Tour Day!!! I went on a 10 hour driving tour of Tuscany. Ok, it wasn't actually 10 hours in the bus ... it was more like 1 hour on the bus, 1.5 hours in Siena, 40 minutes on the bus, 1 hour at lunch (OMGSOGOOOOOOOOD), 10 minutes on the bus, 1 hour a San Gimignano, 1.5 hours on the bus, 1 hour at Pisa, 1.5 hours on the bus .... and back in Florence.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't all that great, so the views weren't AS spectacular as they usually are (which is incredible, because they were pretty amazing anyways!). Siena was cold but beautiful. We had a great tour guide (her name was Donnatella!!!!) who showed us around this little hilltop town that peeked in the Medieval period and was then forgotten for a long time ... so the architecture was never really changed which means that all the streets are SUPER tiny and picturesque. It's also an AMAZINGLY wealthy city because in the 13 century a bank was established there that is still in existence today! Siena is actually a COMMUNE so 67% of the banks proceeds go BACK to the town! You wouldn't know how wealthy the city is from looking at it ... but when a resident opens the door to their house you are completely taken aback!!! There are also all these really fun local rivalries as the city is divided into 17 districts who are constantly competing against each other (most famously in Il Palio over the summer!!). There are hidden stables in the back alleys so that the horses can be protected during Il Palio in July and August. The Cathedral is just fascinating with it's combination of architectural and artistic styles! There is CLEAR gothic influence from France, Moorish influence from the South, Renaissance influence from Florence and Rome ... all in one building! the frescoes in the "library' of the cathedral are just STUNNING. The room was SUPPOSED to be a library, so it was decorated with BEAUTIFUL frescoes ... and then the books never arrived! So they closed up the room ... which perfectly preserved the frescoes!! See my pictures on Facebook to get a sense of just how amazing these are (they've NEVER been restored or retouched ... ) The floor is also fabulous! When you look at it you'd think that it had been painted ... but closer observation shows you that it's different types of marble! It's really splendid!
From Siena we made our way over to the working winery and farm where we had lunch and a wine tasting. Seriously, the best meal I've had since getting to Italy!! They made everything but the cheese on the farm, including the wine (of which we had four types ... so that would be 4+ glasses of wine ...). It was really interesting getting to spend time with all the people on the tour, all of whom had REALLY interesting stories! I think that my favorite thing about traveling is all the cool people you meet!! Even if you don't form lasting friendships, it's still really interesting to meet people from all walks and places of life! I was tempted to get some wine to send home, but realized that 1. I had NO room in my luggage and 2. it was way to expensive to ship home and 3. they have a vendor in NYC and a website from which you can buy the wine! SCORE!!!
After lunch (and the wine), cruelly, we went to San Gimignano, which is one of the most famous hilltop villages in Italy because of it's towers!! Typically, the local nobility would build buildings and churches and patron works of art to show off their wealth in powers. In San Gimignano they built towers --- HUGE towers!!! The towers are so striking that San Gimignano is called the Middle Manhattan of the MIddle Ages and that's definitely what it looks like from the distance! The town was kinda closed up this time of year, but that didn't take away from the amazing views that were to be off of just about every turn. We had some GREAT gelatto (the world champion ice cream shot is actually IN the town, but it was closed until March. However, there was an ice cream shop open NEXT to it and I think that if you can be NEXT to the best ice cream shop in the world and stay in business then I think that you MUST be pretty good yourself!!!). Then we realized that it was a 10 minute walk back to the bus which was leaving in 5 minutes ... so those of us who had started walking around as a group (a couple from India who live in London currently for work, a girl from Estonia here on vacation, a mother and daughter from Israel, and a girl from Australia) literally RACED down the hill. We weren't the last ones on the bus which was a good thing!!
We had a looooong drive through Chianti country which was just lovely!! It was a bit hard to stay awake with the gently rolling countryside, the warm coziness of the bus, the exhaustion from the day ... but I managed to stay awake and took as many pictures as possible from the window of the bus. Most of them turned out REALLY well (though some of them are adversely affected by the movement of the bus!!). Then we arrived in Pisa and I have to say that it was really freaking cool! I have NO idea how that tower stays standing!!!! After taking the compulsory tourist shots, I was pretty ready to call it a day ... I napped a bit on the bus ride back to Florence and was DEFINITELY ready for bed when I got back to my hostel ... but I was responsible and did some laundry in the sink. HOPEFULLY the clothes will be drive when I wake up in the morning!!!!!!!
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