Our arrival into Montepulciano

This is a walled village, slightly larger than the places we've been so far, that I have loved for a long while.  And I knew that it would be a challenge to A) find the hotel  and B) drive to a hotel-specified parking space.  That's because the streets are a maze of one-way only lanes the width of hiking trails.  OK.  So we got here probably around noon, parked the car in public parking outside the walls,  and began following the arrows to our hotel:  the signs looked serious and helpful until you tried to guess which street the arrow was actually pointing to.  And for an added challenge, the hotel where we planned to stay had a very small sign, and the restaurant beneath it had a different name entirely.  So we got a lot of hiking in before finally entering a restaurant to ask directions and finding out that it was indeed THE restaurant.  So, shock all around I'd say.  But the games hadn't even begun...  because then the owner drew on a tourist map how we should negotiate the warren of one-way streets in order to finally arrive in front of the hotel.  Honestly, I was concerned...  having been caught up in this town more than once.  But we set out, found the car and began our assault upon the streets of Montepulciano.  I can not adequately describe in words how narrow, steep, and sharply angled these lanes are.  And add to that the fact that hoards of people are walking in them, not to mention the street vendors who take up at least 1/3 of the width in many places.  Well anyway, we got ourselves almost there three times, but ended up in various other locations/predicaments.  The worst was this:  driving actually through a lengthy craft fair with just enough room to miss swiping the wares off the tables with the car mirrors.  The street narrowed and narrowed, with stall proprietors having in some cases to move their seats out of our way.  We ended up in a church parking lot and then had to walk back down through the fair to see how we might get free from  the position in which we found ourselves (with the least threat to the life and limb  of the inhabitants).  Finally we did find a way through and got to the designated parking space.  Our reward was a Gin and Tonic, and I don't mind admitting that even thinking of moving the car from its current position gives me hives.  We've agreed to just walk around this town tomorrow while we recover.

                                     This is the craft-show street that we drove down!!

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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.