Monday May 15, 2006

6:25 pm – Italy – Day 3 – San Gimignano

  

Having agreed to meet Beth in the parking lot of the restaurant in Lucalena at 7:00AM, the driver finally arrived with our baggage at 9:00.  Shortly before that, Elizabeth and Charles Print photo at homehad brought her a lovely breakfast and coffee.  So an act of delightful kindness offset another of complete thoughtlessness.  We will soon have more choice words (and actions) for British Airways.

 

Today all eight of us journeyed in 2 cars to the fascinating town of San Gimignano.  Gary drove his manual transmission Italian car (we've got an automatic Ford Escort) and followed Charles down the incredibly winding byways of SR222 towards 429 in Poggibonsi.  If you ever take this route (or any other in Tuscany), don't bother looking for the road numbers – you must just follow the signs to the next town on your destination.

 

Print photo at homeSan Gimignano is a marvelously well preserved village with striking towers dating from about 1150 that have caused it to be called, somewhat overzealously, a 'medieval Manhattan.'  It has appeared in a number of novels, sometimes under strangely fictionalized names, such as E.M. Forster's Where Angels Fear to Tread and, more recently under its real name, in Martha Grimes's The Old Wine Shades.

 

After finding parking (not an inconsiderable feat in San Gimignano) we traversed the via San Mateo stopping along the way for the splendid shops - particularly the breathtakingly complex pottery.  The whole group of us then had a splendid lunch at the quaint Trattoria, Dulcis in fundo.  Both Gary and I had the Papardelle with a wild Boar sauce.  Print photo at homeWe both agreed that it was more than splendid.  The table shared a Proseco and a Pinot Grigio (somewhat undistinguished) and I believe everyone was satisfied with the service.  The unisex restroom facility threw a few of us (myself included), but, all in all, a place I would definitely recommend as an out-of-the-way respite from the main San Gimignano bustle.

 

The group then split up and Beth and I walked throughout this gem of a tiny village with its long narrow corridors of buildings and ended in the interlocking main squares where we treated ourselves with a gelato dessert.  Ah, ice Cream - another thing at which the Italians excel. Well, in my opinion anyway.  Gary isn't enamored of the consistency of Italian gelato.

 

Beth and I bought some lovely inexpensive wall paintings of the local landscapes and we then joined Gary and Lesly to head back towards the car and the trip back to the villa.  We stopped briefly at a large American-style supermarket called PAM in Poggibonsi for some of the ingredients for tomorrow night's dinner (for which our foursome is responsible).  We then stopped again in Greve to visit the renowned butcher Antica Macelleria Falorni, where we chose two legs of lamb and had them filleted.  And then finally back to the villa.

 

 

11:29 PM Day 3 (con't)

 

The eight of us dined tonight at the Locanda Borgo Antico in Lucolena - yes the same restaurant at which Beth had waited for our luggage this morning.  We were now back under much Print photo at homepleasanter circumstances.  At the beginning of the meal Brian chose two bottles of Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva 2000.  What a great choice.  And this is the winery just down the road from us!  We're definitely going to have to visit there.

 

Gary and I again ordered exactly the same meal (with no planning beforehand).  We started with the Risotto Pere Gorgon, which I thought was excellent, but others who had also tasted the dish found the diced pears (which I managed to call potatoes at one point) to be a bit tasteless.  However, almost everyone agreed that Gary's and my Vitello Scallopini (in a Wild Boar sauce) was nothing short of extremely tasty.  Multo Bene. By the way, they do take credit cards, but don't try splitting the cost more than 2 ways.  The eight of us got out of there for only 200 Euros, which would be unheard of for such a meal in New York – or probably Baltimore where Gary and Lesley are from – or the Canadian provinces from which hale Elizabeth, Charles, Sue and Brian.

 

Tomorrow will be a day of pool lounging for most of us, but I'm sure we'll be finding some intriguing things to do.

 

 

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