We met our tour group at 7:30am at the train station and took off for our 3-city tour. We rode in one of those large double-decker coach buses. We sat in the 2nd and 3rd rows of the top so we had some neat views of Tuscany. We’re not excited at all, neither are the people behind us.
Siena
Our first stop was in the city of Siena. We got there a little early, so we grabbed a cappuccino and enjoyed some sun. We met our tour guide right in the middle of the city center, the Piazza del Campo. Twice a year they transform it into a horse race track and hold a horse race called the Palio di Siena. Looking around the square, I couldn’t imagine hundreds of people in the center cheering on 10 jockeys riding bareback at full speed. Interesting rules on how they select those 10 contenders too.
The other part of the Siena stop was a tour through the very medieval cathedral. Compared to the other churches, the outside appeared very gothic. Our tour guide took us through the cathedral relatively quickly and then gave us about 30 minutes of “free time” before we had to meet back at the meeting spot.
Lunch + Wine Tasing
We took a pitstop at Pierluigi Giachi for lunch and a wine tasting and heavy sales pitch. The wine, olive oil and truffle oil were fantastic. It also helped that a woman with a toddler at the table gave us her wine samples. 🙂
The property was beautiful! They had outdoor seating, horses and not one but two helicopter pads!
San Gimignano
The next stop was in San Gimignano, a small, walled medieval city. This was our favorite stop of the day. We didn’t have a tour guide, so we ended up just walking around. We bought a glass of wine (and some nice lady gave us crackers) and hit the streets.
The views from the walk to the city were incredible! I wish we would have had more time in San Gimignano so we could explore more and so I could learn how to say it. 🙂
Pisa
At the end of the tour we stopped in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. Wow, it was full of tourists- all trying to take the photo of themselves holding the tower up. We did not partake.
Like San Gimignano, I wish we would have had more time here to tour the inside of the buildings and climb to the top of the tower. We basically jumped out of the bus, walked to the tower, took 100 pictures and then walked back to the bus. Since it was the end of the day, we got the unique experience of viewing it at dusk and with the moon.
I’m really glad I got to visit these three cities, but it was a long day. None of the tours were long enough individually, but together they were too long. We didn’t get back to Florence until 7:30pm and I was pooped. Literally. 😛
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