Two hours and four journeys around the hospital roundabout later, we ended roughly where we started getting a tourist glimpse of the what would be equivalent to the Calendonian Road/Hornsey Estates parts of Siena.
But we perserved and hopped on our Italian-guided minibus tour of Monteriggioni, San Gimignano and a vineyard whose name escapes me. Between teeth-grinding driving, we were given the local history of the area, which revolved around ancient feuds over land between the Florentines and the Sienese. Thus, fortress walled towns like Monteriggioni popped up around the various vineyards and fields in between.
Monteriggioni
San Gimignano
After an hour of dipping in and out of city walls and craft shops, our lovely tour guide herded us back into the bus and over to San Gimignano, home to artisans, beautiful wine and one of Italy's most prosperous old Roman Roads that served as a major stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to the Vatican.
Today, it houses lots of gelato stops and tourist mayhem, but the city's fourteen towers can be seen from miles away.
We wandered for roughly two hours before making our way back to the mini-bus and to our last stop.
Wine Tasting
Now this is where i'm really sad i haven't written down intimate details because the last stop on our little day trip happened to be to a beautiful, beautiful vineyard owned by a terribly flirtatious Italian man and his family somewhere in the tuscan foothills filled from end to end with Chianti grapes. The vineyard had been in his family for three/four generations and though it ran like a well oiled machine, the winery maintained a very intimate feel. Rosa and I got slowly drunk off of sweet red wine, dry white wine, olive oil and even truffle oil whilst glimpsing out into the terrace.
After a series of this-isn't-my-life moments, Rosa bought a bottle of truffle oil and we stumbled on home clutching our stomachs and feeling beyond grateful to be in europe.
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