Tour of Tuscany

After nine whirlwind sunny days around Italy, we decided to keep traveling today, but leave the itinerary to someone else.  We booked the Special Day in Tuscany tour with Ciao Florence, and it was a great decision.  The driver was fantastic, the tour group very small given the off-season, the weather again fantastic, the lunch tasty, and the sights phenomenal.

Our day started in the nicest McDonald's bathroom I've ever entered.  After 90 minutes on the road with lots of water and a pastry, we went in for a cup of coffee and a rest break.  We were shocked to see a comfy waiting room outside the McDonald's men's room.  Yes, this is a fast food joint, Italian style.

Sucking down the McDonald's coffee that we had to purchase after seeing how nice the bathrooms were, we set out into the Gypsy-infested sights of Tuscany.  One guess as to where we started:

 Another clue:

After a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower and the Gypsy pick-pockets, we headed out into the countryside.  First we drove within viewing distance of Volterra.

Next stop was San Gimignano, bristling with tall defensive towers from the Middle Ages.

Here we had lunch at Trattoria Borgo di Racciano.

Heading into San Gimignano after lunch, we were treated with views across the vineyards.

Up close, San Gimignano is a classic medieval hilltop citadel.

Look at the expression on his face when I told him he could have all of the money from the well if he could figure out how to get it.

The streets were tiny, and it was easy to imagine what they must have smelled like 1,000 years ago when crowded with a press of people and ox-carts and dirty sewage...or even during the plague years with not so many people but lots of other issues.

After an hour walking up and down the tiny, steep streets of this medieval hilltop town, we fortified ourselves for the next stop in a tiny cafe.

Our next stop was Siena, another hilltop fortified town, this time larger and with a scallop-shaped town "square" that features architecture built at angles that make it look almost two-dimensional from some perspectives.

More small, steep streets, this time with an impressive church at the top of the hill.

Frescoes by Pinturicchio and his student, Rafael - whose work you have seen in the Vatican post, are tucked away in one of the side rooms.  The walls are, well, a work of art...

...the roof is as well.

Our heads exploding from another day filled with sights, tastes, and new-found knowledge, we happily headed back to the hotel for one last bit of inspiration and some pizza and chocolate.