We know where we are suddenly. The hounds quieten down. A gap in the trees reveals breathtaking Monteriggioni, a walled town, floating on the near horizon. It could be the Middle Ages and we astride proud caparisoned palfreys, invited guests to a noble wedding feast. We lunch late at Il Pozzo, an exquisite restaurant off a square decked bellicosely with a twenty-foot high onager.
Japanese girls take each other's photos.
We digest awhile in the burnished afternoon heat. A visit to the Vinci museum reveals replicas of the master's inventions, including his bicycle. After Collodi, of Pinocchio fame, and the restored Garzoni garden with water fantasies, epic statuary, bamboo grove and a palazzo of a hundred windows, we take the waters at the spa of Montecatini where, following mud pack, mineral bath, and massage, we emerge rejuvenated, smelling of roses and mightily pleased with ourselves. So much to tell, so many images.