We got up really early yesterday- our tour director actually had the hotel start breakfast service 15 minutes before the usual time so we could get the early start. It was the smartest thing. Literally everything we did had us walking out in the shade as other, larger groups of people arrived in nearly direct sunlight. Misia is a genius. Or maybe, she just doesn’t want us to bake under the famous Tuscan sun.
We did a walking tour of Siena with a local guide. Her name was Donatella. She was dressed in white with perfectly matched accessories that were somehow orange, which, of course, went with the hair scarf she had tied around her head. Misia uses a telescoping stick with a scarf tied to the top, as many tour guides do, to give tour-goers an elevated focal point to follow in a crowd. It feels a little silly to do it that way, but it really works. Donatella refused it, saying she talks so much with her hands that she may inadvertently assault someone.
The thing about local guides is that they’re experts in the one place or thing you’re seeing. We had a guide just for the academy who showed us David. We had a guide who walked us through Florence. We’ve had guides on different trips before, and they all seem to have a shorthand way to tell us to get a move on. In Spain, we were particularly fond of the guide that kept saying, “come, come!” On this trip, we had one who told us to “follow the way,” but it seems that the most commonly repeated tour guide giddy-up is “this way.” It doesn’t sound that interesting, but they don’t exactly all talk unaccented American English. In fact, they almost all seem to say it like deece way. It’s become a thing Cas and I say around the house, and Italy is reinforcing it.
The Siena tour was fabulous, and it wrapped as the day was getting hotter. New bus loads of tourists were arriving, and we were strolling out. Next stop, San Jim and Yano. I mean San Gimignano. There, we had a very nice lunch followed by a trip to the place reported to have the best Gelato in all of Italy. I have never been a fanatic about pistachio, but everyone says it’s legendary there, and it simplified a frantic selection process to just get the most legendary thing in the best ice cream shop. No regrets.
The last stop on our day-long adventure was a vineyard. We had a wine tasting at a beautiful vineyard in the Tuscan countryside. If you ever have the opportunity to do that, oh my gosh, do it. They served us six different kinds of wine, which, of course, were accompanied by an order form and a pen, in case you get any big ideas. We didn’t order anything, but we sure did have a great time. The bus ride back to town was a little livelier- as you might imagine, and after that, we set out with Jeff and Reema and our new friends Nicci and Jon for dinner. We had a restaurant all picked out, and when we got there, they stuck us in a corner by the bathroom where the air flow never went. The food was amazing, but just as we were getting into it, the waiters started pushing together many small tables into one large one. Uh-oh. If I had to guess, it looked like a table for about 20 people, and for some reason, all but two of them were men. I’m pretty sure someone there was smoking indoors, and the heat in the back of the room didn’t improve. The men in our group valiantly offered to pay the check while the ladies went to the sidewalk for fresh air. It felt like a pretty long time, but eventually, all three of our dinner dates emerged.
That was it for the evening, too. Lots to see and do yesterday- many stops along the road, but it all works out if you follow the way.
Here are our photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PR6jn1ZzhDS6cx8q8
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