Siena to San Gimingnano- August 10: Medieval Towers

Another beautiful day awaited us this morning. After breakfast in the garden, we took a taxi through town to the bus station. The taxi wove in and out of narrow streets dodging people and babies on strollers.

The 50 minute bus ride to San Gimignano was very nice and only made two stops. We were surprised to find out that it only cost 5 euro to ride a modern tour type bus. Upon our arrival in town we noticed immediately that it was bustling with tourists. Out hotel, L'Antico Pozzo, is recommended in Karen Brown's guide. It's from the 15th century.

Our lunch was at Locanda Di Sant'Agostino. They have delicious tomato and bean salad. It is in the courtyard of Saint Agostino Church where they were busy preparing for a huge wine festival.

There was a brief downpour, but when it cleared it was actually a lot cooler. Walking around town we noticed many upscale shops selling wine, cheese, salami, and interesting ceramics. We stopped in at a pretty shop for some white wine, Vernaccia San Gimingnano, and some pecorino cheese with rosemary crackers. We decided to stop at a pizzaria for dinner and had excellent crispy cheese pizza that you could buy by the slice. The sunset tonight was incredible and we hiked to the top of an old ruin for a better view. Following some tiki torches back to the hotel, we discovered the wine festival was in full swing, but the entertainment was a dance band. We decided to skip it and head back to the hotel.

"The Towers of San Gimignano"

San Gimignano
Towers lit by evening sun
A magical place!