Monday, June 2, 2014

City of Beautiful Towers

Today we got into the car and drove to a walled city called San Gimignano.  This town actually started with towers and is known as the "City of Beautiful Towers."  The towers were for protection of rich people during medieval times.  When attackers came they went into the towers by ladders and pulled them inside and then burnt any wooden stairs.  This left no easy entrance for the attackers.  Originally there were 72 towers and now there are only 14 remaining.  We could see the beautiful towers from over 30 kilometers away.


When we arrived we had to take a elevator to get up and over the wall.  From there we entered through one of the historic gates.  The streets were very narrow, but there are few cars inside the walls, and we had to squeeze against the buildings if one came through.


There were many street performers.  The first one we saw was a flutist that played songs that sounded like lullabies.  There were also a few guitarists, but my favorite were two people acting together.  One was a puppeteer and the other was a marionette who played a violin.  I put a euro in her cup and she blew me a kiss and took a photo with me.


There were so many shops, including two gelato shops.  We were actually able to get scoops after our touring.  We purchased ours from a Gelateria Dondoli who had entered the Gelato World Cup and won several years in the early 2000's.  Today the flavors we tried were mango, lemonade, pear, nutella, chocolate, raspberry, and melon.


Our friends had told us about a mask shop.  The masks were hand made from leather.  After Alec's reading of a Magic Tree House book Carnival in Candlelight about a carnival in Venice we knew what we wanted for a souvenir.  I chose a blue cat mask and Alec choose the King of Carnival.  They were made by local artist Arnaldo Doriana, whom we met.


We had lunch at Locanda San Domenico that had a outdoor patio that sat above one of the city's walls and looked out on the vallies around us.  We ate under olive trees that was quite peaceful.  Alec and I ate tomato pasta.  Mom had raviolis and Dad had an animal that lives on the property we are staying...wild boar stew (poor animal).  We also had a cheese platter with bread and honey.  YUM!


That was one amazing day in San Gimignano.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Love, love your post today. So excited to see what you are doing!! What a wonderful adventure. Love, Grandma

Unknown said...

From your uncle Todd: WHAT an amazing place! Looks like so much fun, thanks for the post.

A. Jolly said...

Thanks Grandma and Uncle Todd it was great. Tomorrow is Pisa and Lucca
Love
Ally

Go Ravens! said...

Hi Ally! I tried to post before our trip to Hawaii but it didn't work. Now we are two new worlds away from each other. Too bad we can't play mine craft together. Looks like your trip is fun. I can't wait to hear more about it!

Go Ravens! said...

By the way this is your friend Brandon. In case you didn't know...since there are so many Ravens fans out there :)

blythe said...

Looks like a beautiful city on a perfect, sunny day. Have fun exploring Pisa and Lucca tomorrow! BTW, love the dress - so cute!

A. Jolly said...

Thanks Brandon,
How was Hawaii. I still have never been there. My brother got a computer and wont let me on it to play anything. Luckily I have my new Kindle. Today I am going to see the Leaning Tower Of Pisa and the city of Lucca
From
Ally

A. Jolly said...

Dear Blythe,
Thanks, it was beautiful. I cant wait for Pisa and Lucca today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Wow Ally and Alec or masks sound cool. Can't wait to c them. So does the gelato. Love Nana. I'm headed to Troy Ohio for the Strawberry festival with Holly.