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Montespertoli for a Week – Backpacking Europe
Introduction
Welcome to Montespertoli. No city madness. No car horns. Just fresh air and a simplistic feel. You know you’re in a real rural area when the alarm clock is substituted for a rooster. A very persistent rooster.
This is the beginning of a week in the Tuscany region! There were a bunch of places visited all around the area that I’m excited to talk about in this post and others in the near future. First, this post will be more of a primer for Tuscany. I want to focus on a few things about the town, itself, and why it’s such an amazing place to visit.
Now the town has a lot more than roosters to offer its guests. Driving to the Airbnb during the previous night, we had no idea of what the place really looked like until the next day. Certainly, I’ll be the first one to say it did not disappoint in the slightest. Even though the day was considered our “catch-up” day, we still walked around the town enough to get out bearings.
Montespertoli Mornings at the Airbnb
Before talking about the town, how about this Airbnb?! With Montespertoli built on the top of a hill, we found a host offering his full house overlooking the countryside. This place was more than I imagined. During the first morning, I made a small breakfast with some coffee and opened the doors to the balcony. It was serene. That trend certainly continued for the rest of the week.
Overall, the place was excellent. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a full kitchen and dining room. In a rural small town, having air conditioning and a washing machine is a luxury. We were able to go 2/2 on these. The Wifi was also a plus. The place did lack a dryer, but drying everything on the clotheslines made us feel like true Montespertolians. Furthermore, being able to finally do laundry in an actual washing machine was glorious. You can only go so long with just a backpack before doing some level of deep cleaning.
Around the Town Square
After breakfast was done, we all made our way into town. Now, going into town actually just means walking up a steep road and around the corner. Even though the little Mercedes rental was parked outside and ready to go, everything in Montespertoli is walking distance. Once we made it around the corner, the town square is in sight. There were plenty of park benches, trees and a small centerpiece sculpture. Restaurants and shops lined the perimeter of the square, and it was really the only place where people congregated.
We walked around for what seemed like a few hours, checking out each place. Most importantly, there was a gelati shop, a supermarket, and watch shop. Montespertoli, no doubt, initiated the gelati saga in full force. Here’s a little map of the area.
Why the Watch Shop?
Back in Madrid, I unfortunately broke my glasses that I wasn’t ready to part with yet. Therefore, I was desperately seeking a place to repair them. Both Madrid and Barcelona failed me, but somehow, this small town of Montespertoli was my saving grace. Big time win!
Preparing for the Week
Since we were going to be spending a week here, it was decided to get lunch before doing any shopping to avoid purchasing a bunch of stuff with a hungry stomach. There was one place in particular we took a liking to called Per Bacco. It was located in the town square and had paninis worth coming back to almost daily. I’m pretty sure I had the Cremosa (tomato, cheese and mushroom) a few times…
The next stop was right across the street at the local Coop market. This was basically the chain supermarket for Montespertoli. I’m really happy we ate before because once you go in here, it seems that the longer you stay, the more you buy! Pasta, wine, chocolates, fruit, beer, bread, cheese…. The list goes on. About €60 later and a few bags full of an assortment of foods, we were set for the week and headed back to the Airbnb.
Winding Down
As previously mentioned, the day overall was pretty lazy, but we needed the rest going into tomorrow. The evening was spend cooking our first homemade meal with all the groceries we bought. The kitchen had the basic utensils, but the stove was a little sketchy. I went through about 5 matches attempting to light the damn thing! Nevertheless, the meal turned out WAY better than expected, all thanks to my sister. We had gnocchi samplings, pasta and a caprese salad and some white wine that presumably had the best looking label at Coop. Not soon after, the lights were out. It was time to begin living like a Montespertolian for the week. If only we knew what tomorrow would bring…
Recap of Places
- Montespertoli – Town in the Tuscany Region
- Coop – For all your grocery needs
- Per Bacco – Our go-to lunch spot in Montespertoli
Michael Lakus
IT professional, athlete, musician, ponderer of many things... Born and raised in Florida, I began traveling internationally after college. I created this site primarily to remind myself of where I've been and to share my experiences on traveling with a quirky, stress-free, travel attitude.
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