Day 135 Tuscany abounding!

Friday 03/08/2018 (Day 48 SZ) Karma Borgo Di Colleoli Via Panoramica 20 56036 Palaia Colleoli (PI) Tuscany Italy Pisa

Another day dawns and today we are going to try and get to San Gimignano, after not being able to go a few days ago because too many people we thought today we will try once more!
Once we got there it was as the other day wall to wall cars! All jocking to get a park! We must have driven around and around about 4 times before we finally managed to find a spot! Yo be honest I was ready to head off after the 2nd round, and the more anxious I become the more poor John coped it! I really can be a terrible side kick some days! After we finally got the park, which had numerous steps to ascend to make it to the top of the fortified old city! A massive wall surrounded this amazing village dating back to the 3rd century BC this was the beginnings of its origins!

Once we started to wander around we quickly could see this was very different to many of the other villages! Mainly in the fact it had so many very tall towers! It was a fairly spread out village with so many little facets to keep you searching for more! Views from around the edges over the valley’s below were certainly worth looking at! Sadly much of the area is very dry being there summer! The usual alleys, arches etc but so many much more!

When we first arrived we somehow ended straight up in a Cathedral which had so many ancient frescos very interesting! On our way in there was a guy begging at the door, but he wasn’t your usual beggar, he was neatly dressed, with a couple of shells a huge crook for a walking stick and a backpack! He hav the shells out to beg I ignored Him on the way in and as I lost John at on stage kept having to go in and out of the Cathedral a number of times! Each time ignoring him again! I found John and we set off but the whole time I was compelled to give him something so I went back but before I gave him his little offering that I had on me I asked why was he doing it! John had already said to me he felt he might be a pilgrim and once I asked he explained he was a pilgrim he had seen out from Rome and was heading to another place a long way away I can’t remember the name of! He had walked from Rome to San Gimignano as the first part of his leg! He did tell me how long it had taken him and the next big leg would take 5 months! As I didn’t have much money on me I could only give him a very small offering! I wished him all the best and headed on my way! Interesting what makes people want to achieve this type of pilgrimage.... in could have asked more and I should have I am sure he would have told me!

Our day was spent looking and finding again wonderful treasures to see, old Frescos in a courtyard! An amazing old building about to be done up but it was its entrance to the courtyard which lead to the building I loved it looked like a massive picture from ad the whole outside of it was made from carved and designed marble!

As we were wandering we did find a old office to buy a post bag to send if James’s present, nearly wrecked the bag from sweating so much it’s a terribly hot day..

We had a cuppa in the main square always costs more to do that.... sit in the busy touristy areas! But people watching is priceless you just can’t pay to see some of the funny or not so funny sights as you watch the coming and going if people!

Once we had finished we heard off only to stop at their quaint restaurant heading along a Tuscan road! I had seen it the other day as we wizzed by and thought then it looked lovely! I will have to say yes it did look wonderful but their food was so so!!!! Over priced for what it was! Did enjoy the views though, so once we finished we then headed back over the hills, Along the crazy narrow roads where it’s all about dodgems all the way home.......!

Tonight is our last night so we decided to have dinner here! A real meal is what I wanted! Instead of just going for easy starchy stuff to keep the price down and something we can share! I had a beef and sweet potato dish! It was as very yummy and all went well to start with! Could only manage less then half even though it was a small meal to start with! While there Jeff and Leon the sales reps were also sitting over from us! I waved farewell to them and they came over! After a bit of chatter they ended up sitting and we all had a great chat for a bit longer! Then Leon suggested we share a toast with Limoncello, John declined and had some other drink so did Leon! Jeff and I had the Limoncello! I should learn but do you think I do, no.... I only managed a tiny bit and started to feel awful, by the time the boys had said goodnight I had to run for it to be sick! Sweet sweet things and I are not friends any more! And there went my lovely dinner! They had given me a doggy bag for home with the rest of my meal so I could have more the next night!

Our time here had been lovely. Still feels like we could do with a big rest but the atmosphere had been very tranquil so that’s let our minds relax even if our bodies haven’t! It’s not just a matter of looking in Italy all adventures are physical as well with lots of walking and lots of climbing up and down stairs here there and everywhere and if not steps then it’s ramps areas that are steep as well! Plus the heat had zapped us day after day! So I think we are physically tired from all of this as well... but it’s the price you pay to see these amazing unforgettable sights!

History Info below on San Gimignano!

All acknowledgement to Wikipedia! Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.

San Gimignano (Italian pronunciation: [san dʒimiɲˈɲaːno]) is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for saffron, the Golden Ham, and its white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.

San Gimignano delle belle Torri' is in Tuscany, 56 km south of Florence. It served as an important relay point for pilgrims travelling to or from Rome on the Via Francigena. The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 tower-houses (some as high as 50 m) as symbols of their wealth and power. Although only 14 have survived, San Gimignano has retained its feudal atmosphere and appearance. The town also has several masterpieces of 14th- and 15th-century Italian art.

In the 3rd century BC a small Etruscan village stood on the site of San Gimignano. Chroniclers Lupi, Coppi and Pecori relate that during the Catiline conspiracy against the Roman Republic in the 1st century, two patrician brothers, Muzio and Silvio, fled Rome for Valdelsa and built two castles, Mucchio and Silvia (now San Gimignano). The name of Silvia was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus, the Saint of Modena, intervened to spare the castle from destruction by the followers of Attila the Hun. As a result, a church was dedicated to the saint, and in the 6th and 7th centuries a walled village grew up around it, subsequently called the "Castle of San Gimignano" or Castle of the Forest because of the extensive woodland surrounding it. From 929 the town was ruled by the bishops of Volterra.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican, as it sits on the medieval Via Francigena.The city's development was also improved by the trade of agricultural products from the fertile neighbouring hills, in particular saffron, used in both cooking and dyeing cloth and Vernaccia wine, said to inspire popes and poets.
In 1199, the city made itself independent of the bishops of Volterra and established a podestà, and set about enriching the commune with churches and public buildings. However, the peace of the town was disturbed for the next two centuries by conflict between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, and family rivalries within San Gimignano. This resulted in competing families building tower houses of increasingly higher and higher heights. Towards the end of the Medieval period, there were 72 tower houses in number, up to 70 metres (230 feet) tall. The rivalry was finally restrained when the local council ordained that no tower was to be taller than that adjacent to the Palazzo Comunale.
While the official patron is Saint Geminianus, the town also honours Saint Fina, known also as Seraphina and Serafina, who was born in San Gimignano 1238 and whose feast day is 12 March. The Chapel of Santa Fina in the Collegiate Church houses her shrine and frescos by Ghirlandaio. The house said to be her home still stands in the town.
On 8 May 1300, San Gimignano hosted Dante Alighieri in his role as ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.
The city flourished until 1348, when it was struck by the Black Death that affected all of Europe, and about half the townsfolk died. The town submitted to the rule of Florence. Initially, some Gothic palazzi were built in the Florentine style, and many of the towers were reduced to the height of the houses. There was little subsequent development, and San Gimignano remained preserved in its medieval state until the 19th century, when its status as a touristic and artistic resort began to be recognised.Read more