Best day of the trip so far. We boarded a bus at 8:30 this morning and did a Tuscany Tour. Our first stop was about an hour out at a village of 55,000 people called Siena. We were met by a local tour guide who shared some of the history of the town with us. Most notably they hold two horse races a year around the city square. Thousands of people come for them. They bring sand and dirt in to make a track just for these two races. The first horse race in Siena was held in 1555 and they have held them ever since.
The ten horses that race on those days are taken into the big church for a blessing from the Cardinal before the race. It is considered extra lucky if the horse poops while in the church! They showed us a video of the horse race. The horses are rode bare back and due to the sharp turns it is common for the jockey to fall off. They make three circles around the town square. The horse can still win even if the jockey isn’t on it at the finish line.
We toured the main church which was amazing. The floor tile was impressive as was the tall dome ceiling. This town has the world’s oldest bank in it which is still operating today. It had a hospital that opened in the 9th century that just closed in 1995.
The local guide told us the phase God Bless You after someone sneezes originated here. There was a plague in the 1500’s and sneezing was often the first symptom people had. When someone sneezed people would say God Bless meaning they hoped God will receive them when they die from the plague next week. They lost 80% of the population to the plague.
Our next stop was at a local organic winery where we had lunch. We toured where the wine is stored before it is bottled. As it was raining they cut our tour short and we went in for lunch. They served four different types of wine for lunch. Nicole got double servings of each as she drank mine for me. Since I don’t eat bread or pasta they fixed a plate of roasted veggies for me. The main course was salad, cold cuts of meat and sheep’s cheese. It was a delightful lunch. We enjoyed talking to our table mates as they served the lunch family style.
Next up was a little town called San Gimignano. What a beautiful little village it was. The countryside views were incredible in spite of the rainy, foggy skies. We mainly did some shopping in this village. The shops were really cute.
The last stop of the day was Pisa. What a tiny town it is. We had gotten tickets to walk to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and didn’t have time to do much else. I made it halfway up before I turned around and went back down. Nicole made it to the top. I felt drunk walking the stairs especially on the side that leans. Felt like we were on a boat.
Our tour guide was one of the best ones I have ever had. He gave us enough information but didn’t talk all the time. He had a good sense of humor and made it a fun day.
We had sprinkles off and on today but it never rained hard. The rainbows before, during and after Pisa were some of the prettiest ones I have ever seen. They had all the colors of the rainbow in them and were intensely bright and close.
Saw lots of olive trees and grape vines. Reminded me of the countryside in Spain when I was walking through their grape vine countryside. It was so nice to get out of the city energy and see the country side. We didn’t get back to Florence until after 8:30 so it was a long day.
We walked from the bus station to the main area of Florence when we got back and had dinner. Didn’t get back to our room until almost 10:00. Walked over 18,300 steps today and registered 7.61 miles.
Tomorrow morning we catch the train to Venice and will be there for two nights. We have a Gondola ride tomorrow evening booked so will only have tomorrow afternoon and all day Friday to explore Venice.
Can’t believe this trip is getting close to being over. It has gone by very quickly. Just about the time we get comfortable finding our way around a town it is time to move to the next one.
We are booked on a countryside tour in Paris too. Trusting it will be as fun as today was.
Grateful for all the rainbows we saw today, grateful to see more of this beautiful country, and grateful for a tour guide that made the day so fun.