Day 14 San Gimignano

Rain was the winner this morning with heavy showers.  We waited until about 11:30 before we left to get lunch in San Gimignano.  As we were leaving the rain stopped and never returned all day.  We walked through the town and shopped before we sat down for lunch.  No hurry today.  Our schedule was wide open.  After lunch we decided to drive to see Monteriggioni which is a hill town completely enclosed by a rock wall.  From a distance it appears to be one large castle.  We explored its few streets and climbed the stairs to its battlements to get a view of the surroundings.  Volterra was our next stop.  The drive ascends to one of the highest hills in the area.  We didn't leave the car but rather just drove around the the hilltop.  Then we were on our way back home.  The second half of the day was beautiful and dry so our final memories of Tuscany will be a pleasant ones.   Tomorrow we are driving south to the Amalfi Coast to experience it's highlights.  Ciao!

Chris - I love San Gimignano, so it was great to go back there for lunch. It's about 5 mi. so it is very close for us to use as our "go to" place. It just so happens to be where the "World's Best Gelato" is too, I was reasonable today and only had it once. We had lunch at the Panoramic Restaurant at the La Cisterna Hotel, right on the main square. We were worried it might still rain so we opted for the enclosed panoramic dining option. It was a gorgeous view and great food...I highly recommend it if you get to San Gimignano. I enjoyed the small town of Monteriggioni, so cute all tucked into the fortress walls! Volterra ended up being a drive through. I was worried there would be a mammoth walk involved since Volterra is the "loftiest" hill town in Tuscany. This medieval town is known for having the world's greatest alabaster craftsmen and also Roman theatre and baths ruins. I was interested in seeing the ruins, but we drove right past them looking for parking and since we were't buying alabaster we decided we saw all we needed to and drove "home." We have another fabulous dinner here tonight and it's nice to get the blog done early so we have lots of time to pack and relax. I think the highlight of the day for me, besides the gelato, was seeing so much of the beautiful countryside. We took the "back roads" to Monteriggioni, which was the path of the ancient Roman highway Via Cassia.  Then on to   Volterra, a much more rural road transversing through gorgeous green country side dotted with vineyards and guarded by beautiful villas perched on the hillsides.

Tomorrow - fun and sun in Positano on the Amalfi Coast.