San Gimignano was totally charming. It’s sort of the “New York Skyline” of Tuscany, with its many towers atop a hill. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to be somewhere to get a good photo of the town from a distance, so click here or here to see it. Evidently the towers were mostly just one-upmanship by the wealthy medieval families. You know the old “my tower’s bigger than your tower” routine.
We stopped at Pluripremiata Gelateria, which had a sign that said it was the Gelato World Champion of 2006/7 and 2008/9. The gelato was great of course, but we all actually preferred the gelato at the shop in Montecatini by the train station. (That place had a bunch of trophies in a case, so obviously other people must like it too.)
If you’ve seen “Tea with Mussolini“, part of it was filmed here.
The view from town, and especially from the towers, is fantastic – you get a huge panorama of Tuscany. The glory of this town isn’t in spectacular cathedrals or fabulous museums – it’s in the interesting streets or plants or frescoes; or the way greenery would tumble over the ancient walls. Just little gems that you’d spot here and there as you wander the streets.
So I’ll just leave you with a gallery of photos.
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| San Gimignano | Frescoes | The wall around San Gimignano |
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| View of Tuscany | Fresco over an arch | One of the main squares |
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| San Gimignano | One of many ceramics shops | San Gimignano |
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| View of Tuscany | Flowers | View of Tuscany |
CabledSheep 
Europe is just so gorgeous. It really makes me feel for those intrepid European pioneers who braved the dessert and plains of western America. I think you have a real gift for photography. Not surprising after seeing the beauty of your knitting.
Ahhh…
Hi Cheryl
Tuscany’s great….it certainly lived up to my expectations. In fact I recorded a fair number of places including Siena (my personal favourite) and Cortona, Lucca etc. http://www.360tuscany.net/ is the result. I hope you like it!