Leave Siena bound for San Gimignano. But first drop into the Co-op supermarket. It’s bigger than big and has a gluten free section the size of a local Tesco. Trolley soon filled with pasta, bread, bread sticks, beer and other stuff not to be found in the UK. Lady B in heaven.
Take
the Chianti route. Pass by San Gusme. It looks so perfect we pull into the car park. Walk through the arched gate into a perfect setting, with perfect cobbles and absolutely perfect consistent architecture. It’s so perfect that it feels unreal: more a set for an Italian opera. You wonder where the people are.
Back in Ro10 – terrific drive through rolling Tuscan countryside, all hilltop villas and Cyprus trees. Lunch at Castellina in Chianti. Good choice. Pizza for me and chicken 
concoction for L.
Camp at Boschetta di Piemma. Just a bus ride from SG.
SG lovely place, famous for it’s many towers which give it a distinctive skyline as it sits atop its hill site. There’s disagreement about how many towers there are but the consensus seems to be 13 or 14. There have been as many as seventy. They were constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries, as fortified homes. The city has had a torrid history which was explained in the excellent Museo Civico. Highlight was climbing to the top of the Torro Grossa tower. 154 steps. Poking your head over the final ladder revealed a 360 degree vista of the Tuscan hills. An experience.
Historically had an interesting form of government. Podestas were appointed to run the town. They had to be from another city and weren’t allowed to have friends in SG. They were there for a limited period and were latterly well paid. They left at the end of their term with a bag of cash and a lot of influence. Very much like Chief Executive of a UK local authority.
Lunch on the sunlit balcony of Ristorante La Griglia was perfect. Walking back to the bus stop the dream started to fade just a little as we battled against a tide of tour groups bused in for the late afternoon session.