San Gimignano is one of the more well known walled towns in Tuscany, particularly due to its towers which stand up proudly on the hill. I had a bit of a laugh at Matty and Van's continual attempts at nonchalantly saying the name, I think the best was "San Gimme-gaaaaano". We arrived in the 30 degree heat and set off into what turned out to be market day. Whilst still beautiful it was very hot, completely chocka with people and teeming with stalls with everything you could ever desire. I have discovered on this trip that heat and I don't get on terribly well. I've always been on the more warm blooded side than most people, usually getting hot and sweaty before everyone else. This was no exception however this time Van and I were on par. Every time there was a spot of shade we were in it and the walking pace slowed considerably to reduce sweatiness.
After wandering around for a bit we settled on our most important purchase of the day, a gelato from "The Best Gelato Shop in the World", or was it the "Number One Gelato Shop in the World". Both shops were situated about 100m apart and overflowing with weary tourists. Once slightly cooled we headed off to Florence and our next hostel for the night, according to Van it was a nice cheap one given our slightly more pricey last few nights. According to the website it had no rules, woohoo, big night ahead!
A slight detour on the way to the hostel took us to the lookout over Florence, what a city. With the duomo roof sticking up and the Ponte Vecchio over the river it's a pretty magical place. It's also no cooler than San Gimignano as a balmy 35 degrees greeted us, life was getting tough. We eventually arrived at the hostel perfectly situated a 5 minute walk from everything. Turned out no rules also translated to no air conditioning and a group of 18 year old boys (I think they thought they were men from their grooming rituals but looked about 14) in the room next door. There was nothing for it, we were going to have to get at least moderately tipsy to be able to get any sleep that night.
We all got into sporty mode and did our respective jogs, Matty the most impressive with 10k along the river at 5pm and 35 degrees. Van's was only slightly more moderate and I got the best deal of the lot. My "run" consisted of walking to the river with Matty to escape the crowds, followed by a few loops around whilst oggling at the beautiful buildings. I thought I would wind my way back towards the hostel via the back streets; there aren't really back streets in Florence, just tourists EVERYWHERE. Eventually (felt like forever, the watch said 10 minutes) I came across a shady square with a full orchestra playing, not bad Italy, not bad. Of course I had to stop and appreciate the music for a decent amount of time before walking back and attempting to cool down in our sauna of a room.
After the purchase of a cold beer for Matty and some sports drink I forced on the other two (I fully encourage rehydrating before dehydrating) we headed to the Piazza to meet up with Immy for dinner. Pizza and wine were on the menu and not a bad farewell to a good few weeks in Italy. Immy couldn't quite keep up with the drinking so the three of us headed back to the hostel for a nightcap/pre-drink of Limoncello. Normally I love Limoncello, when it's warm not so much.
With the cooling temperatures we headed out to check out the nightlife in Florence which I can report back was quite good but a tad over-run with drunk American tourists. We finished the evening with a rather disgusting cocktail Matty got us in a beautiful square. Followed (on my request) by a McDonalds run, it was pretty much on our way home and I needed to make sure they were keeping their meals standardised throughout the world. Which they are, still delicious when it's past midnight.
The next morning involved some very successful shopping at the markets. Van and I got matching cashmere lined leather gloves, I got 2 scarves, Van one scarf, I got a wallet, Van got a handbag and Matty got some gloves too. We all eyed up multiple other purchases but with my shrinking bank account and bulging bag and Matty and Van being at the start of their holiday it all had to wait. A laze in the park accompanied by the best sandwich I have ever had ended my Italian adventure. Sandwich doesn't really do it justice, it was this incredible foccacia bread filled with pork, cheese, artichokes and other goodness. I'm pretty sure the guy gave us extra meat cause he thought Matty looked like Steven Gerard the soccer player, thanks Mum and Dad!
Now off to Switzerland. And not just Switzerland but Zermatt and the Matterhorn, the home of Toblerone. Swiss o Week runs for the week and I'm planning to walk my socks off around the mountains in between races.
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