San Gimignano

We were whisked away from Florence and our bus passed through the terraced hills of Chianti and the cypress-lined gardens of villages. We finally came upon the fifteen towers of a walled hill town, looking a little like a medieval Manhattan.

As we approached I kept thinking of Matthew 5:14 ‘A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…’ and I was later intrigued to read that there had once been seventy two towers and it was a way of flaunting ones wealth apparently. Build a tower!

We settled into the apartment and went walkabout. We loved the narrow streets, the unexpected turnings down arched alley ways, and then out to ramparts with vistas of the whole of Tuscany rolling away at our feet. It was so beautiful.

We joined the throngs of tourists that are bussed in every day, and looked at shops selling leather, pottery, cheese, and hams. We also made a note we must visit the two torture museums.

Later when the sun had set, and the busses had gone, we were almost alone in the square, sipping a drink and waiting for our pizza to arrive. The ancient well in the centre stood as it had done for centuries, and a flute player played a melancholy tune.

The next day Natasha and Leo and Bonnie arrived. It was fun to catch up on all the adventures and we made plans for the day ahead.

Leo asked me if there was anything I hadn’t done before my BIG birthday that I might have wished I had. I admitted I had never eaten a truffle! Well, we were in truffle country and that night we found a tucked away restaurant and I was served a mountain of tagliatelle with truffles.

I looked at the plate in horror, thinking of my waist line – SO much pasta! But after the first tentative sniff, then bite, I gobbled it all up like a famished bear and would have licked the plate. Ah! Now I understand what all the fuss is about!

My birthday was wonderful. I was greeted with balloons and cakes and cards and presents, and little Bonnie was quite bemused by it all.

She was dressed up in her best dress, then given a quick walking lesson by John then we all set off to see the Collegiata church. With our head phones on we strolled about, taking turns to hold Bonnie who was more interested in pulling herself up on the bars than seeing the 11^th frescoes which were like a medieval comic strip. Natasha was very concerned that Bonnie would be having night mares with all the depictions of ‘the massacre of the innocents’ that she had seen in the last few days! Bonnie didn’t look as though she cared tuppence.

We climbed up a narrow street, way above the town itself to a park full of olive trees. We laid out a blanket and had the most blissful picnic.

There were cheeses, hams, wild boar salami, bread and white wine. Black olives fell randomly, and the day was hot. Bonnie discarded her dress then had a nap, Leo and John sat on a bench and played chess, and Natasha and I drew portraits of each other. It was idyllic.

The following day we all set off for Siena, and I had to smile at the photos that John took of the little family and the strange woman that was trying to butt in on their scene! She looks as though she was just passing by and decided to just be in it!

We did look at the Fonte Gaia that I had once learnt all about as part of my studies, and is linked in my mind with my first taste of Grappe. It nearly blew my head off. The tutor said it would warm me up. It was a very cold day as I remember.

This time it was the scene of a horrible death scene. One pigeon was floating dead in the water and the other was fluttering pathetically and gasping its last breath. What on earth could have happened? I do hope some hardened killer of pigeons hadn’t skulked off leaving the carnage.

Anyway we looked at everything and boiled, and eventually sat down to rest under a tree. Tasha suddenly swooped down between John and me and pulled up a four leaf clover! She has such eagle eyes. Then she found another two, so we were very blessed. I have them safe, and hope they bring us good luck!

The next day we parted, and I felt such a wrench and missed Bonnie and Tasha and Leo so much. They were returning to France before going home. John and I made our way back to Florence and got a taxi to Galluzzo, just outside the city on the other side of the Arno.

We stayed in the Lemon House, a most beautiful location, surrounded by olive trees and vines, overlooking the town.

We sat out the first evening and drank some wine and got eaten up by the most vicious mosquitos we had encountered the whole trip. I looked a sorry sight with huge bites on my ears, along my jaw and on my cheeks. Horrible.

From Galluzzo we were able to get the bus into Florence and then the train to Pisa and Lucca where we did whirl wind tours. It was all wonderful, and I felt as though I was walking through a film set half the time. Had to pinch myself and remind myself it was all REAL, that tower really was leaning, that view was not from some film I had seen.

But John made me laugh as we were on the number 37 bus about to cross the Arno, and on a poster was written in big letters, ‘If it’s the tourist season, why can’t we shoot them!!’ Quite.