Day 5 in Italy

Journal Entry continued...
Monday, May 16, 2012
We had a tour of the Chianti region of Tuscany planned. Our driver, Tomas, was wonderful. He took us to a town, San Gimignano, to shop. It was so adorable. We had a wonderful time. Theresa and I both found purses we love. Mine looks like an antique mailbag. LOVE IT. The salesman said I could carry it everyday forever. I think I will! We had gelato, went to a chocolate bar, and just had fun....


Tomas picked us up at our Hotel in Siena. I would highly recommend touring through tours@toursaroundtuscany.com if you would like a tour planned of this region. Our guide did such a good job, he spoke English very well, and tailored the tour to what we wanted. He gave us two choices before we started and he asked if any of us have any lactose problems or carsick problems! We found out why later....


The Tuscan region is absolutely gorgeous.

San Gimignano

A store that sold linens made in Italy

First thing...wine tasting. And I'm so ticked at myself for not shipping home a case of this white wine. This one area of the Tuscan region is famous for their white wine. It was good. I was going to stop by on the way out, but we shopped for quite awhile and when we decided it was time to go, it was TIME TO GO! Now!

Decisions....decisions.

The streets and shops of San Gimignano

Nooo, don't jump!

Just kidding! It's a statue.

Back in the day, San Gimignano was a very wealthy town. And these buildings were homes. And the way you determined the wealth of a family was not their cars, their leather shoes, or the size of the house. It was their tower(s)! There used to be many more towers, but I think there are only 11 remaining.

They have these all over Italy. In every town. Just like in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun." Does anyone know their purpose?

There's my mail bag (purse). I saw this and just loved it and asked the salesman if it was a purse. In that Italian accent he says, "Si', a postman bag, yes? Very nice. You carry it every day, not for dress, but everyday, forever." He put it on and posed for me. I actually think I saw more men carrying these bags in Italy than women.

Our driver knows this lady and asked her to set up a 'chocolate bar' so we could taste the chocolate that they make right there. We were told to stop by her shop when we were finished shopping. Yuuuuummmmm.....

Here is one thing I would like to advise you of if you ever go to Italy. Some places charge you to use their restrooms. See the turnstile. Well don't think you are going to jump it. There is a guard off to the side. They also do not have change. So make sure when you get change, you save it. The range of fees are 50 cents, 60 cents, or 1 Euro. You put your money in a slot and walk through the turnstile. Another thing about the restrooms, most of them are missing the toilet ring that us ladies sit on. It's just a base, and they are usually dirty.

These photos were taken right outside of the shopping area. We are heading off to the Tuscan countryside to visit an organic farm and have lunch.

I can't wait.

Cindy