Castiglion Fiorentino, Under The Tuscan... FOG

It was well time for us to explore the towns closer to Agriturismo La Maesta, and Castiglion Fiorentino was our first port of call after our breakfast.

Castiglion Fiorentino is about a 10 minute drive north from where we are staying and from the lower parts looks quite modern and new.
But as we were driven through the fog to the top of the hill town, it became apparent this was also a very old place, built with walls to protect from invasion many years ago.

We were dropped off just outside the town gate with Stefano's very thorough instructions and map and were then able to wander through an Italian community market. It is quite different than some of the other markets we have been in that are more orientated to tourists.

We then needed to get to the local post office and by no means was this any better than the Poste Italiane office experience in Rome. This time the whole process took an hour and fifteen minutes to post two parcels and a number of post cards. 

It would have been much longer if it was not for the help of a local Carabinieri (police) Officer and us following the lead of the locals and jumping the queue!  The post offices in Italy are much the same as in Australia, they perform many services from banking, telegrams, and of course post.  Today must have been pension day as the Poste Itliane office had at least thirty elderly in the office all waiting for their turn and all talking with their hands and all it would seem, at once!  This made us the tourist attraction this time, not so much Katie but more me as dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and thongs.  I must admit I did look a little out of place as it was a foggy morning and they had all started rugging up after the very hot summer. 

The remainder of our time was spent exploring the town.

Then we returned to the market and waited for Stefano to return and take us to Cortona.