San Gimignano a Medieval Manhattan

How could we resist the temptation to go to the most visited village in Tuscany? What's more, it is the holiday haunt of England's rich and famous so we thought, being November, it would be half empty. How wrong we were! Parking was tricky but as it was late afternoon people were beginning to leave so we eventually found a space. Again, to avoid the difficulty of meandering at four different paces, we arranged a meeting time with Mike and Jean in the main square.

We soon realised why San Gimignano is known as the medieval Manhattan. The wealthy landowners of the area suffered a major outbreak of "outdoing the neighbours" and a total of 72 towers were constructed as an outward demonstration of their wealth and power. Only 15 remain but they are, nevertheless, a striking feature in the landscape. We could have spent much longer there, exploring all the little streets and museums but it had been a busy sightseeing day and we contented ourselves with the most delicious home-made ice-cream from the award winning Gelateria di Piazza.