City Tour and Wine Festival

We have been at Villa Iris for almost a week and today is the first opportunity we have to go into San Gimignano to explore the city.  As many cities in Tuscany are walled cities, so is San Gimignano. Some of the walls and arched gates are still standing and add to the charm of the City of Towers.

One fresco inside the Chiesa (church) di Sant’Agostino is considered the oldest known in San Gimignano, painted before 1317. 

We hiked up ramps and stairs to reach the top of the fort for a beautiful view of the Tuscan hill sides and to look down on the city.  As we walked back towards the plazas and the shopping areas we wandered along some side streets that were actually empty of people so we could see the homes of the city.  Today is market day in town so there were lots of crowds and shoppers.

In nearby Greve we got to experience the Chianti Wine Festival.  The ten of us from the Villa plus two other friends who were staying in Greve arrived in time to see the opening ceremonies and tasted from 6-8 different wineries. Some wines we may purchase to be shipped home.

Dinner tonight was somewhere out in the country on several dusty gravel roads that climbed to the top of a hill. We arrived at sunset at La Cantinetta di Rignana Ristorante. A view over the valley and a full moon shining in the windows enhanced our evening dinner as well as the several bottles of wine we consumed.