Having gone to bed at 6pm, we woke up with plenty of time to catch the sunrise. Here's the view from our room at three different times throughout the day: sunrise, midday, and evening.
After a small but delicious breakfast at our hotel, we headed into town to climb the city tower. The views from the tower were amazing. You could look out and see across all of Siena and the green rolling hills of Tuscany. It was definitely worth the climb.
We came down from the tower and roamed the town's tiny streets. By around 11am, we decided to make a side trip to San Gimignano. We had debated either paying for a tour (which would simplify transportation) or buying city bus tickets (which would require a transfer in Poggibonsi). Being cheap and wanting a less touristy experience, we chose to take the city bus. It was like deja vu of the previous day's confusion at Pisa Airport train station. There were no signs anywhere, so we ended up needing to asking strangers for help. 75 minutes and one transfer later, we're in San Gimignano.
I'm sure the town is known for other things, but Brooke and I have wanted to visit here since watching the Franco Zeffirelli movie "Tea With Mussolini". San Gimignano had 60 towers in its peak to defend against attackers, but only 14 remain standing. The town rests on top of a hill, so even without climbing the towers, the views in all directions are incredible.
Here's us having our first gelato in Italy from an apparently world famous gelateria...Gelato really lived up to our expectations. All the flavors are so intense.
When we got back to Siena, we were still full from our large lunch in San Gimignano, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a McDonald's in Italy. However, that's a story for another post.
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