San Gimignano

The hotel had a fantastic view of San Gimignano, as can be seen from the photo below. Unlike most towns in Italy, its Medieval towers have largely survived in tact and make for a recognizable skyline.

To give you a feel for the remoteness of the hotel, here are some pictures of the surrounding countryside.

San Gimignano definitely lived up to its description as a fortified city. In order to enter you had to pass through this gate.

We spent most of the morning wandering the narrow streets and admiring the massive towers. It’s amazing that such old structures have been able to stand the test of time.

I particularly liked the architecture among the endless sea of stone buildings.

Here’s one of the main squares. It was nice how all of the retail stores and restaurants at the street level just blended into the buildings that housed them. Without the small signs on the exterior walls, you would have trouble knowing exactly what you were walking into.

 

I have no clue what the following gentlemen were discussing, but they seemed to be having a great time. You can’t tell from the picture, but they had the prime real estate in the main square with a perfect view of everything that was going on.

 

And I have no clue what this guy was doing. He seemed to be holding some sort of religious ceremony, but he was all by himself in a random spot with not a single person around him except for the random passerby.