Pienza

For all these reasons, he was so dear to the said Duke Federico, whose portrait he made both on medals and in painting, that when he returned to his native city of Siena, he found his honours were equal to his profits.

For Pope Pius II, he made all the designs and models of the palace and vescovado of Pienza, the native place of the said Pope, which was raised by him to the position of a city, and called Pienza after himself, in place of its former name of Costignano.

These buildings were as magnificent and handsome as they could be for that place, and he did the same for the general form and the fortifications of the said city, together with the palace and loggia built for the same pontiff.

Wherefore he ever lived in honor and was rewarded with the supreme magistery of the Signoria in his native city.

But the small cities in Tuscany is what I would really suggest.

Spend at Pienza, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, the smaller towns in the area.

You know, I love Florence too, but really getting out into the countryside there was really awesome.

A couple of places we went in Germany, they're off the beaten path a little bit.

So then there's those two or three days become Siena in the morning, San Gimignano in the afternoon, wine tasting, maybe Montepulciano tomorrow.

Can we fit in Pienza? Maybe? It's nearby.

What about Montecino? Because that's really close to Pienza.

And so you're not really experiencing Tuscany.

You're driving a lot through it.

It's about an hour drive through the countryside.

It's about... 10 minutes outside of Pienza, which is a smaller town.

But no, it's a great example of Italy has this custom of agriturismo, which is basically a working farm that provides accommodations and or meals to tourists.

It's subsidized partly by the government because they really like to foster.