Day 4: Sienna and San Gimignano

We slept until about 8 and had a nice breakfast of yogart, assorted fruit, breads/cakes, and cappucinos. This seems to be the standard breakfast in Italy thus far. Fulvio brought the girls hot chocolate! He was so wonderful in recommending a scenic drive through a small town and avoiding the autostrada on our way to Sienna. The drive was gorgeous- we started out on a dirt road which had lots of steep hills and sharp turns with no shoulder! While scenic, it was a bit tough (aka anxiety producing for me) in a minivan. It eventually turned to a paved road and we found Sienna.

Note: We had originally planned on a day in Florence but changed our minds after an exhausting day in Rome. We just wanted to do the smaller towns. Kids don't love art museums! Once researching Sienna I realized it was red brick, which is so different from any other Italian town and I wanted to see that!

Parking is a little difficult in Sienna. Rick Steves recommends a few lots which were full at the time. We parked a bit out of the center and walked. It worked out. There was a small playground we stopped at on the way. Parks in Europe are a bit different. They aren't usually as safe and nothing near the elaborate designs we have today in the US. Sometimes this is a good thing. (the simplicity.. not the lack of safety issues obviously!)

We followed signs to the main piazza and it was just absolutely gorgeous. The open square is so large and you could picture the market/medevil shows here. The red brick was so interesting in comparison to the other areas of Italy. The hooks and rings for tying your horse are still left on the buildings. Higher up you could see where people used to stick their torches. I felt like I could picture myself in a movie such as Camelot here. Each little sector of town has its own colors and therefore displays its own flag. These are popular, cheap souvenirs.

After a quick lunch, we walked over to the Cathedral which is very ornate and different. It has hints of pink all over which made me think of something from a disney movie.

We of course had to taste the gelato in Sienna also- mint chocolate chip is my new favorite. The girls slept in the stroller for the last hour and we headed back to the car.

We planned to go back to the b&b and nap before a later dinner but decided to plow through and head to bed early for our long drive the next day up to Germany! This turned out to be a good decision. We went back up to Tuscany and headed to San Gimignano. This is probably the largest, and definitely the most touristy of the hill towns. Some find that to be annoying and not the "real" tuscany but it also usually means you can find a restaurant open before 8:30 and lots of child friendly options. We have to think a bit differently while traveling with toddlers!

The town is very beautiful and extremely clean, lots of fresh flowers planted everywhere. It sort of felt like the Taormina of Sicily. There are lots of little souvenir shops everywhere selling pottery, wine, and olive oil. Derrick bought the girls little pinnochio puppets and a few bottles of wine for us to bring back. The wine up in Tuscany is so much lighter than down in Sicily with the rich mineral soil. I prefer it to be a little less heavy. Dinner was pretty good but pricey as we hit a tourist place that was open. It was just a beautiful area and one we could see coming back to as a future anniversary far off with no children. I'd love to do several wineries and a cooking class some day. I really didn't want to leave the next day but knew my parents would be waiting for us in Germany!

This was an old well in the center of town