Monte San Michele, Gaiole in Chianti and Re-fueling

 With the heatwave continuing, we reached for the list of places offering cool relief provided by our host. One thing we have been missing was trekking so we headed for Monte San Michele. It was noted that it is a 40 minute drive however the constant hairpin bends, switchbacks and narrow roads in the latter half of the drive meant it took us an hour. Oh, I forgot to mention the usual searching of the map, consulting Google Maps and eventually asking directions. Woohoo!

Monte San Michele is 900 metres above sea level and nearing the top we had stunning mountain views all round. There is a small settlement near the top, described as a farm but mainly consisting of a rifugio (shelter / accommodation and meals) It was originally the site of a monastic complex which was mostly destroyed in the Middle Ages.

Still remaining is a little church dating from the 14th century. It is not in very good order but is open to all who wish to visit.

Inside there are many very interesting little features. A fresco of the Madonna and Saints, including the Archangel Michael dating from the first half of the 15th century and attributed to Paolo Schiavo still maintains its form despite having very little  protection. This fresco is 600 years old!

The Park has, as well as a restaurant, lots of family friendly recreation areas, an adventure play area and soccer pitch and picnic tablets scattered throughout the lightly forested areas.

From there the walking trails lead through heavily forested areas with a variety of trees including pines and chestnuts. Info boards told of the animals there - wild boar, wolves, two types of deer and foxes.

It was very pretty ... and cool. 29 degrees felt wonderful.

Those who have followed our previous walking adventures in Italy will remember the red and white daubs that lead you along the correct paths ...or fail to do so. Kel commented that there were too many of them on these trails, to which I replied that there should never be complaint about too many.

We didn't walk too far (after all we didn't want to get too hot) but we did eventually reach the top. It is adorned with three huge telecommunications towers, but no view.

This photo shows two of the towers and in the foreground the trig point for the top of Monte San Michele.

On the walk down we came out onto a spot overlooking the church and the rest of  the settlement. We enjoyed the green of the views too.

With minimal equipment for transporting a picnic on a hot day, we did manage to enjoy a simple lunch amongst the shady pines.

Then it was time to hit those zig zag roads again. He who loves mountain driving wasn't thrilled with this type of road, but he was driving a very small, manual geared car and on the right hand side of the road!

We hadn't been to Gaiole in Chianti so that was to be our gelati stop. What a lovely little town this is. It combines historic buildings with modern structures, has lots of art features, lots of trees and flowers, obviously is part of the cycling  route and had an amazing number of bars and restaurants. Once again I suspect the proximity to Siena gives this town an additional boost.

Another large Gallo Nero welcomes you to the town and reminds you that you are in the Chianti Classico region.

This planter box is actually a movable barricade to allow deliveries into the piazza. As we were admiring the flowers a van came along and he must have had a pass because the planter slowly swung open and allowed the van to pass through. Shortly after it closed again.

Purchasing fuel is always tricky in Italy, compared with Australia. There are very few service stations and most are self serve ... completely self serve, so you need to know how much fuel you want because you can't just 'fill 'er up!'

Like parking metres, these machines have a correct order for inserting your card, entering your amount required and the number of the pump you are on. If you do happen to find one that is manned, you actually pay quite a bit more to have him deal with the pump and the payment.

Looking below, that's  A$2.74 per litre self serve or A$3.22 for service.

There are several advantages in renting a small car, this is one.