San Gimignano, Italy - Tuscany Delivers!
Written: Jun 21 '00 (Updated Jun 22 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tuscan countryside has unparallelled beauty, very well preserved medieval city
Cons: Far from undiscovered
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| kifwebe's Full Review: San Gimignano |
After two days of exploring the markets and sites of Florence, one of Italy's greatest and most visited treasures, it was time for a change of pace. We decided to leave the hordes of tourists who mobbed the stunning Ponte Vecchio, the wonderful, Boticelli-rich Uffizi Museum, and the overwhelming spectacle of the Catedral Duomo, and take a day trip to the surrounding Tuscan countryside.
We were excited to leave the city in favor of the beautiful rolling hills and vineyards, especially because the leaves were just beginning to give way to autumn, covering the landscape with varying shades of oranges, reds, and yellows. Two days earlier, on the train ride between Salerno and Florence, we had gotten a glimpse of what would be in store, but unfortunately we spent a majority of the trip either napping or conversing with a group of students we met along the way.
Our excitement allowed us an early start. We headed to the train station from our hotel with a slight hop in our step, stopping briefly in an off the beaten path bakery we had found the day before to grab some fresh pastries for breakfast. Our plan was to see the small city of San Gimignano, a once prominent trading town along the main commercial route between Rome and northern Italy. Our travel guides indicated that the walled city and UNESCO heritage site was very well preserved in its 10th century form as well as being perfectly placed amongst the countless wineries and vineyards of the region.
Because San Gimignano is not located on a direct train route, we could have opted to rent a car or scooter and drive the 40 or so miles through the countryside. In retrospect, that may have been the best idea, because it would have allowed us to "get lost" a bit, and to stop at our leisure. Because our budget was a primary concern and our Eurail passes would get us most of the way there, we elected to give up that freedom.
Tuscany didn't disappoint. The train was crowded, but Sarah and I were lucky enough to find a car with two open seats near the window. We were even able to tolerate the thick cigarette smoke that permeated the car from passengers who ignored the no smoking signs, a discourtesy we were becoming more and more acclimated to as our trip wore on. The short ride on the train was spent mostly with our noses pressed to the window and our fingers pointing this way and that, insisting that the farms and villas we saw along the way were even more beautiful than the ones we had seen just minutes before.
If only we had rented a scooter. We both agreed to return someday when we had amassed our fortune so that we could do Tuscany justice. Not that we weren't happy, but the flexibility increasingly seemed to outweigh its impact to our budget. Insert cliché statement that hindsight is 20/20 here.
Our final approach to San Gimignano was by bus. The surrounding hills obstructed our view a bit, but when we finally caught a glimpse of it, its nickname, "Medieval Manhattan", seemed very fitting. At one time, the city contained a total of 72 towers within its walls, which were built by its wealthiest residents in order to gain prominence while maintaining the floor plan size imposed upon them by law. Today only 14 of the towers remain standing, the tallest of which is about 150 feet, but it's still quite an amazing site.
The bus dropped us off just outside of the city's entrance, and already Sarah and I were groaning about the number of tourists milling about. Not only was the bus packed with tourists, but the demographics of the people in our field of sight more closely resembled Disney World than a World Heritage Site in Italy.
We entered the city to find hundreds more tourists. We had escaped the hordes in Florence to experience the hordes in San Gimignano. But in truth, when something as beautiful as this medieval city exists, you have to expect that others will have discovered it long before you. To tour San Gimignano in solace would be a journey back through time I'm sure. It is extremely well restored and preserved, and is almost too medieval to believe. At times we almost felt that we were at Disney World, especially when we found out that one of its attractions was a haunted house-like museum of torture. We decided to skip that.
We spent the majority of the day trying to find secluded areas of the walled city, but because of its small size and the number of visitors, this was a daunting task. We spent an hour in the history museum learning a bit about the region and the importance of the city throughout the ages, and paid the unreasonably expensive entrance fee to climb the tallest of the 14 remaining towers, the Torre Grossa, to take in the best views of the area.
The views were stunning. From this vantage we really got a sense for how densely packed the buildings were, and just how well restored the city was. The changing leaves enveloped us, and were responsible for countless pictures in all directions. From here, our excursion was worth it despite the overwhelming number of fellow travelers.
All of this time, we had forgotten to eat. We stopped by the local tobacconist and bought a few postcards and stamps, and found a café where we grabbed a few slices of less than extraordinary pizza and scribbled down a few "wish you were here's" and "having a great time's."
It was late afternoon by this time, and we did a bit more exploration both inside and outside of the city walls. We finally decided to splurge a bit, and enjoy one of the things that San Gimignano and surrounding regions are famous for - wine. We bought a bottle of incredible wine (Sorry - I can't properly describe its bouquet, balance, or finish, nor can I vouch for its floral notes - it was just plain phenomenal!) and enjoyed it in the center of the Piazza della Cisterna, the town's central square.
It was nice to just sit and take in the sights that surrounded us and to imagine that we were in a place preserved in time. The wine was the perfect elixir for the evening, allowing us to forget about the hustle and bustle of travel and instead to reflect on the beauty that we were lucky enough to be experiencing. After too much reflection, we realized "Oh no, we're going to miss the last bus! Run!
We did in fact make it, and took a short nap on the bus before transferring back to the train. We would have one last night on the town in Florence before moving to our next destination.
Recommended:
Yes
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kifwebe
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Location: :noitacoL
Reviews written: 29
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