Pienza is a small but nevertheless pretty little town in the Tuscan hills. It has preserved its medieval center very well, it all comes across as very homogenous. The center is almost completely traffic-free, so it's a pleasure to walk in. An hour or 2 will be sufficient time to take in the main sights and roam around for a while.

I almost immediately found out that the place to be in Pienza is the walkway overlooking the Orcia Valley. Local old ladies and Japanese tourists alike enjoyed the combination of the warm sun on their faces and a great view over the Tuscan countryside. I quickly purchased a pannino con prosciutto at a nearby cafe and joined them - already that great feeling of being in a different world, just 4,5 hours after I left Amsterdam.

Dutifully I also had a look at the local sights. At the central square, quite small and strangely trapezoidal-shaped, I visited the interior of the Cathedral. And I joined a guided tour of the impressive Piccolomini Palace next door. It costs 7 EUR and is in Italian only, but worth going. Both Palace and Cathedral are virtual museums that hold major works of medieval art.