Corner La Trin: San Gimignano

San Gimignano was a little town near Siena, and in the first glimpse, I caught sight of eight stone and square towers rising up out of the ground, giving me the impression that San Gimignano was just like a huge fortress, keeping within it a town. My nose pressed against the window of the car, my eyes greedily soaking up this beautiful sight.

San Gimignano was truly beautiful. The stone houses were narrow and had lots of windows. We walked down to the main square, where we were going to climb one of the eight towers. There was also a small little museum inside, displaying a few paintings

Looking out over Gimignano was definitely a good thing to do. I could see mountains and villages, vineyards and olive groves. People walking around, not even noticing my gazing at them.

You couldn't climb the majority of the eight towers, but there were lots of lookouts. We explored the beautiful, medieval town until we found a really good lookout. It was set on a Roman ruin, bricks making run down walls, and also being scattered everywhere. I think this lookout used to be a watch tower, because the highest point was on a small round tower. The green, yellow and brown fields below me were candy for my eyes. So was everything else.

The museum of ornithology, the study of birds, loomed out in front of us. I didn't really know what to expect, because I'd never been inside and ornithology museum before. As we walked inside, I saw all the stuffed birds. Poor birds. The taxidermists, the bird-stuffers, had done a good job, as the birds of the area of Tuscany were plump and looked really healthy, just in a frozen state. Owls, and predators, little cute birds and humungous birds. In fact, just as decoration was a stuffed boar head. It was very intriguing.

The Duomo of San Gimignano stood up in front of us, grand and subtle in it's own way. It was a church made of brick, styled Renaissance. It was rather plain, but that was how it was meant to be. We walked inside.

The inside was very imposing, with stained glass windows and statues looking at you from every direction. Benches and chairs were lined up, with people of all ages sitting upon them in reflection. The chapels on the side of it held paintings, or altars, or tabernacles. It was a very pretty cathedral.

The museum of archeology's banners flapped around in the wind. We walked inside and showed the operator our tickets. In this museum were held old fragments and jars, pots and other ancient tools used around 200 BC! There were lots of rooms, and I couldn't help but imagine what these jars had been used for. Holding spices and other foods, chamber pots, rituals, there were endless possibilities. It was amazing that what we thought of so priceless and ancient, people in the past had thought them casual and had just taken them for granted. The contrast was just so drastic! It really ran through my mind at a hundred miles an hour.

Walking back through the cobbled streets of the ancient and historical town, I gazed around in wonder at the stone buildings, the little shops, everything. I would really miss Gimignano. It had been burned into my brain, and would stay like that forever.

Tower we conquered in San Gimignano