Sunday, 25 November 2012

Another day on fog world around Montepulciano!  We pulled up the weather report for the town of San Gimignano and it was predicting sunny skies.  We crossed our fingers, plotted a course, gassed up the car, and hit the road.   San Gim is a bit northwest of Sienna which made it about an hour and a half drive.  Keeping a watch full eye out the window for some atmospheric improvement we were quite pleased as we went past Sienna that indeed the sky was up there and it was mostly blue!

The town of San Gimignano is best known for its skyline of 14 medieval towers that still survive from the original 76 that had been built.  Situated about half way between, and just a bit west of Florence and Sienna is both a blessing and a curse for the town.  There are LOTS of tourist euros in close proximity, and the town has lost  some of its inherent authenticity chasing them.  The main street is lined with ceramic shops, clothing stores, and restaurants.   Again, we were glad that we were here in the slow season and could make our way along at a leisurely pace without any crowds to deal with.  We climbed to the top of one of the towers and were able to get a great view out over the countryside.  We were hoping that we could be in position at the top for the bell ringing on the hour, but apparently these bells are not used.  We clambered back down, had some lunch while seated in the main piazza and watched some of the locals and a number of tourists go about their Sunday morning stroll and picture taking.  We did find a fantastic gelato shop just before we left town and were glad to have a mid day sweet treat.

Our trusty guide book itinerary suggested the nearby and much less visited towns of Colle di Val d’Elsa and even smaller Moteriggioni.  We headed south to see them in that order.  d’Elsa is definitely the more authentic of the two.  The narrow streets are clean but not polished and the town is quiet with a few museums and churches. I wandered the streets with my camera but Laura decided the warm sunny car and book were a better option for her for this town.

Moteriggioni is a quite small town about the size of a city block back in our neighborhood in Houston.  It sits on a low hill top surrounded by vineyards and olive groves planted on the floodplain of a nearby river. Approaching the town from the west  late in the afternoon we found the fortress like walls and series of towers lit up by the sun.  The town began in 1203 and was converted to a garrison town 10 years later to house troops to fend off the pesky Florentine army since this was the territory of Sienna.  There are a few shops, a couple places to eat and only 3 ‘streets’ to wander.  The main attractions are the setting and the view of, and from, the walls.

Enjoy the towns and the people.