Don't worry, neither had I, until one of my friends mentioned it to me. While he described it as beautiful small town, nestled in the countryside of Tuscany, the second part of description is what really grabbed my attention.
It's an open location you can explore in the 2009 video game, Assassin's Creed II:
I'm hoping to play through Assassin's Creed II when I return to the States. But, here's the twist. I'm going to try and travel to all the locations in the game while here in Italy, so when I do play the game, my experience will be that much more involving.
Some of the spots I've already visited, such as Giotto's Campanile and Santa Maria Novella, but there are others a little further out, that have yet to be charted.
Considered this plan, a secondary mission.
The weekend approached, and just like every other excursion, Saturday was the chosen day.
Stupidly, I'd forgotten to bring my camera. Luckily, my friend didn't, so the following pictures were taken with his camera. His camera has the ability to capture panoramic shots, which turned to be utterly wicked!
We hopped on the train to Siena, but stopped at the small city of Poggibonsi in order to catch a 20 minute bus ride to San Gimignano.
As we took the bus towards San Gimignano, slowly all sense of modernism began to evaporate. Soon, proper Tuscany presented itself. A natural and organic atmosphere pervaded all around us. Beautiful trees, lush hilltops, and vast amounts of open bliss:
We continued to spiral up, until the little fort of San Gimignano revealed itself.
One of the main sights in San Gimignano are the four classical square towers centered in the middle of the fort.
San Gimignano used to be a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims traveling to Rome. It garnered much success through its development in agriculture and trade during this time.
Unfortunately, it fell under serious constraints when the Black Death ravaged throughout Europe. San Gimignano was forced to assimilate to Florence and has been under Florentine rule ever since.
The bus dropped us off right in the front of the fort:
We decided to trek through the outer rim, to catch some of fantastic views from such a height.
This was the Tuscany I'd heard about:
I was drowning in a sea of nature.
We continued on, and found an ancient well tucked beneath the path.
After exploring the outer rim, we ventured forth into the actual fort.
As you would expect, cobbled streets along with ancient building surrounded us.
Since we could see the towers from almost any part of the fort, we gradually gravitated towards the colossus towers.
We traveled through a very beautiful garden during our ascent, which gave access to some gorgeous views.
Also in the inside the garden was a local Harpist, playing classical melodies.
She played beautifully and just seeing her strike each cord right before my very eyes, was utterly entrancing.
We recorded her performance of Scarborough Fair:
Scarborough Fair
After such a graceful spectacle, we continued on our march towards the towers.
Finally, they stood right before us:
But our hike was not over...We had to climb to the top.
Nightmares from the Duomo soon enveloped my thoughts.
Oh well, you only live once right?
I noticed a very uplifting sign just before beginning:
At least it was only half the length of the Duomo.
We started at ground zero and began our spiral to the top.
With each turn, endless steps mocked me.
After a year of climbing, we finally reached a small ladder which lead us to the top of the tower.
As I crawled and stood up straight to take in the sights, I was immediately drained by the encompassing view.
It was astonishing, astounding, and most importantly, alive.
I could feel Tuscany's pulse.
I must have spent about 25 minutes up there, just taking in every ounce of it all.
I could just imagine myself as Ezio, climbing and battling through such incredible heights in ancient Italy.
After experiencing such a encompassing landscape, my friend forcefully pulled me back down to reality. Grudgingly, I succumbed and descended from what was going to be my new home.
Once we reached the bottom, we toured through a small gallery near the towers. Much of the artwork on display was focused on the city's history. It was quite interesting to see how the citizens viewed their own fort.
Afterwards, we exited onto the cobbled streets, where I felt oddly little in comparison to the colossus experience I'd just experienced.
We wandered through the Piazza della Cisterna, where tourists encompassed the entire area. I picked up a gelato while exploring the inner city.
We stumbled passed this very authentic blacksmith shop:
I couldn't see the blacksmith himself anywhere the shop, but something told me that was a good thing. We hurriedly moved on.
Conquering the towers was the most important aspect of San Gimignano, and if we wanted to return to Florence, we'd have to catch our bus back to the train station in Poggibonsi relativity soon.
We picked up our bus tickets for the 5:30 ride back.
But just like usual, nothing ever goes according to plan. For some reason or another, the bus never arrived. Plain and simple.
So we stood waiting for about 45 minutes for the next bus. As we waited, twice the amount of travelers also stood, anticipating the arrival of the next bus.
Here's a shot of me looking sarcastically odd with my ticket, while waiting for our bus:
The next bus finally arrived.
The entire crowd swarmed the bus mercilessly. Babies were trampled on, elderly were stomped on, with only the young and strong (me!) fighting ruthlessly for a seat on the cherished bus.
Ok, it wasn't that bad. But it was still a push fest.
We traveled back to the train station and found that a bus to Florence was going to be leaving earlier than the train.
We decided on the coach and returned to Florence early in the evening.
San Gimignano may have the reputation of showcasing Tuscany like no other town, but for me, it's true success lies in its ability to bring out my ultimate fantasy of experiencing Assassin's Creed in reality.
Excuse me, while I go find a tower to climb...
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