Day 26: Under the Tuscan Sun

Well it didn’t actually look like there was going to be much sun in Tuscany at the start of our day, but things certainly improved as we set out to tour the hill towns of Tuscany, affectionately known in Aldertonland as “The Gigglies” due to our total inability to pronounce polysyllabic Italian names! First, breakfast in a Japanese styled breakfast room that served an interesting mixed breakfast, everything from muesli to chocolate cannoli and all points in between… you could even have bacon with that if you wished and the peach black tea was very nice. On to the tour.

Meeting the bus was a cinch as the meeting point was literally right next door to our hotel, and we clambered into yet another European coach, but this one had the steepest stairs I have seen in the last month. Bus full, off we went for our first stop Sienna.

The bus had to park well outside the city walls and the town was not really at all like I had imagined it to be. It is built on a saddle or a ridgeline with the Church of St Dominic and St Catherine on one side, the far side of the triangle taken up with the Duomo and the midpoint of the triangle being the shell shaped Sienna Square, home to the Palio. In between these three key landmarks we walked up and down, across very uneven cobblestones and dodged vehicles in all directions. It was really quite unsafe especially when the ambulance came barreling through. Our first stop was morning tea in the square. This is where the Palio horserace is held twice, in July and August each year. 10 of the local regions out of 17 are able to provide a horse and jockey and the they ride three circuits of this incredibly tight square. We had seen a DVD about the Palio on the bus on the way to Sienna and it appears to be a total blood sport, jockeys thrown, horses galloping with gay abandon. And the interesting rule… the horse that finishes first wins, jockey or not!!!. It is almost barbaric but clearly a part if Sienese culture for many years. Today of course there was no sand on the cobblestones, and the umbrellas from the local cafes lined the square, beckoning us to sit for an Americano and some biscotti and people watching. Then we were flocked together again and headed off to the Duomo.

The façade of this building is beautiful. Apparently the original plan had been for this to be the narthex of a bigger cathedral but the grand plans came to a screaming halt with the Plague of the 14^th century where two thirds of the town died!!! We queued to enter and once inside, the words of the Cardinal were ringing in my ears when he said that the places of worship of our tradition were more than “art galleries for agnostics”. Unfortunately that is exactly what the Sienna Duomo felt like… I was really missing my pilgrims, and the wise conversation and prayer sharing in sacred places. It was even hard to find a seat to block out the noise and quietly pray. Having looked closely at the very attractive flooring especially the Sybils in the limestone it was time to move on again in this somewhat disinterested tour group
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The third stop was a lunch stop all the way around near the Church of St Dominic and St Catherine. Some in the group went off to have a sit down lunch but we opted for our own Panini and gelato and a stroll around, followed by a quick visit to the church. This one was much less ornate than the Duomo, but it was also very quiet which was lovely. There was a prayerful atmosphere here, and while I wasn’t quite ready for St Catherine’s head, it was a lovely place and the contemporary stained glass in the apse looked a little bit like a primary school colouring in picture… bright and colourful. The members of the group finally sauntered back, unlike our pilgrims who had been so timely for the last month, and we wandered back and boarded the bus for our next destination, Monteriggioni. 

I think that this one is Chris’s favourite hill town. It is a completely walled medieval town that is on the Via Francigena. The views from the town are beautiful and it has a lovely old church from Crusader days as well as some gorgeous little boutique shops. Chris enthusiastically climbed the town walls and took photos while I photographed him from the ground. Think I got the better end of the arrangement! Then it was off to collect the next Hill town, San Gimignano. 

This is a much larger hill town and not still completely walled, but it commands amazing views across the Tuscan hills and has dual piazzas and very interesting buildings and streets. Again the shopping was nice to browse and the only trouble was a very long toilet queue and the mandatory 50 eurocents for the queue privilege. We found a little laneway with a stunning view of the valley and just soaked up the hill town atmosphere. Arriving back at the bus there were latecomers again… one of the reasons that Chris and I prefer to be independent travelers… and when the bus finally came it was a welcome sight because today we had down a fair bit of hiking up and down and the legs knew it.

The final stop of the day was a local winery to taste the produce, both Chianti and a local white wine as well as some extra virgin olive oil. I admit to not being a fan of Chianti, but I have to admit that the olive oil was lovely. Then it was time for the trip back to Florence, complete with traffic jam and a quick bite to eat at the station before the hotel and a well-earned night’s sleep.Dreams of hilltowns and rolling hills bouncing in my head. Go the Gigglies!