With half of my journey behind me I rose early and continue according to the itinerary. Not wanting to leave the coast I made my way (surrounded by fields of sunflowers) towards the tourist town of Cecina. After a cup of coffee in a nice café I headed inland towards two old knighthood towns of Volttera and San Gimignano. I made many photos travelling through the picturesque Toscana.
After many stops I saw the town of Volttera on top of a hill. I made it up the hill and parked in a parking house just outside the entrance to the town center. Volttera is the highest lying town in Toscana with its medieval stone roads 555meters above the valley. In the Etruscan confederacy this town had a key role. Toscana itself got its name from the Etruscans, who settled in central Italy around 900BC. They came from Asia Minor (and brought the cypress three with them). They had a high level of culture and acknowledged the equality of the sexes; also they were excellent engineers. You can see this city HERE.
I continued toward San Gimignano, which is among the most visited locations in Toscana. Its numerous towers that wealthy families erected in the middle ages, were places of refuge where they could turn to if attacked. Only 14 out of original 60 have survived. The Etruscan and later on Roman settlement thrived as a port and a medieval pilgrimage stopover. The families erected towers partially to show off and partially to be safe from street fights. After the plague of 1348 the town fell under the jurisdiction of Florence and the route of pilgrims moved towards the east, thus San Gimignano fell in oblivion and kept its medieval appearance. You can see it
HERE.
Already tired from the drive and the walk under the merciless sun I descended towards Siena. I took a night stroll through the UNESCO world heritage listed town center. There is a sense of a gothic mountain town in this brick made center, which is a total contrast to the renaissance marble of Florence. In the thriving medieval merchant and textile city the court school of gothic painting was founded and the architecture also developed. But due to the plague and the death of two thirds of the population it all abruptly ended. Florence became the most influential city of Toscana in that time. Luckily for us, the demise of Siena meant the people hadn’t spent money to redo the town and so apart from some church façades the town has kept its medieval appearance. For centuries Siena is the place of bareback horse races at the square of Piazza del Campo. The preparation for a minute and a half long race usually take about a week. The crescent shaped square is among the most charming ones in Italy. People go there to have a picnic, a chat, a stroll and it’s the center of the social life. It has nine parts to represent the medieval government with nine members. The inclination and the fountain of joy are not there just for the decoration, but are in fact a part of the town’s plumbing. I had no second thoughts when I sat down to the ground of the square, like so many locals, and enjoyed the view of the Palazzo Pubblico, built from elegant bricks, with a 102 meters tall tower (among the tallest medieval towers in Italy). There are 503 steps to the top, but it’s worth the climb to see the view. My trusty camera made many photos of this town as well as you can see HERE.
The next day I went through the small town of Monte San Savino and came to the next medieval town of Arezzo, known for reenactments of knight games. It’s the only duel in Italy where the target may hit back and throw the charging knight off the horse, by hitting him on the back of the head. Next I went past the lake Lago Trasimeno to arrive in the city of Perugia. You can see how I travelled HERE .
After a long search I got to the nice hostel somewhat outside the city center, but the metro station is near by and the center is reachable within minutes. It’s reachable by car also, for there are many parking places and because it was late I went there by car. I parked below the center and took the escalator to the old town. Again I was in a medieval city, which was similar to other Italian cities, but like all of them it surprises by so many specialties that make it unique. As it was getting dark I saw more and more beautiful motives which I shot with my camera for you to see
HERE . Happy to have had another magical day I returned, after an hour’s walk, to the Youth Hostel where I retired to bed.
Next morning after breakfast I was anxious to visit the smallest republic in the world - San Marino. The road was wining, but filled with beautiful views over the exquisite landscape. Again I took many pictures with some of them for you to see HERE.
Bigger is not always better, we say, and San Marino stands as a testament to that. It’s got all big countries have, but it surpasses them in beauty and charm. The old town center with narrow streets and fully packed inns and shops is known to drain tourist pockets. Tourism is the main source of income for San Marino. The town is surrounded by the wall and a fortress, made up of three towers, the basilica of Saint Martin and the main square in front of the governmental palace. Just like other countries they have their own guard of honor and police force in special yellow-blue uniforms you can not miss. The founder of San Marino, a stonemason by the name of Marin (from the island of Rab in modern Croatia) fled here in 301, prosecuted by Christians for being a hermit in a cave under the mountain of Monte Titano. The pictures of the city can be found
HERE.
From this small independent state a descended towards Rimini, where I’ve stopped for coffee and had a quick stroll along the beach, full of locals, and then continued towards Ravenna. I have had only one more night in Italy ahead of me, that I’ve spent with the friendly staff in a beautiful Youth Hostel. Again I’ve decided to take a night walk, for walking in the hot sun did not appeal to me any more. Tourist mostly visit the town to see the early Christian churches, but the old part of the town is also worth a look. After a lovely dinner I explored it and made some nice photos of it, before returning to the Hostel to have a good rest. There are some photos for you to enjoy HERE .
After a huge breakfast I slowly head back for Slovenia. Even though I was somewhat tired I stopped at two seaside towns that charmed me with their beauty and the similarity to Venice. The first stop was in Comacchio a magical town with many bridges over the water canals. You get a feeling like you’ve entered a magical land where everything is clean, pure, unspoiled and full of nice people. Take a look at this little fairytale HERE.
And the last stop before reaching Slovenia was in a town of Chioggia. A baroque town to the south of Venice, justifying its nickname – Little Venice, for you find palaces there that have their “legs in water”, three canals with gondolas and dreamy bridges. At first this was a somewhat powerful Roman settlement, but it got overshadowed by Venice in the course of the centuries. A 20 boat trip takes you directly to the city of Venice from here. To se some pictures from Chioggia click HERE.
Full of new experience, beautiful memories and quite exhausted I went back to Slovenia decided to return to this beautiful country.
