Sunday in San Gimignano

After a lovely Saturday of just relaxing and getting some work done, I enjoyed a trip to San Gimignano (Pronounced San Jiminano). It is a small city about 45 minutes from Siena. It was planned by the Italian students for our "Sundays Together". The plan was to get there early and explore the cute little town and then we would go to Carnavale. Well most of that stuff happened. We were going to take the bus, but luckily enough only a few people came so we were able to spread out between two cars and get there in less time. Second, we got met back up again in the center of town and decided on what we wanted to do. San Gimignano's architecture is similar to Siena's and was just a classic Tuscan city. There wasn't much to do there as it was Sunday and most shops were closed for the holiday, but there was plenty to see walking around.

We first decided to go to the torture museum. It was normally 10 euros to get in, but the lady gave us the student rate even though we were all over 18. It was actually a really cool museum. They had actual torture devices all over the walls and in cases. They even had a guillotine and I got excited and remembered learning about the  . They gave very nice histories on all the devices and it was very informational. I have to say though, it is slightly depressing knowing that people actually used these and therefore this museum is not for the weak of heart.

After that we had lunch and wandered around the city. We found a couple of really nice look out spots where you can see out to the hills of the Tuscan landscape. They were very pretty and if it wasn't so cold and a little sunnier out then I would have stayed there longer. The city itself had a lot to offer. They also are still surrounded by their original wall and there was even a path the lead you around parts of the wall. There are many churches, but unfortunately they were closed so we couldn't go inside.

You can't leave San Gimignano without trying the gelato. It is famous all over Italy and has several awards for best gelato. I really love the gelato here in Italy. It is so smooth and creamy and they have the best flavors. The gelato we had here lived up to its name for sure.

Eventually we ran out of things to do while waiting for the carnavale and it turns out that it was delayed until 3;30 instead of 3. We were all tired and didn't want to wait any longer so we decided to all just go home. We had a great day exploring a new city, but it was time to head back and get ready for school the next day.

-Cori