Tuscany in a day

I am not sure if it was lack of planning on our part or sheer convenience that we booked multiple tours through "Mytours", a local travel company. One of the reasons of spending 5 nights in Florence was to explore the surrounding smaller Tuscan towns. And this tour seemed to fit the ones we were most interested in, in a day! It seemed like a no-brainer and for the most part it was great to travel in an air-conditioned coach and enjoy the scenery or snooze on the ride, not having to worry about the hassle of navigating through these tiny towns with almost non-existent parking! 

A short hour's bus ride brought us to Pisa, where we were herded by our shepherd a.k.a the guide like cattle to the Miracle square where all the monuments are concentrated. The first sight of the famous "Leaning tower" is sure to fill anyone with amazement. The building of the tower began in 1173 and when they reached the 3rd level in 1185, they noticed a lean of about 3.8cm. Work stopped until 1275, when Giovanni di Simone tried to correct the tilt by curbing the structure back towards the perpendicular, giving it a slight banana shape. In 1284, work stopped again. In 1360, it was capped off at about 51m (167 ft). Excavations around the base in early 19th century caused the tower to start falling faster than ever and by 1990 the lean was about 4.6m (15 ft), so Pisas mayor closed the tower. Stabilization work continued until Dec 2001, when it was righted to its lean of 1838 (4m/13ft), reopening the tower. 

The Baptistery has a carved stone pulpit by Nicola Pisano (1255-60), his masterpiece. The high relief panels include pagan gods converted to Christianiry as Madonnas and saints.

The quaint Tuscan hill side town, San Gimignano was an hour bus ride away. There were at one time about 70 towers in this town, 14 of which remain. Piazza Della Cisterna is reached by an easy uphill walk from the Porta San Giovanni gate and the scene is thoroughly medieval. We spent about an hour meandering through the narrow streets admiring the archaic beauty and clicking pictures. And yes, I may have indulged in yet another gelato!

We had lunch at a local winery with wine tasting and a dramatic and highly entertaining presentation by Gabriel, one of the owners. 

Siena, a medieval Tuscan city of brick was the 3rd and the last stop. Founded as a Roman colony by Emperor Augustus, it enjoyed its heyday in the 13th and the 14th century. In 1348, the plague or the "Black Death" took a toll on the city, killing close to 3 quarters of the population. Siena never recovered completely and much of it remains unchanged. 

Siena's "Duomo" is filled with art treasures and the unique floor of the cathedral, a mosaic of 59 etched and inlaid marble panels created between 1372-1547 by Siena's top artists. Several stepped alleyways lead down into the Piazza del Campo, one of the most beautiful piazzas in Italy (a close second to Piazza de Nuovo in Rome for me!). It almost looks like a beach with people lounging around and simply seating down enjoying the sight of the towering "Palazzo Pubblico", the city's finest Gothic palace and we were just drawn to do the same before departing for Firenze after a long walk to where our bus was parked.