San Gimignano

Buon Giorno

The weather has turned, which one must expect if one stays in Europe for more than a day or so.  I have been fortunate that I have had temperatures not too hot and not too cold.  Today the sky dripped a little and it stayed overcast, but I had my stout shoes and umbrella, so I went forth.

When I visited last time I took a bus to Siena and from the road I looked up and saw the famed towers of the hill top town of San Gimignano silhouetted against the sky. I wanted to go there.  Today I did, but it took some doing.

Riding buses makes me nervous.  See previous post.  No bus runs direct from Florence to San Gimignano, a destination unmissable because of All Those Towers.  I went to the bus station, obtained a round trip ticket and got on the local to Siena.  Fortunately several other English-speaking tourists boarded as well and between them and the questions they asked we got sorted out.  Riding through the clogged, narrow streets with no idea of the traffic patterns and rules can be harrowing, but once out of the city, we entered the heart-catching Tuscan countryside.

Picture a landscape of rolling hills and gentle river valleys.  Each hill is crowned by a villa surrounded by tall cypress trees.  On the slopes below lie vineyards and silvery olive groves.  The vines have not yet come into leaf so the stalks sit bare.  Some of the fields glow bright green.

Said villas are owned or rented by rich folks—or the occasional group of the rest that can go together on expenses.

Our transfer point was Poggiobuonsi.  I strolled about a little rather than just stand for twenty minutes at the bus stop.  At length our bus came and we piled in for another trip through the countryside past farms offering their own olive oil and wine.  We climbed catching the occasional glimpse of towers.

But San Gimignano burst on us by surprise.  We rounded a corner and the bus dropped us off by the city gate.  The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is beautifully preserved and Very Touristy, the latter an advantage in my opinion.  There used to be a lot more towers—I can’t remember how many—because prosperous families back in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries competed for the highest status symbol.  You can climb one if you like, and the town boasts a few attractions you can pay for, but the real sight is the town itself, and the visitor can spend a very happy day strolling the cobbled streets, poking around the shops, and snacking.  Every other store sells souvenirs, often of very high quality (and price!) and in between them are food stores.  What do you want?  Gelato?  Pizza?  Regional specialties?  Had I but known I would have gone there first and then had more food news to regale you with.  I did buy a bot of the local wine.  I like Vernaccia di San Gimignano quite a bit in Italy, but the versions one gets in the United States taste bland.  The bottle I got had a fresh fruity flavor that went very well with my evening pasta once I got home.

Mostly I strolled up and down the streets walking under arches and exploring the fortress and the passages.  I enjoyed the piazzas and the narrow winding streets.  Often I escaped the tourist throngs.  Along the outskirts by the city walls are beautiful panoramas of the Tuscan countryside.

I had some chocolate gelato that was so rich, it was like eating a bowl of frosting.  This is a Good Thing.

But the afternoon was passing and tour busses and school trips arrived.  Time to go.  But where to get the bus home?  The drop off point was not the pick up point after all, but with the help of some kindly Italians, I did find the proper bus stop.  But the bus was late!

The suspense!  Would I make my connection to Florence or would I be stuck in Poggiobuonsi for two and a half hours?  It was an anxious ride downhill, but my fears proved vain.  We arrived in plenty of time, and I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful ride back to Florence.