Ahh, the beautiful country-side of Tuscany. We are staying at the Poderi Arcangelo, a bed and breakfast and agricultural business (argriturismo) that produces wine and olive oil. While the views are spectacular, we have not found the staff particularly warm or welcoming. This has been fairly constant in our travels, few hoteliers for example say anything like "hi my name is Mary, welcome to ..." This was true in Rome as well...perhaps we are used to a different type of hospitality (welcome to Walmart). Anyway, we came here for the views more so than for the people. We hope to have a more intimate experience tomorrow when the four of us are taking a cooking lesson with Katia and her Uncle not far from San Gimignano. Based on the trip advisor reviews we think she will be as warm and fun as Paolo was in Sorento.
One of the pleasant things about Tuscany is the lack of traffic. Our GPS Clarisse has been having some troubles here in Italy, but more importantly Italian drivers are crazy..really crazy...like NYC can't hold a candle to the driving patterns of the drivers here. For example, imagine driving your car down a narrow alley, then add a car in the opposite direction. Then, just for giggles, add two Vespa's, one on either side scooting around you because you can NEVER go fast enough! Then, add a 70 degree incline and hairpin turns, with Clarisse screaming "recalculating" and you have a mental picture.
Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Poderi Arcangelo. Picture steaming hot coffee along with eggs (cooked like an omelet with bits of bread tasting like croutons), pastries, cakes, yogurt, and plates of cheese with salami and ham. After mapping out our top choices for the week (cooking class, bike tour, etc), we toured the grounds (stunning views, one better than the next) and took some pictures. We then headed to the town of San Gimignano-one of the oldest medieval towns with remaining towers. The town originally had 72 towers and now has 15 remaining (don't quote us on the exact numbers, I think you get the gist however. The story goes that it housed the first pharmacy in Tuscany, where both herbs and perfumes were created. We went to 1300, a museum that has a town replica in miniature made out of clay. San Gimignano also was one of the first towns where people had separate residences. People would bring their families, along with soldiers to guard their house/property and belongings. Remember this is the middle ages, so neighborhood wars made the Soprano's seem tame. Anyway, soldiers slept up top (10-12 per household) whereas the family slept on 2-3 floor and on the first floor there was often some type of business at the ground level. The village of course also had farm areas, churches, and a watch tower. People could come in through the main gate, pay a tax, then sell their wares to the villagers. At it's peak, San Gimignano had 12,000 residents. In 1329, the black plague struck, and the population was reduced to 4000. At that point, the town went to ruin and many of the towers collapsed or went into disrepair. They sure knew had to have some tragic endings in the middle ages! I hope I haven't put you to sleep, but I thought the history was interesting. I also feel we should remain mindful of how important vaccines and antibiotics are to our survival!
We ended the day with a wine tasting and olive oil tasting at Poderi. They make both chardonnay and chianti as well as extra virgin olive oil. We are hoping to go to a more in-depth vineyard experience in the next few days. A small anti paste plate with salami, cheese, prosciutto, etc and a little of the archangeo chianti (no flava beans for you silence of the lamb movie buffs) was our light dinner. Such is life "under the Tuscan sun."
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