San Gimignano and Pisa

After lunch at the farmhouse, the next stop was San Gimignano, a medieval hill top fortressed town. There used to be over 70 towers as the rich would build them to live in to show how rich they are. The taller and the more you have, the richer you are. (So something haven't changed.) Most towns in Tuscany did this but San Gimignano is one of the only where most (~40) have survived. 

Another view over Tuscany

 Entrance to the town.

from the top

The town has another claim to fame - it is the home of the world's best Gelateria (won twice in the last 10 years). And it was good. I tried the eggnog and it was seriously good. 

Word's best ice-cream - eggnog

Town square center.

Towers.

The final stop of the day was Pisa to see the famous leaning tower. It was getting dark when we got there but the view was still good.

The baptistry.

Cathedral.

The leaning tower.

Really does lean

The cathedral is oddly quite a distance from the town centre so there wasn't much to do there other than take some photos and visit the gift shop, where they had the usual array of tacky tourist bits but also some very nice things.

We got back to Florence at about 7pm and were knackered so just went to a restaurant round the corner from our hotel, which was so good. To be fair, every where we went for food was amazing. If I lived in Italy, a diet would be needed.  

Siena and farmhouse lunch

On the Sunday we did a Tuscany tour, hitting some of the Tuscany countryside high lights. This meant another early morning but this one was well worth it. (I have split this day into two posts as I have so many photos.) On the way our, the tour guide, Sara, explained some of the history of Florence. It was more than we heard on the tour bus we did a few days before and was much more relevant. 

The first stop was Siena where we had a walking tour which was great. Our guide there lived in Siena and told us all the bits we would never have known without her. 

She showed us the Medici crest which is all over Florence and Siena. When the Medici's took over, they put it on the walls everywhere to stake their claim. They were a great family, very keen on the arts, though apparently this was to off-set their sins in money loaning. (And if the TV show is true, somewhat of a criminal empire as well.)

Medici crest.

Outside the oldest still working bank in the world.

Famous faces.

She took us through the old streets and explained the district system in Siena, which each district having their own animal mascot. Siena is much smaller than Florence, with whom they have been rivals for centuries. They were in the middle of their chestnut festival. Unfortunately the festival was only on the evening.

In the forest district. 

Normally the tour would go through the cathedral but it was a Sunday morning so closed to tourists. Still the Cathedral from the outside was very impressive.

Instead of going in to the Cathedral, we went into Santa Maria della Scala, Europes oldest hospital (working until about 20 years ago) and used for pilgrims on the pilgrim road from Canterbury to the Holy Lands. We only got to see a little but the main part of the tour was a room with beautiful frescos. (We also googled what a fresco actually was - it's a painting which is paint with water colours onto fresh wet plaster so sinks into the plaster.)

Tending to the pilgrims

Clothing the poor.

The hospital also took in orphans, educating them and even allowing them to marry afterwards (not sure why this was important but apparently it was). She also told us of a custom which was used during the wedding that I am glad has disappeared from custom. The woman had to make the symbol of a woman's parts while the man of a mans with their clothes while being blessed, I think to convince the priest they knew what they had to do. Whether they had to act it out, we weren't sure.

Getting married. 

Outside we wondered through to outer part of the cathedral. They were planning to extend it and almost double it in size, mainly to make it compete with the Cathedral in Florence but work stopped when the Black death hit Italy and never started again.

Unfinished part of the Cathedral. 

The end of the tour was in Siena town square, though it's a sea shell shape. Twice a year they have a horse race around the square. Each distract is given a horse to back and the first to win (with or without the jockey - it's the horse that counts) is declared the winner and the district gets to keep a banner until the next race (and bragging rights I guess). We saw a video on this and I think I'll pass. It looked more than a little crazy.

Siena city centre.

Pigeon enjoying the fountain.

In the town "square"

We had about 30 mins free so got a coffee and did some people watching before having a little wonder into some of the buildings. 

Inside the town hall square.

Lunch was at a farm house and vineyard, for a 3 course dinner with paired wines over looking San Gimignano, our next stop and the Tuscany countryside. 

The white wine paired with the bruschetta, and the first red went well with the pasta and meat sauce (or tomato sauce for Caroline). The last was a reserve to go with the roast pork and potatoes. Our end of the table was very restrained and only tried a bit of 2 of them. I did not see the point in that and happily enjoyed all of them.

The view over lunch.

Desert was a glass of holy wine (a sweet wine) and biscotti. Caroline's face when she tried this was brilliant, a revelation. It really was very good and made biscotti into a treat.

Desert.

Happily buzzed. 

Looking towards San Gimignano.

The rolling Tuscany hillside. 

After lunch we had a short time to take photos and go to the shop where I got some of the holy wine. Christmas is going to me brilliant!

Food and Wine Tuscany Tour

On the Saturday we went on what was described as a Tuscany Food and Wine tour. It was more a tour of places associated with food and wine for the most part. The first stop was a vineyard and winery where we did a wine tasting so at least it started well. The winery was called Abbadia Ardenga, near Montepulciano. The views were lovely and we got a brief talk outside with an introductory glass of wine before moving inside for a view of the cellars and a full tasing. 

View from the winery.

It was only about 10.30am so a little early for wine, but hey, we were on holiday so why not? And the wine was so good. 

The winery's best wine.

They mostly make Brunello di Montepulciano (made with Sangiovese gross grapes). It can only be made in this area and is very nice. It has to be aged for 5 years before it can be sold.

We got a tasting of 3 different wines. I even got Caroline drinking and enjoying red wine! We also got some fresh bread and homemade olive oil. 

After the tasting we went to Montalcino. We had a wonder around and look at the views as the town is set on a hill. There wasn't much to see and most of the shops were shut for lunch.

Streets of Montalcino

View out.

Community garden

From there we went to Pienza. We were supposed to have another wine tasting with some cheese, but it was inside a shop which was too small for our group and so more than a little chaotic. So we grabbed the wine and then left the group to go and get some lunch. We found a lovely little restaurant and I tried polenta with a wild boar sauce which was amazing.

The last stop was Montepulciano, the hilltop town the wine is named after. We got dropped off at the bottom of the hill and walked up. And up and up and up. On the way up there was a statue of a horse I really wish I had stopped to take a photo off (I didn't want to loose the group and it was too dark on the way down). This horse was anatomically correct (and oddly detailed) and look very happy with himself. 

We headed up, looking for the central square where there was a Christmas market. Which of course was at the very top of the hill. The very long hill.

But we did make it and the markets were very colourful. 

It was dark when we walked down and enjoyed the lights. I am looking forward to Christmas now.

The tour was ok though not what we expected. And though the guide was good, she was more there to get us from one place to the next. And you better not be late for the bus. On the first stop a couple were about 5 minutes late, and the bus was starting to leave without them. Oddly enough after that, everyone was early for the bus!