I ought to mis-identify the splendid hilltop town Lucignano. Avoid attracting visitors, keep it for ourselves for our next visit. We liked it for its closeness to Montepulciano, for its untouched age, for its going about daily business without particular regard for, or merchandising to, the tourist crowd.

How many places can you find which boast a neighborhood geranium and gossip center combined? A little downhill from the town's summit crowned with maybe six churches, this cluster of women (left) know where to learn the really interesting community stuff.

Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed in the vicinity of Montepulciano, according to the proprietor of our agriturismo nearby. And I would probably agree it's more photogenic, for depicting what people expect to see in Tuscany, than the book's genuine location, Cortona, some miles northeast.

Lest you think Frances Mayes' chosen villa location a significantly lesser place, though, please know that Cortona itself, on its own merits, is well worth spending time savoring.

Pienza and Peccorino and Piccolomini belong together for more reasons than alliteration. The Italian Renaissance, which happened a little earlier than in other european regions, arguably, produced this small example of urban planning. The old part of it has been kept that way, for your individual delight strolling the ancient grid of neighborhoods, laid out with (by comparison with other towns of even more recent vintage) remarkable thoughtfulness.

Be sure to walk the mile or so to examine the old Certosa, which dates to the time when it wasn't entirely safe to be Christian. Note the complete absence of orthodox symbols in the entry artwork (last seconds of video).