outside the car..