San Gimignano and surprising evening entertainment

Yesterday (Friday the 8th of July) we drove to the medieval walled village of San Gimignano.  The road there was very twisty, and sane people would drive cautiously , particularly around  blind curves.  But that sort of driving seems to be particularly irksome to most young male Italian  drivers whose style seems to be to pass everything in sight especially on blind curves, and all of this is preceded  by tailgating as closely as possible.  This would be driving as a Grand Sport I guess.  At any rate, I kept pulling off to let the sports by as quickly as possible, and even then got the universal gesture for "you are an idiot" more than a few times.  All of this ate into my tension-free,  bon-vivantness a little bit...  but it was nothing a little hiking up and down nearly vertical hills in San Gimignano couldn't cure. 

Presumably a few pictures are in order:

The main square, with something in the middle that was maybe the town well

We ate lunch here

Remains of my salad, so that those concerned about my rich dietary intake can rest a bit easier

View from a park at the top of the village

So it's  beautiful, right?  It's also small.  And it's apparently on every tourist's "must see" list.  Therefore, there are many parking lots (good idea) that ring the town (because of course it's medieval and has no room for parking "inside").  You park, mog around in more than 90 degree heat for a few hours, and then begin to look for your car.  Hmmm, down this street?   No.   Hike back up.  Maybe here?  Hike MANY places up and down before locating the parking lot where your specific car is baking in the sun.  Congratulate self that you did not suffer a fatal coronary attack, and get back on the twisty road for more driving games with the young Italians. 

We rested up a bit when we got back to Castellina, and then went to see an open-air rendition of "Rent", all in Italian of course.  This was a fabulous experience!!  I was fortunate enough to have seen it in New York, and this one was really cast well... and was very very good.  And the Italian-ness shone through too:  largely in the costuming and gesturing.  It was such a fun thing to witness, and to sit under the stars.  This will form a good memory for me for always, I think.