Monday 24 August - Pitigliano, Sorano, San Gimignano

What a good day! This was the spare day that I originally wanted at Viterbo, then intended to have at Riomaggiore. Former was prevented by Rita having a previous booking, the latter a miscommunication between Edi and me. However, we spent it well. Collected the car from Piazza Crispi and parked right outside Via Cacciamele. Off we went on a circuit of the town, finally to emerge at Porta Verita where we had come in earlier. Had a little fun on the way to Pitigliano, as we missed a turnoff, and went 6.5km to the next off ramp only to drive the 6.5km back to the missed one. Too bad.

Pitigliano was lovely. A tufa-built town on the top of a narrow ridge, perhaps only 100m across at  the narrowest point. Stopped a little below the town to get parking, then walked into the main square. Bought some nice fat custard pastries to recover from the (not really) arduous drive. Wandered a while – quite a few non-Italian tourists for the first time. Sat and had a coffee (1.30€ a tavolo vs. 1€  at the bar), took some photos then off to the next town – Sorano. We have missed quite a few possibilities that either Fabio or Rita have suggested including a swim in Lago di Bolsena, the Italian gardens at Bagnaia and so on. Sovano and Sorano were on the list, and were pretty much on the way from Viterbo to Riomaggiore, so we thought seeing one of them would be worth it. Sorano is small, again a hilltop town. Climbed up the Massimo, a strange fortress-like structure, via an interesting exhibition of international artists, to the top. Fantastic views all round – more of Sorano, valleys, waterfalls, forests and so on. We have been surprised at the amount of greenery about, also the amount of untamed forest.

Left Sorano heading north. Decided we would stop a bit after lunch wherever we found somewhere, but possibly near San Gimignano which we were all keen to revisit. At about 1:30 we stopped for a picnic lunch beside the road. Virtually no places to pull off the roads here. Mostly there is next to no verge, and there certainly are not any rest areas or picnic tables. The only reason we could come up with is that the Italians take lunch very seriously, and would not put up with lunch from a hamper.  Anyway, we enjoyed our prosciutto, cheese, tomatoes and pepper washed down with a wine.

Back on the road again for San Gimignano. Not many places offering accommodation on the road to San G, but after trying a couple of places which were full, we came across a slightly ordinary one which could give us a room for 100€ including breakfast. Given the time of day, we thought that sounded OK, so stopped. Turned out to be fine, and had the benefit of airconditioning, so we had a night at 25 degrees and low humidity, a nice change from 27-8 and a little muggy.

We were keen to get into San G so left immediately on a walk to the town. We could have driven but apparently parking is impossible, or waited for a bus, but we were happy to walk the 1.5km (at least we had understood it was 1.5km)

Still very warm – mid-30s. The road turned out to be way longer than expected, but offered lovely views up to San G and across the Tuscan countryside. The area had a hunting ban, to allow the local game to repopulate, no doubt to a level where it was worth hunting them down again! Up past a good number of camere for rent, probably nicer than our modern one, but it's a matter of finding them. San Gimignano was very much the same as I remember it. Entry from the lower gate as last time, then a lovely walk up the main street towards Piazza della Cisterna. The street a succession of shops each side, presumably as it has always been. Shoes, many local wine & produce shops, gelateria (one of which we tested out). Up into Piazza della Cisterna, one of the strongest memories of our OE in 1982. Just the same, apart from a tenfold increase in tourists. Even the Banca Toscana is still there in the same lovely building. Took far too many photos, hoping at least one will be as good as the only photo we ever printed from our 1982 slides.

San Gimignano is a stunning place. It is entirely in good condition, not a scruffy building or messy street to be seen, at least not in the main hilltop part. Far too many tourists for comfort, but I don't suppose we can expect to have it to ourselves. Went around to the left into Piazza del Duomo, and through the mediaeval courtyard at the back of the council building, where the painted shields and frescoes were just as I remembered. Sat a while on the steps of the duomo, just enjoying being there again. We are very glad of the booking issues. Well worth the extra money to be back here. It's a real pleasure.

Also found some places from Sally & Guyon's trip last time, and some steps we remembered from 1982. Nearing dinner time so we found a bar which had filled panini, so ordered 3 of them and drank a beer at the bar while we waited. There is a significant difference between bar prices and table prices. A caffe is 1€ standing, or 1.30€ seated. The beer was even more extreme. A 660ml bottle was 2.50€ vs. 5€. Took our panini out the other gate and ate them, then headed back for home.

One of the gelateria in Piazza della Cisterna won the World Gelateria Champs in 2005 and 2007, so we felt it was only fair to try it out for dessert. You get 3 flavours for 2.20€, and between us we had lemon, rosemary & raspberry, zabaglione, nut, strawberry and more I've forgotten. The good thing is that Penguino's in Nelson is right up there in terms of flavour. Heading back down the main street came across a superb art gallery, Galleria Gagliardi (galleriagagliardi.com), full of superb contemporary art works from around the world. Ones that grabbed us were some lovely ceramic fountain pens (3000€) and some paintings of shirts and jackets, beautifully done (4000€). Virtually everything there we would have liked to take back. Could have stayed there for ages, but it was getting a bit dark and our road back was unlit, so trickled our way back home. Some beautiful views of Tuscan countryside on the way back.