Tuscany Countryside

Village in the Tuscan Hills

Rita and I headed for the hills as it was another beautiful sunny day with 19C temperatures. Going to visit Volterra and San Gimignano, two medieval hill towns built in the 13th Century. They both still have their fortified walls and only pedestrian traffic is allowed in the Old Town area. Driving out of the valley where Siena is located we were totally amazed at how high we were climbing and the amount of forest we went through. My impression of Tuscany before arriving here was a place that is relatively flat, lots of fields with rolling hills, but this is definitely not the case. There is a lot of the countryside that is forested and many of the hills are a lot more rugged to be called "rolling". The fall colors are starting to appear and the contrast of colors are magnificent.

Cyprus Trees and Vineyards between San Gimigano and Voltera

Volterra had its Market Day as well as a Tuscany Food Fair and so the place was jammed with people. Rita and I both liked the feel of the town. It’s definitely not touristy as there are lots of shops for locals within the walls. You can ride a bike along the medieval walls but we decided to walk. Did not make it all the way around the wall but far enough to bump into a prison with armed guards. The medieval walls form part of the prison walls, so they must still be very sturdy.

San Gimigano’s medieval town is totally geared to tourism with a lot of glazed pottery, alabaster, local wine and wild boar sausage shops. It’s main claim to historic fame are the 14 surviving towers located within the town walls (Originally there were just over 60). Apparently wealthy families built the towers to show how rich and powerful they were and to protect them from attack by other city-states or from feuding neighbors.

Some of San Gimigano famous Towers

Have never seen a Pomegranate tree until San Gimigano