Tuesday, September 16th
Beautiful views today of the Tuscan countryside with vineyards or olive trees wherever we looked. This was a relatively short day of walking (8.5 miles), but it had its share of hill climbing (1300 feet of elevation). At the top of one of the hills, in the settlement of Pancole, we visited the Santuario di Maria Santissima Madre della Divina Providenza, the sight of a 17th century apparition of the Virgin Mary. At the top of the next hill we stopped at the Monastero di Bose, an ecumenical monastery with both men and women in a community of prayer, celibacy, worship and sacramental life.
We arrived in San Gimignano in time for lunch and then explored the town a bit. This is a favorite tourist town with masses of large tour groups roaming its narrow streets. By evening the crowds were gone and it was a quiet walk to dinner and back. Tomorrow is a rest day and we’ve scheduled a 2-hour city tour with one of the local guides, so I guess we’ll be joining those masses of tourists in the morning crowding San Gimignano’s streets.
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| Another day of walking |
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| Our Tuscan views this morning |
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| Grape harvesting 101: The orange truck and the two vertical bins are the harvester. The farmer is dumping his harvested grapes into the larger bin to be transported for processing. Quite the operation! |
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| Picture perfect pathway |
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| The interior of the Santuario di Maria Santissima Madre della Divina Providenza |
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| One of our first views of San Gimignano |
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| Trying to make our way to our hotel through this crowded San Gimignano street |
Wednesday, September 17thhk
Rich and I visited San Gimignano’s Duomo Collegiate Church in the morning before meeting up with Jerry and our tour guide at 11:00 (Becky had an appointment to get her hair cut so Jerry gave her an abbreviated tour this afternoon). Our guide was full of information about the history of San Gimignano and its towers and his presentation was so animated, with lots of facial expressions and hand gestures, that at one point Jerry commented that he felt like he was in a Shakespearean play.
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| View of one of San Gimignano's remaining 15 medieval towers |
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| One of San Gimignano's two portals into the town |
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| View of our hotel with tower in background |
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| San Gimignano's "Twin Towers" on the left and "Scurvy Tower" on the right, so named because of the prison that was once located on the bottom |
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| A model of medieval San Gimignano with its original 72 towers |
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| View from a terrace |
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| Interior of San Gimignano's Duomo |
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