Driving back to Florence from Siena, we take a more westerly route so we can visit the town of San Gimignano. But our first stop is the tiny fortress town of Monteriggioni. We park in a lower lot and make our way up; I am expecting a kind of empty ruin of a place, but it's full of inhabitants. People still live here. The shops are full of wonderful home made foods and treats, and the town is beautifully kept - but it is a bit of a tourist trap when it costs extra money to climb the stairs to look over the walls.
We continue on, marveling at the countryside as we go. Small spires and castles break the horizon, and the landscape is dotted with lovely farms and country estates.
We soon arrive at the well-visited town of San Gimignano. I'm expecting a slightly smaller version of Siena, but some of the Monteriggioni fortress-ness is there, too. It's actually much bigger than I thought, and very easy to lose yourself. We wander inside the walls for some number of hours before settling down for a nice lunch at Il Pino.
The drive back to Florence is rather uneventful; just more gorgeous Tuscan countryside. We need to make a dinner reservation and deal with getting checked into our new rooms near Santa Maria Novella. It starts to feel like the beginning of the end, and we are all quiet.
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