Saturday 16th March
Travelling: Buonconvento - Quinciano - Vescovado - Fontazzi - Monticiano - Abbazia San Galgano - Frosini - Collalto - Mensanello - Casole d'Elsa - San Gimignano - Volterra - Siena (outskirts !) - Buonconvento - Montalcino ..........
Dunno why we set out for San Gimignano; I think we'd reached a point when we felt we'd skirted around so many of the well-known places that it was time we actually visited one. We left the carpark with nothing visible below us: the fog looked quite solid, but gradually drifted away as the morning wore on.
We took a slight detour to see the the Abbazia San Galgano because we saw it from the road, and it looked wonderful. When we got there, I had another of those "Good GRIEF !" reactions, because what *I*'d seen from the road was the eremo and not the Abbey, but CS had seen both and was not at all surprised. This is a fantastic ruin, filled with silence. You can 'feel' the history (provided the scores of bus tourists who arrived before you have been in and out and are nowhere nearby); and this kind of place of worship I will admit to finding well worth seeing.
Travelling: Buonconvento - Quinciano - Vescovado - Fontazzi - Monticiano - Abbazia San Galgano - Frosini - Collalto - Mensanello - Casole d'Elsa - San Gimignano - Volterra - Siena (outskirts !) - Buonconvento - Montalcino ..........
Dunno why we set out for San Gimignano; I think we'd reached a point when we felt we'd skirted around so many of the well-known places that it was time we actually visited one. We left the carpark with nothing visible below us: the fog looked quite solid, but gradually drifted away as the morning wore on.
We took a slight detour to see the the Abbazia San Galgano because we saw it from the road, and it looked wonderful. When we got there, I had another of those "Good GRIEF !" reactions, because what *I*'d seen from the road was the eremo and not the Abbey, but CS had seen both and was not at all surprised. This is a fantastic ruin, filled with silence. You can 'feel' the history (provided the scores of bus tourists who arrived before you have been in and out and are nowhere nearby); and this kind of place of worship I will admit to finding well worth seeing.
Its earliest dates are in, I think, the 8th century, and the bulk of it in the 14th. Alas ! -- that they're building, some little distance away, Much Better Parking for all those tourist buses; soon it will be surrounded by concrete and have ice-cream stalls. CS says they're caught between a rock and a hard place; either they get income or the place gradually falls down, because the State can't provide enough for all these historical monuments' maintenance. :-( In the eremo, I understand, there is a sword in a stone !
San Gimignano was also amazing, but for an entirely different reason. Presumably because it was Saturday, there were more tourists than usual (I *hope* !); as we drove in, hoping to find some reasonable parking, we were greeted by the sight of the main entrance to the town COMPLETELY FILLED with moving people -- as if someone had just kicked over an ants' nest ! I have never seen tourists in numbers like that, and I hope never to again. We didn't stay ...
Driving on to Volterra and back -- *wonderful* countryside ! -- we were frequently overtaken by motorbike riders, travelling in both directions.
San Gimignano was also amazing, but for an entirely different reason. Presumably because it was Saturday, there were more tourists than usual (I *hope* !); as we drove in, hoping to find some reasonable parking, we were greeted by the sight of the main entrance to the town COMPLETELY FILLED with moving people -- as if someone had just kicked over an ants' nest ! I have never seen tourists in numbers like that, and I hope never to again. We didn't stay ...
Driving on to Volterra and back -- *wonderful* countryside ! -- we were frequently overtaken by motorbike riders, travelling in both directions.
