Today is one of those very rare events - a national holiday in Italy. It is the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, and certainly we stumbled across a church that was having some sort of thing!
Today I decided to go for a ride. A long ride with a work colleague. We cycled from Siena to San Gimignano to Volterra and back to Siena - a total of 71.1 miles. A tough route with lots of climbs, getting up to well over 500 metres in Volterra.
http://app.strava.com/rides/2621625
The weather stayed nice for us. Actually it was about 14C with a hard wind. I am terrified should I ever move back to the UK as I took this ride with full winter gloves and winter overshoes, several tops, and a full vizor buff. Weak! Mind you, there was a bit of wind, but my lord not as bad as the winds that have been seen in Scotland where it is not only snowing, but there are winds of up to 165 mph - which has resulted in this wind turbine catching fire!
San Gimignano was our first port of call. This is sometimes known as the first city of skyscrapers due to its huge numbers of still existing towers. Typically, each family would build a tower to demonstrate their power and wealth and social influence. In San Gimignano there are 14 of them left, but in the 13th centuray there were over 70. I say in San Gimignano as Siena also used to have lots of them too, but they were cut down by the Moors-influenced Spanish when they came rampaging through in around the 17th Century. Shame, but you can see evidence of this in some of the old photos of Siena.
It's also famous for a special type of white wine called Vernaccia - but unfortunately I have yet to try it! Today I tried too much and felt incredibly full for the rest of the day. In the bar in San Gimignano I had a chocolate panforte, a rice tart, a coffee and an evil hot chocolate that nearly was the end of me!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernaccia_di_San_Gimignano
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano
Our final, and furthest destination was Volterra. This has been described as being atop the hilliest hill. The views from the town are stunning. The town is typically famous for a number of items: it was one of the big Etruscan cities, so there is plenty of Etruscan gubbins around, especially marble and alabaster - typically the horse sculpture. Also it has a well preserved Roman ampitheatre.
However, Riccardo gave me some great info as to why the town is famous in Italy. It had one of the biggest mental hospitals in Italy, until it was closed down in the early 1980s - for that reason, the Italians still think of it as being a town full of crazies. Just like the folks from Luton - mad as hatters and all that. The other thing is that it holds a huge jail - it is one of the strongest and most fortified jails in Italy and holds a deal of the Mafioso due it's high level of security. It was built in 1342 and is almost impenetrable. Maybe in the near future it will hold Michele Zagaria, a Naples clan boss - of the Casalesi clan - he was found in a secret bunker in his hometown near Naples yesterday. Classic cosa nostra - he has been on the run for 16 years!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16065556
However, Volterra has been made famous recently due to it's association with the Twilight movies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/6616301/Twilight-in-Volterra-The-inspiration-for-vampire-movie-New-Moon.html
The most recent film - New Moon - has some part of it set in Volterra, largely in the Piazza del Priori. However, the shocking aspect, and certainly extremely upsetting for the Volterrans, was that the film was not actually filmed in Volterra, but in Montepulciano, apparently due to there being a fountain in the square. In a bar in Volterra we discussed this with the barrista and she talked about the influence that Pisa has over the area (it is in the province of Pisa, whereas Montepulciano is in Siena province) and how this possibly negatively affected the decisions taken by the film crew. Shame. According to me Volterra needs the business, it is bustly but it is really not the same as other towns in the area. For example, San Gimignano is ALWAYS busy, always super rammed. Maybe this is due to it's proximity to Siena, and it is certainly very accessible from the autostrada between Florence and Siena. Anyway, it's a shame as I think it's a lovely place.
It also has a huge Etruscan gate. Well, the original side stones were laid by the Etruscans in about the 4th century BC - pretty amazing that they are still there fortifying the city to this day! Have a look at the picture I took today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volterra
Other exciting news from the ride - there was a big "O" near Volterra - there always is the big "O" - it is by a locally-based sculptor. This is right at the top of the hill climbing into Volterra and the views from it are amazing.
Near there we saw an eagle. I think it was an eagle, it certainly was extremely close, pretty damn huge, and stunning to watch. And the final thing was the part below. Graffittied onto one of the power huts was the following phrase "Ceilbato - la perversione piu' disumana!" - "Being celibate is the most unhuman perversion". Classic!
Over n out.
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