Siesta time!

We still don't seem to have got the Italian siesta sussed. Helen and Stuart did warn us that most places close for a very long lunch but it has caught us out on most days this week and today was no exception. We were determined to go out for lunch and headed to Montecetini Terme in order to catch the funicular up to Montecetini Alto where we knew there was a piazza full of restaurants. Unfortunately we arrived just after the last funicular of the morning had left for the top of the hill and the staff were downing tools for an hour and a half for their own lunch.

However, the weather was hot and sunny and there looked to be a lovely park opposite the funicular station so we set about finding the entrance. It turned out to be the park containing most of the very exclusive spa resorts that Montecetini Terme is famous for. I believe that you can buy a day pass that will let you in to all the spas but that's not what we were there for so we amused ourselves nosing around the entrances.

Montecetini Alto in the distance

Believe it or not, this is a tennis club

See - told you!

After a stop for a drink in a local cafe (much more within our price range!) we took a short stroll around the surrounding streets which seemed to be full of very smart hotels and rather wealthy American and German tourists. It was with a group of the former that we ended up sharing the funicular up the hill.

We chose to sit outside the carriage and so had fantastic views of the town below as well as the rest of the valley - which I believe was known as Fog Valley and a major travel intersection in Roman times, which made Montecetini Alto a very important fort and town.

On our way up

Whilst others are going down

Still climbing

Nearly there 

And we've arrived!

The town sits on an M-shaped hill which can be seen from miles around and is really very charming. It must have a tiny population, reliant on tourists but it is very peaceful and a perfect setting for what ended up as a very late but delicious lunch. We explored the surrounding streets, which were almost deserted, before catching the funicular down at about 5pm.

The main piazza in Montecetini Alto

The deserted streets

The clock tower

The view whilst waiting for the funicular back down

We are now preparing to hand the house back to its rightful owners - the plants are watered and the cats fed. It will be really sad to say goodbye to our mini-foray into Tuscan life but a real treat to have been here. I hope it won't be too long before we are back again!