“You are going to the Tuscany of your dreams,” said our tour guide Barbara. Our bus took us through countryside green, lush, and unlike anything we’d seen so far. Our destination was San Gimignano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Barbara told us that when invaders tried to attack, the guards on the wall yelled, “alar me” which means get your weapons. This is where our word alarm comes from.

She took us through the gate of the city and up a steep, cobblestone road. We stopped in front of of a gelato shop that has quite a reputation. The owner has won several titles of best gelato maker in the world! Since no-one else had a chance of winning when competing agains him, he  has now become the judge rather than a competitor. We were treated to gelato from his shop. I could choose different flavours for each of my two scoops so had pink grapefruit and champagne. It was delicious and well worth me having a second gelato today.

We had free time to explore and while some went shopping, Emily and I found the path that led up yet another hill. We went though an opening in the wall into a courtyard area where we found some steep stone steps leading to a viewpoint with a 360 view. Several pictures were taken before we descended and slowly wound our way back to our meeting place.

This has been my favourite stop on the trip and I would have loved to spend more time in this area. It seems Barbara was right, this just might be the Tuscany of my dreams!