We planned to use our hire car to explore some of the Tuscan hill villages.
We allowed ourselves a sleep in then after another lovely
breakfast we headed off for San Gimignano. It was a forty minute drive out to the
countryside and perched on high sweep of land. As we approached through the
russet countryside it was easy to pick out for its five enormous towers. Johnny
was very excited as this town is one of the towns used for modelling the setting of the computer game Assassin’s Creed,
in which a character leaps recklessly across towers and ramparts.
We parked in a car park outside the city walls and walked in
through some pretty impressive defensive gates. Unlike other towns that looked
like wintering trees hanging on to only the last few leaves, this town was full
of tourists and the colour they bring to a place. There were tourists but it wasn’t
busy and unpleasant, and lots of the shops and cafes were open.
San Gimignano was quite a large place and we had a lot to
interest and entertain us for the next three hours. We began with a walk along
the outer pathways to look back out across that glorious countryside. Above us
wheeled great flights of large black birds, swirling round and round the
towers. Johnny said he could imagine some poor soul being hung from a tower window
in one of the torture cages and being pecked to death by these hungry birds. The
thought may have come to mind because the town boasts a museum of torture,
which I might add, we did not go into. I have worked at William Ruthven and
experienced every torture imaginable. I didn’t need to pay to see more.
The first church we visited was dripping with frescoes and
although photos were banned, I did manage to fire off a few discrete shots. Everywhere
we looked there were picturesque laneways and twisting streets. With no
particular plan we just followed our noses and found some lovely sights. Of
course we had a coffee and apple cake in a café in a sunny piazza and
entertained ourselves using the selfie stick to take movies.
Out and about we are always on the lookout for good places
to get lunch. Far better than a pannini shop are the gourmet delis where we
select our bread, our meat and cheese and they make up a filled pannini for us
on the spot. This time we were also tempted to get a slice of Siena cake to
have with our coffee in the evening, after dinner. We sat in one of the biggest
piazzas on the steps of the town well and ate our picnic in the sun. I think we
must be in the photos of about a hundred tourists who were trying to photograph
the piazza and the old well. We helped out a couple by taking their photo of them.
They had come from eastern China - Shanghai. My friend Carol takes her grandson to Messy Me play and here in far flung Italy in a far flung town there was a kinder running the very same activity. The world is a very small place sometimes.
After lunch we took another trail through the town, circling
back to the same piazza and a shop renowned for its gelati. Apparently the ice
cream is very much awarded, and a string of famous people , including Tony Blair,
Jamie Oliver and the judges of Italian Master chef have been by to taste the
wares.
There was still a lot of life left in the day when we had
finished our tour around San Gimigiano. So, Johnny just picked out another town
on the map and we headed for it. This was just a workaday town, for us notable
only for the fact that every supermarket, deli or other food enterprise shuts
until 4 pm. Who knows why. We were searching for a place to replenish our
supplies of beer and juices. That would have to wait till we found a bigger
town. We did manage to fill up with petrol and were astonished at the mileage
the little hybrid was doing. We had travelled 520 km and only chewed through 26
litres. That’s 20 km per litre. Pretty good I say.
Siena certainly came to life on Friday night. There were so many people of all ages down in the centre. The streets were blocked off to traffic and stalls started to set up in the streets. The chestnut roasters were out and in one of the courtyards, a pop up bar was doing a roaring trade and a band was setting up with lights and amplifiers for some kind of all night session. We took a turn down to the Palio and then circled back
We wanted a special place for our anniversary meal and we certainly found it. Johnny chose Il Biondo. When we arrived at 7.30 there were only a couple of people there byt by8.45 when we left, the place was full. It looked very elegant and both food and service was terrific. We started with an appetiser of flan with truffles and mushrooms. Then Johnny had tuna with raspberries and salad, I had a mixed seafood and roast potatoes. Excellent! Can really recommend this place. We didn't stay for dessert as we had chocolate Siena cake and coffee waiting for us back at the hotel. I could get used to this holiday caper.
