2016 Europe * San Gimignano #1 * Sept 19-20

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

~Marcel Proust

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/discovery.html

Morning sun rays over the Tuscan countryside

Sept 19: Lorenzo's AirBnB

My heart sings!  Joy and beauty!  A hilltop home with fruit trees and bats dancing in the evening stillness.  In any direction is an exquisite view.  More than my simple heart can contain.  About three kilometers from the medieval town San Gimignano … I will walk there tomorrow.

Garden of the AirBnB

Angela, Leonardo’s sister, picked me up from the train station as he was occupied in Florence.  Grace and friendliness beyond compare, she is a wonderful person.  I know, given time and a bit more of each other’s language, we could be good friends.  As I write this, the vesper bells are ringing just over the rise from San Gimignano).  Their mother sweetly brings me a welcoming espresso and fresh fig pastry that she has made from the fig tree in the garden.  Angela takes me to the supermarket a couple miles away to let me pick up some groceries: local Chianti, fresh Asiago cheese (not dried), tomatoes, green beans, and drinking water.  I am good now .. for a bit. 

There is a rainbow over the distant hill at sunset.  A promise.

 

San Gimignano at sunrise

 

Sept 20: San Gimignano

Medieval street in town

Before 7:30 am I walk the three and a half kilometers of the old dirt road and into town.  Quiet, beautiful, the sun giving the very first morning kisses to the ancient stone structures that rest at the top of the hill.  Pigeons are chirping their songs to each other and to the warming rays.  Their clean songs are so different from the muffled cooing of our urban doves.  I wander the streets and alleyways of the patch-worked stone buildings, some original, some renovated.   San Gimignano is a small town, but a powerful magnet to travelers, and I find myself so quickly through the central street to the other side.  These are streets for pedestrians, not cars, although a few enter to deliver goods to restaurants or tourists to hotels.

 

Main gateway

A touch of history:  In the 3^rd century BC a small Etruscan village Silva was on this hill.  The name was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus intervened to spare the castle town from destruction by followers of Attila the Hun.  In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era it was a resting point for pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican.  By 1200 the peace of the town was disturbed for the next two centuries by the conflict between two family rivalries.  Each family would build tower house of increasing height to display their importance and wealth.  At the end of the Medieval period there were 72 towers up to 230 feet tall.  Finally a town council dictated that no tower was to be taller than the one at the Central Plaza.  In 1348 the Black Death destroyed much of the populace and so San Gimignano remained in the medieval state until the 19^th century when tourism took note of its Romanesque and Gothic architecture.  Today remain fourteen towers of varying heights.

Medieval stone, brick, limestone, textures and warm light

I cannot help myself – I take so many photographs – the same kind I have taken hundreds of times throughout Europe.  Texture, warm lighting, and soft color call to me.  My imagination wanders:  who has walked these streets before?  What were their lives?  How did they think?

Tuscan countryside from a Tower

Up to the highest corner tower of the fortress wall.  There is an incredible view of the Tuscan countryside in every direction.  The sun-washed hills, that earlier were gently caressed with morning mist, now request attention:  “Observe us! .. we are beautiful”.

Tiramisu and espresso

I am heading back to my AirBnB .. there are so many tourists now in the brightness of midday.  Perhaps I will return and explore the ancient town more this evening when it is quieter.  I stop at Marcella’s on the way out of town – a small café with sandwiches, pastries, and homemade flavored chocolate.  Tiramisu and espresso!  The same as I had three years ago - only this time there are no students to share, so I enjoy it alone.  A bit later, I pass the stairs where we took our group photo then.  Empty now. 

There is definitely a good amount of alcohol in this tiramisu!  None other like it that I have ever found.  A secret, very old recipe, perhaps handed down from generation to generation and now to Marcella (who is quite old herself).

Trouble sleeping last night .. I kept waking and thinking “perhaps it is dawn NOW!”

San Gimignano

 

 

Facebook Photo Album:  San Gimignano, Italy, photo album

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