Clarkfamily Excellent Adventure

San Gimignano is THE Tuscan town to visit.

Located between Siena and Florence, it still has 14 of the original 72 towers still up, including the 'Torra Grossa' - a 200 ft monster we climbed - see the photos! (guess Anne's over her fear of heights ... now, how do I get her over the speed of the car?)

The thing about this town is it was not crowded, no modern bits or overly touristy bits, easy to get to, and around in, and offered good value (great Gellato too!).

This was the kids favourite stop (Sam remembers the tower, Ben the toy he got there ...)

Florence (Part 1)

Due to:
- us being lazy because we are on holidays,
- our inability to get organised in the morning,
- doing washing,
- getting the kids going,
- getting lost when trying to find parking,
we arrived in Florence much later than we thought we would. We also only had enough coins to get 2 hours on the meter - so this was a quick reconnaissance visit, and given what we saw (or more to the point, didn't get to see) we are going back!

Florence is much busier than Siena, lots more hawkers and pickpockets - locks on the backpack should be fine.

Anne managed to get a bargain leather bag for €40, although most of the shops seemed quite expensive

Florence Photos Here

Following day we went shopping 'a la Americana' - to The Mall, a new shopping outlet south of Florence (but a long drive from the Villa).

All the main brands were represented there - Gucci, Feragarmo, Fendi, Armani, Zegna, etc., each with their own little (modern) building, and bargains galore.

Pisa

Pisa is recommended as a 'tourist quicky', that is if you don't have to drive 2 hours each way! The roads are good, we were sitting on 150kph for 15 minutes before Anne realised!

Lunch first at a little restaurant recommended by the guide book, with views of the tower and good food, then off for the walk.

Pisa is very touristy (surprise!) but the buildings at the Campo dei Miracoli are well worth seeing - you are even allowed to take photos and use a flash inside the Duomo (Cathedral).

Pisa Photos Here