September 27, 2015 (Sunday)
We left our house Bertini Falls and we went first to the city of San Gimignano and then to the city of Volterra. Just to give you an idea of the distance by car, the round trip took about 2 hours, so everything is very close. The road is of good quality, but the best thing is the landscape, full of well-kept wineries with charming traditional houses.
San Gimignano
San Gimignano It has one of the most interesting urban layouts in Italy, as you can see from afar the 14 towers that remained from the 12th century (there were 72 in total). As we began to approach the city, I was surprised by the number of tourists parking their cars in huge parking lots outside the medieval city. I later discovered the reason: you can't drive around there if you're not a resident.
We parked the car in one of the parking lots and paid 6 euros for the 3 hours we spent there. We walked for a few minutes up not-so-steep slopes and soon arrived at our first attraction, the church of Saint Augustine.
Church of Sant'Agostino
This church usually goes unnoticed by tourists because it is in a corner of the city with few attractions, but our guide recommended it and we went after it. The square where it is located is very medieval… I loved it! We left there and started walking towards the most touristy area. I thought the city was lovely!
Cistern Square
We arrived at Cistern Square, which has a well right in the middle and mansions with vertical bar windows. We made a point of buying an ice cream at Dondoli Ice Cream Shop, because we saw several award plaques and a considerable line. There is an ice cream shop next door that claims to be the best in the world, but there are no awards on the wall...lol.
Piazza del Duomo
The neighboring square is the Piazza del Duomo and in it you will find the Duomo (city cathedral from 1148) and the New Palace of the Podestà, which was built to be the new government palace, but today houses the tourism center and the Civic Museum. If you want to climb the 218 steps of the tallest tower in the city, Grosso Tower, you have to enter through the museum. Oh, there is no ticket just for the tower, only the tower + museum combo. We didn't go up, but some people say it is one of the most beautiful views in Italy.
We went in search of viewpoints and found two very empty ones, with spectacular views! Take a look:
There was even a restaurant with an incredible view that only opens for dinner, so we couldn't sit there, unfortunately. WHAT IS THE REASON FOR NOT OFFERING LUNCH WITH THIS VIEW, MY GOD?
Having lunch in SG
As we were hungry, but didn't want to sit in any restaurant and waste time sightseeing, we decided to buy slices of pizza at RiccaPizza, on the main street of the city. Very nice.
In addition to pizza, we bought pasta, sauces, sausages, cheeses and other regional delicacies in charming little shops around the city to take back to our little house and we said goodbye to the city.
Volterra
We continue our journey to Volterra and when we arrived, we parked the car on a street outside the city, very close to a medieval gate. Parking on the street was cheaper (2.50 euros for 2 hours), but it is always riskier too. We strolled around the city without any plans and, as it is also medieval, we were also enchanted by it. What a nice atmosphere, what peace…
A Medieval Parade
After walking around for a while, we had a really nice surprise: a medieval-style parade began, with a march, lots of drumming and the actors acting very serious. We didn't understand what it was and even asked the people next to us, who were also lost, but we thought it was great. Check it out:
We thought the presentation was really cool, but we didn't stay until the end...lol
Road to Colle Bertini
We took advantage of the fact that it was still daylight and went back to our little corner, enjoying the scenery from the road. What a beautiful place! 🙂
Want to know more about THIS TRIP? See the posts below:
- Italy – Rome, Tuscany, Bologna and Cinque Terre (14 days -SUMMARY)
- Italy – Rome and Vatican (4 days)
- Italy – Bologna (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Summary (4 days)
- Italy – Tuscany – San Gimignano and Volterra (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Florence (2 days)
- Italy – Tuscany – Lucca (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Monteriggioni and Siena (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Montepulciano and Cortona (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Pisa (1 day)
- Italy – Cinque Terre (2 days)
If you want to know more about our other trips around Italy, see below:
