We had left the angular hills of San Gimignano and we were now driving in a southerly direction towards Mensano. I had never heard of Mensano or of its wine festival. Karen, my wife and navigator, had found the only festa in our region for that week. Due to work constraints at home she was unfortunately unable to accompany us on this trip and I was driving in usual Italian fashion: ‘I’ll get there despite certain challenges in the maps, the road signs and the lack of a straight road.’ My passengers were only too happy to take up the cause and the map was passed constantly between Anita, Charlie and Cindy. We seemed to get lost at one point but I always found this a joy in Tuscany where the sight of a new landscape always prepared everyone for the experiences of beauty that lay just over the horizon. As we drove further on the hills separated and were more widely dispersed creating more open valleys and less hilly farmlands.
The small town of Mensano loomed high above as it was built in the Etruscan fashion of being perched on top of a very steep hill for defense. The town was a beautiful sight not only for its irregular contoured silhouette and light coloured brick and stone but also because we were starving! We could sense the delicacies that awaited. The road was very windy as we ascended. The view was amazing. Upon reaching the summit we realized the town had two portions, an old medieval town alongside a modern section. In Tuscan fashion, the medieval town was closed to vehicles. I drove into the new town looking for parking and for where exactly the festivities were as I could only see outer walls and buildings to the old town. A young girl in a pretty Sunday dress sat on some steps nearby. I asked her where the festa was. Her pretty and formal appearance along with her high young voice seemed to add to our experience. “E la,” she pointed; ‘Over there’ to the old town. ‘Yeah, I should have known,’ as I parked the car.
We walked through a large opening in the town wall and proceeded up some steps. At the top we accessed a small road with our first view into Mensano Vecchio (old town). The experience was like stepping back in time. It felt like the Middle Ages. The three and four storey buildings of pale stone, brick and mortar were not uniform by the pattern of masonry seen in their construction; yet this made their beauty more exquisite. Even though these buildings were irregular in their details their unity as a whole, the sum of all these irregularities, created an architecture that was warm and detailed and artistic and therefore beneficial for human living. The town was in festivity mode with many windows fitted with trays of beautiful pink flowers while certain doorways had chairs and more pots of flowers so as to gain attention or at least to provide a seat for that particular homeowner.
We walked down the road into the inner town looking for food. A couple of trattorias were inviting but we wanted to scout the area for fear of missing an even more special experience. Further on we went into a building boasting a fixed menu at a good price. What startled us was the amazing atmosphere inside. The whole interior was a large single room of unfinished brick and stone with tables and benches. People were gathered around these tables partaking of Tuscan foods and wines in a soft light that wonderfully illuminated the interior’s pale stone walls. This felt more like candlelight which created a sense of a connection with the past and the ages prior to electric lighting. There was a great communal atmosphere and the trattoria was wringing with conversation and happy festivity. I imagined many a traveler on his way to Siena or Rome in olden times stopping in places such as these feeling relief with the comforts of food and human atmosphere. We enjoyed our cold meats and pasta with bread and water and a local full bodied red wine.
We had left the angular hills of San Gimignano and we were now driving in a southerly direction towards Mensano. I had never heard of Mensano or of its wine festival. Karen, my wife and navigator, had found the only festa in our region for that week. Due to work constraints at home she was unfortunately unable to accompany us on this trip and I was driving in usual Italian fashion: ‘I’ll get there despite certain challenges in the maps, the road signs and the lack of a straight road.’ My passengers were only too happy to take up the cause and the map was passed constantly between Anita, Charlie and Cindy. We seemed to get lost at one point but I always found this a joy in Tuscany where the sight of a new landscape always prepared everyone for the experiences of beauty that lay just over the horizon. As we drove further on the hills separated and were more widely dispersed creating more open valleys and less hilly farmlands. 
The small town of Mensano loomed high above as it was built in the Etruscan fashion of being perched on top of a very steep hill for defense. The town was a beautiful sight not only for its irregular contoured silhouette and light coloured brick and stone but also because we were starving! We could sense the delicacies that awaited. The road was very windy as we ascended. The view was amazing. Upon reaching the summit we realized the town had two portions, an old medieval town alongside a modern section. In Tuscan fashion, the medieval town was closed to vehicles. I drove into the new town looking for parking and for where exactly the festivities were as I could only see outer walls and buildings to the old town. A young girl in a pretty Sunday dress sat on some steps nearby. I asked her where the festa was. Her pretty and formal appearance along with her high young voice seemed to add to our experience. “E la,” she pointed; ‘Over there’ to the old town. ‘Yeah, I should have known,’ as I parked the car. 
We walked through a large opening in the town wall and proceeded up some steps. At the top we accessed a small road with our first view into Mensano Vecchio (old town). The experience was like stepping back in time. It felt like the Middle Ages. The three and four storey buildings of pale stone, brick and mortar were not uniform by the pattern of masonry seen in their construction; yet this made their beauty more exquisite. Even though these buildings were irregular in their details their unity as a whole, the sum of all these irregularities, created an architecture that was warm and detailed and artistic and therefore beneficial for human living. The town was in festivity mode with many windows fitted with trays of beautiful pink flowers while certain doorways had chairs and more pots of flowers so as to gain attention or at least to provide a seat for that particular homeowner.
We walked down the road into the inner town looking for food. A couple of trattorias were inviting but we wanted to scout the area for fear of missing an even more special experience. Further on we went into a building boasting a fixed menu at a good price. What startled us was the amazing atmosphere inside. The whole interior was a large single room of unfinished brick and stone with tables and benches. People were gathered around these tables partaking of Tuscan foods and wines in a soft light that wonderfully illuminated the interior’s pale stone walls. This felt more like candlelight which created a sense of a connection with the past and the ages prior to electric lighting. There was a great communal atmosphere and the trattoria was wringing with conversation and happy festivity. I imagined many a traveler on his way to Siena or Rome in olden times stopping in places such as these feeling relief with the comforts of food and human atmosphere. We enjoyed our cold meats and pasta with bread and water and a local full bodied red wine.