Entrance to the village of Cignano, from the main road between our house and Vagliagli.

Ancient houses in Cignano.

A pathway between the houses in Cignano.

Leaving Cignano, we went back on the road towards Vagliagli and coincidentally ran into Steve and Ben, who were returning from a day in Siena.

Another nice shot of Steve and Ben.

Continuing down the road towards Vagliagli. When you drive in Italy, you come across many such sets of signs pointing the directions towards various locations.

A nice map of the Sienese Chianti region. We certainly could have used a nice map like this before some of our road trips!

Continuing down the road towards Vagliagli...

The town of Vagliagli was now within our sights.

We stopped for a moment at a small monument honoring a local resistance fighter, Bruno Bonci, who had died in World War II. The monument sits atop a hill overlooking a beautiful vista. When we arrived in Vagliagli, we noticed that the town had also named a street after Bruno Bonci.

I would hardly find Vagliagli's small commercial district worthy of being called "centro," but apparently the persons who erected these signs did.

Grapes, olives, and figs are the predominant crops of the region. Here's a picture with all three.

Church tower in Vagliagli town.

I had a short chat with this charming woman, and then asked her if I could photograph her. She was kind enough to let me take a shot.

Della Robbia of St. Christopher just outside of the church in Vagliagli.

After sharing a bottle of water, we headed up the hill back towards the house.

Passing streets with names like Via del Grappolo (Vine Street)...

...and Via dell'Uva (Grape Street). I also noticed Via dei Capperi (Capers Street) and Via dei Fighi (Fig Street) in town.

A pretty shrine that sits at the entrance to Vagliagli town.

Yet another picture of grapes on the vine.

That night, we went into Castellina in Chianti and had a terrific meal at Antica Trattoria La Torre.

Highlights of dinner were our hot appetizer platter with about ten different things on it, my ribollita (Tuscan bread-based soup), and Jeff's wild boar stew. Highly recommended if you're ever in Castellina in Chianti!