Sunday, we got up and drove straight
to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really does lean, and a lot more than we had
expected, it was pretty impressive. Something I didn't know is that the tower
is actually a bell tower for the big cathedral right next to it. So, we also walked
around the exterior of the cathedral and the baptistery, walked up the streets
for a few minutes, then got back in the car. We'd had multiple people tell us
Pisa doesn't have much to offer aside from the tower so we decided not to waste
our time there.
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| We had to take our obligatory tourist picture in Pisa, but this meme is all too accurate for what everyone looks like there! Hahaha |
Once we'd left Pisa we drove about an
hour to a town called San Gimigiano. The town is an old medieval town with a
big stone wall and watch towers surrounding it. We had to park outside the city
walls because this was another city where the streets are only for local
traffic. That worked fine for us because the streets were narrow and I'm pretty
sure our "station wagon" (by Italian standards) never would've fit.
The town has essentially been preserved in its original state so it just felt really
authentically old and medieval. The town also sits atop a hill where we had
great views of the Tuscan countryside. For lunch we had some really yummy
bruschettas from a tiny little corner shop where one lady worked as waitress,
bus boy, cook, and cashier. It was certainly one of our best meals in
Italy! It’s another one we dream of now that we're not there. After several hours wandering around the city, we drove to Siena where
our hotel turned out to be a Best Western.
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| San Gimigiano is called Tuscany's Manhattan because of the towers |
