San Gimignano

The little hilltop town of San Gimignano was one of the most fantastically lovely places in a land of lovely that we spent time in.

While it was stunning to gaze at from the backyard of our little agritourismo, it was fun to explore a pied as well. Although, coming into the tiny city, it reminded me a bit of Carscassone, that lovely village in the south of France that is packed with junk vendors of all things medieval. It wasn't quite so bad, there was a lot of fun exploring to do.

So, what the story is that it was here that the local Hatfields and McCoys of the town started a medieval pissing contest and started building towers to keep an eye on each other. Not just happy with two or three a piece, there was at one point SEVENTY TWO of these towers crowding on the hilltop, creating what must have looked like a mini-Manhattan before there was even a Manhattan. Seriously. Today, 14 of the towers survive within the city walls. It's just...unique.

Plus, we found a great little wine bar where you could sit upon the city wall and drink the delicious local white Vernaccia di San Gimignano and watch the sun sink, and the magic tuscan glow hit the earth.

There's a fantastic main plaza with really good gelato, and that's really all I can ask for out of life.

While there were quite a lot of tourist in the main square, once the sun went down, it was empty.

Staying outside the city walls was the move as it was something really nice to gaze out upon.

Tuscany

Tuscany is just really lovely. No one has ever said anything bad about it ever. I overuse words like "enchanting" when I'm here quite a bit.

Last time I was in Tuscany, I was a youngish backpacker seeing Europe on the rails, which meant mostly big cities with occasional forays into the countryside. While I highly recommend taking public transportation pretty much anywhere, sometimes it's just easier to rent a car and really see the countryside.

We stayed at a lovely agritourismo called La Lucciolala, just outside the ancient hilltop village of San Gimignano. It was so quiet and at the end of a rather rutted dirt drive, but a good jumping-off point to explore some small towns and villages in the region.

Not only do they have lovely views tucked into the hills, they make their own wines.

Chianti wines aren't necessarily my favorite, but, while in the Chianti region, it's time to drink Chianti. Most of them weren't half-bad, with some having an overpowering astringency that I dislike.

But, eh, part of the charms of traveling with family is keeping a steady buzz to be able to deal with each other with manners and grace, and that was the plan we all stuck to.

My favorite thing about this trip was the farmhouse-style dinners. The hillsides are practically slathered with rustic little farmhouses willing to feed you. You don't get a choice of the menu, but you get served with a big group, family-style. The food was always fantastic, and I found the local white wine, while not so popular, was pretty drinkable. My favorite discovery was a blood-red tomato and bread soup. Totally rustic peasant food, but I couldn't stop eating it.