Montepulciano

Yesterday's outing was to a town called Montepulciano, which is famous for its wines ("vino di nobile"). And indeed, there are tons of wine shops, most of which offer free tastings. We had lunch in a restaurant with a huge wine cellar (in fact, we were down in a cellar-like room for our meal), and did our own tasting of several bottles selected by Craig. :)

At the entrance to the restaurant, there was a wine-tasting machine! You got a little card from them, put it in, and selected which bottle you wanted to try. It would dispense a "pour" of the wine from a spout at the top. Apparently they have these in California, but I'd never seen one before -- it was really cool! Of course, after lunch, no one was really in the mood for any more wine. :)

We saw two other interesting machines there -- the first (top picture) was a fountain that dispensed either still or sparkling mineral water (bring your own bottles). And the second was at the bank. You have to go through basically an airlock to get in. You push the button to open one door, step into a little space, the first door closes behind you, and then the second one opens. I can only assume it's a security measure; it's a little unsettling!

 Another amazing thing was that Mike went into a little gift shop, and tucked away in the back was a tunnel leading to an Etruscan tomb! You don't find that every day! It was roped off, and Mike tried to talk the gift shop lady into letting him go down, but with no success. :)

The city itself was really interesting, and slightly more touristy than the other places we've been. It's another hill town, which meant lots of steep roads and more amazing views of the countryside. I'll probably end up with a hundred pictures of Tuscan vistas, none of which will do justice to the real thing. :)