May 27 2008

Tuscan Hill Towns Part 2

Published by at 2:21 am under Italy,Tuscany/Umbria

Well, it’s probably about time to tell you about what we did a couple weeks ago, right? We’ve been off of our normal blogging pace for the last week or two so we’ll try to catch up in the next few days.

After the week in Umbria, we spent a week in Tuscany near San Gimignano and it was wonderful.  Our villa was really nice and the people who ran it were fabulous.  They served a great dinner three nights during the week we were there and it was some of the best food we’ve had on the trip.

During the week, we visited Volterra, Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Pisa, and some wineries in Chianti.  Of these towns, our favorites were San Gimignano, Siena, and Volterra.  Here are some snapshots from that week; Dave will also post a gallery of the nicer shots from our time in both Tuscany and Umbria [Sometime real soon now! – Dave] :

 San Gimignano

Above: A view of San Gimignano from the road our villa was on. The approach to most of the hill towns looked similar with a walled city up on a hill. San Gimignano though is known for its towers since, in many hill towns, the towers have been toppled or torn down over time.

 A typical view of the Tuscan countryside

Above: A typical view of the surrounding countryside from the inside of a hill town. Sweeping views look beautiful to us but in the past were practical for city defenses.

 A steep, windy street in Volterra

Above: A typical steep, winding street through a hill town. Many are too narrow for vehicles. This was in Volterra on the day we traveled from Umbria to Tuscany. Notice how there is no one on this road. It was a Saturday (see next picture).

 Crowded street on San Gimignano

Above: The main street leading up to the city center of San Gimignano. This was taken on a Monday. Notice the difference in the crowds in the street compared to Volterra above. San Gimignano is beautiful and definitely worth a visit but it’s also one of the most well known hill towns in Italy so be prepared for crowds.

 Siena's Campo from above

 Above: A view of Siena’s Campo de Fiori surrounded by a typical spread of buildings with red tile roofs.

 The ceiling of the Piccolomini Library

Above. The ceiling of the Piccolomini Library, a room off the side of the nave of Siena’s Duomo. This is over 500 years old and the colors are still incredibly vibrant. Definitely worth a few minutes’ side trip if you visit the Duomo.

 Our villa with vineyards in the foreground

Above: The countryside around Tuscany is an endless view of vineyards. This was on a foggy morning in the vineyards below our villa looking back towards our room.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa with part of the Duomo on the left

Above: When we left Tuscany to head to the Cinque Terre, we went via Pisa and spent a few hours there in the middle of the day. The guidebooks are correct: there isn’t much to see in Pisa besides the Leaning Tower. The other two things to see are right next to it: the Duomo and the Baptistry. All three are related: the Leaning Tower’s official name is the Campanile which is a bell tower for a church. It costs 15 Euros to climb the tower so we didn’t bother. It wasn’t worth $50 for two people.

The Baptistry and the Duomo 

Above: In my opinion, the Baptistry was more interesting than the Leaning Tower. It’s enormous and the inside was deliberately designed for great acoustics. Every 30 minutes, one of the park officials would close the doors, walk to the center of the first floor, and sing for a few minutes. The echoes last so long that it is possible to for someone to sing a 3-note chord with themselves. We saw (heard) the park official do this several times. Very cool! Most tourists left before they closed the doors, seemingly unaware that they’d see this if they stuck around for just another minute or two.

By the way, if you go to Siena, go to a little shop called “Pizzicheria De Miccoli” right in the center between the Campo and the Duomo.  A man named Antonio will make you amazing sandwiches to eat there or take away.  We ate while standing in a corner of this small shop and watched people come in and buy salami, cheeses, wine, cookies and cakes (Antonio gives samples freely so you know what you’re getting before you get it).  My sandwich (roast pork and pesto) was the best sandwich in the world.  And it was huge.  I dropped a little on the floor (klutzy), and Antonio made me a platter with cheese, salami, a cheese brioche and an artichoke to replace what I had dropped (it was like a second meal).  One of the most fun lunches I’ve ever had.

– Meredith

One response so far

One Response to “Tuscan Hill Towns Part 2”

  1. Peter says:

    Hi Meredith
    Nice summary and i like the way you illustrate the relative popularity (crowds) for San Gimignano and Volterra, I agree with you San Gimignano and Lucca are really worth seeing but I personally prefer (see my pics etc. at http://www.360tuscany.net) Volterra, Cortona and of course Siena (Sienna) which is great.
    Cheers