Note: This was a post from September of 2006 that I just found in a random text file. I can’t remember if I ever published it, but if not, here it is.

Driving through Tuscany gave me an almost deja-vu feeling as the rolling hills and tall cyprus trees have become so familiar from the countless movies and books about Italy that I’d felt I’d been there many times before. It’s a 2½ hour drive from Casina to San Gimignano and our Bed & Breakfast was just outside of town, down a dirt road lined with other Bed & Breakfasts. Simo had only hear the name of the town a few times and it was completely new to me, so we were both a little surprised to find it as touristy as Firenze or Siena. In fact, one of the few touristy cities I’d been to that had more Americans than Brits or other Europeans. Maybe Americans only start showing up in September.

Before checking into our B&B, we took a little time to see San Gimignano and passed through the large gate of the city’s surrounding protective wall — original wooden doors still in place. The town has a long history with its inception dating around the 3rd century BCE and laster became a major trading post on an ancient highway stretching from Canterbury to Rome. The wealthy, like in many towns in Italy, built towers to display their wealth and position and would always try to out-do the others.

Most towers have disappeared with time, but many of San Gimignano’s have remained and is one of the main lures of the town. The town, once more prosperous and bustling than Florence, died out in the 14th century when the Plague swept through Italy and, aside from the numerous Bed & Breakfasts and tourist shops, it seems hardly changed.

We spent Saturday driving through wine country and stopping at the small villages in between. From Colle Val d’Elsa to Monteriggioni,
Buonconvento, San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza, we spent an hour or two in each wandering through the streets and visiting the historic sites. Colle Val d’Elsa was my favorite town as we seemed to be the only two tourists there, but was just as beautiful as San Gimignano in my opinion.

Simona’s favorite was Monteriggioni, a small village completely sealed in by an imposing 30’ wall around the town. We do agree that the courtyard that you walk into as soon as you pass the gates in Monteriggioni has a certain indescribable allure that isn’t found often, even in the numerous beautiful villages in Italy.

We stopped in an alimentari along the way and bought bread with various types of salame and cheese from the area with the idea of finding a nice place to have a picnic.

We began towards our next planned stop, but eventually tossed the map down and turned down whichever road seemed the most interesting. We passed vineyard after vineyard, as this region is famous for the many types of wine that it produces, in search of a good place to sit and eat. Time passed and the smell of the salame was tempting my hunger pangs and told me to just stop by the side of the road and we’ll eat in the car, but we pressed on. Eventually, we ended up in the small town of Pontignano where a picnic table was sitting under the shade next to a high rock wall and an old church in the distance. Our picnic consisted only of salame sandwiches and Fanta, but to me was the most enjoyable meal of the weekend. I’d later have some stuffed rabbit that I might rank up in my top 10 list of greatest meals ever, but the whole experience of picnic with Simo made it all the more memorable.

After eating, we headed down a path marked as an archaeological site, and had a series of stones stacked upon one another, but nothing to describe what they were. After turning back, we went to see what was on the otherside of the wall next to where we ate and discovered that our quiet little village was actually one of the satellite campuses of the University of Siena. The school looked like it had taken the place of an old monastery with two square courtyards sandwiched together burying everything but the steeple of an old church in the middle. We did our best to look like students wandering around the hallways, but they had more cameras than a bank and we just wanted to check out what was inside.
 

On Sunday, we checked out of our room and drove into Siena where we’d spend the remainder of the day. The weather was sunny and hot and the city was overflowing with tourists bustling through the streets. We visited the Duomo and its “crypt”, which they tell you after they’ve taken your money and pushed you inside that it’s not really a crypt, then wandered through the streets marveling at the architecture of the ancient town. The plan was only to stay a few hours as a side trip on the way back, so we made our way to the car and headed off for the 2½ hour drive back home.