Just a little over 8 years ago my friend Jo asked me to go on a day trip with her and her then 4 year old daughter to a town I had never herd of, San Gimignano. In fact a town I couldn’t pronounce without falling over the g’s! Max was 4-ish and Alex must have been 8-10months?? Anyway, I loved hanging out with Jo so it was an instant ‘yes’. Eight years ago we were poor as church mice (Nic was a student doing his Phd) and Jo being a fabulous friend recommended we take a packed lunch and just enjoy the views, so with sangos and fruit packed we headed to one my all time favourite towns in Italy. The medieval town blew me away the first time I laid eyes on it and again the second time around, eight years later.
With Jo I remember pushing strollers up the somewhat steep streets and letting the kids run around the square chasing whatever they could find, namely each other! We took lots of photos, picnicked under trees on the outside of the town’s medieval walls and soaked in the surrounds while devouring our sandwiches. I was so excited to tell Nic about this wonderful town and hoped I would be able to show it to him one day. Sadly all my pictures of eight years ago have gone when the bastards stole our computer a few years ago when our house was burgled, however, last Sunday we got to take a whole lot more photos and with Nic included.
I couldn’t help but think of Jo as we were strolling around, we didn’t go into any of the free churches (saw them last time) but we did go into the Palazzo Comunale and have a look around at the frescos and climbed the tower (actually I have to confess, Nic and Alex made it all the way to the top of the tower and took some amazing shots while Max and I only made it three quarters of the way up the stairs before we turned around and looked out of a window a little closer to ground level).
We had a wonderful day together but in all honesty no more so than when I went as a much poorer mother of two 8 years ago: I would have to say each time was as enjoyable as the other. So really the company you keep is much more memorable than the money you spend. It is an easy drive from Florence, straight up the autostrada, very well signposted and very easy to park. I know you can also catch buses to San Gimignano so really there is no excuse not to see this beautiful town for yourself when you plan your trip to Italy, and if you need a little incentive check out the scenes below….
Looking out from somewhere up in the tower taken by Alex on his way up 
This is a back end view as we were walking into town, the towers are so striking and to see them like this you have to walk to the end of town (which will take you all of 10 minutes at a casual stroll).
This is my favourite shot….see how high up they were? Woo!
Pretty happy with himself…and rightly so!
Alex loves taking ‘selfies’, however, this time he wanted one with all of us…..come to think of it, this could be the first family shot in months!
This was inside the Palazzo Comunale, so beautiful to stand in on a warm day and look up
What is there to not love about this place?
The boys were super happy to eat pizza as they haven’t had any since Rome. Nic and I managed to find a deli that made us some delicious porchetta and marinated eggplant rolls (thank god we both ate them as the garlic breath was fairly intense afterward!)
Come on guys, just ONE serious shot for your grandparents???
Italy Take Two 