San Gimignano is a tiny town in the Tuscan countryside that thrives off of tourism. Its sleepy nature and history is attractive to all kinds of tourists--groups of students, couples, spring breakers, those tired of the city. The old part of town, like so many other cities, is a walled in section filled with stone walls, houses and tightly packed, winding streets. Grid work is not to be found in these places, but neither is fast paced, hurried living. The streets are meant to be strolled at an easy pace. Which is exactly what I did. No map is needed to enjoy the shops of trashy souvenirs or the quaint ones with pastries, local pottery and original watercolors.
After getting the lay of the land, I stopped at Enoteca Gustavo's (founded in 1946) for a salami and pecorino panini while sampling two of the local wines. The white was vernaccia--a medium dry wine with fruity undertones-- and the red was a chianti--dry, bold and pungent. The sandwich was excellent and paired reasonably well with my wine choices. From Gustavo's I wandered the outer edges of the walled city where there were great views and paths around the wall. Everything looks just like you would expect Tuscany to look: rolling green hills, small houses and farms, grapevines and olive groves, mountains in the distance.
In keeping with the town's lazy feel, I avoided the museums and duomo and sampled some sweets: nocini (a sugary dough ball dipped in chocolate with walnut wings), triangulino (pastry bottom with raisins sandwiched by a hazelnut crisp on top--this was my favorite), a chocolate hazelnut cookie mound and a dried fruit/dense cookie mound. The nocini was the only one I didn't like. Having finished my time in the town, I happened to hit the bus stop right on time to head to Ponggibonsi where I would again change for Firenze. The roads were just as rotten as yesterday, but the bus was a different style and took the rough road better. Dinner was left overs again and dessert was my afternoon sweets revisited.
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