Italy & Greece Vacation 2001 
2. San Gimignano, Florence and Pisa

These pages relate the personal vacation experiences of two South Africans, Debra and Matthew Perks, in Italy and Greece during September-October 2001.  The site has the following pages - the Introduction Page (includes Rome), this page on San Gimignano, Pisa and Florence, Venice (and the ferry trip to Patras), a Page on Piraeus and the ferry to Santorini,  a Page on Santorini Island a Naxos Island Page and finally Athens.

In our experience, Italian trains work great for the budget traveller - they are relatively inexpensive and, in general, very reliable. Before leaving home, we used the official Trenitalia site to plan train journeys. Not wanting to pre-book we simply printed out a list of train and time options and used those to indicate what we wanted when purchasing tickets. In ticket offices like Rome language is not a problem, but this idea could be very handy in more remote places. 
Now the exception to the "reliable" comment above:- the first train trip we took (Rome to San Gimignano) involved two change-overs at Chiusi and Poggibonsi (bus to San Gimignano) was the only time we experienced a hassle. The Rome train was late for the Chiusi connection. A bus was laid on for Siena, but no further. Getting help from the "Information" (for want of a better word) staff at the Siena station was near impossible. Like the rest of the confused non-Italian passengers, we lost a lot of time but eventually got help from someone at the ticket counter. We hopped on the Siena-Empoli train that stopped at Poggibonsi, from where we caught the San Gimignano bus. Siena, for better or worse, was promptly crossed off our list as a day trip - maybe next time when our Italian is more fluent. 

The bus ride went through the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We had booked into the San Gimignano Youth Hostel and arrived in the rain during lock-out. Looking back, the day did not go very well. The view from our room somehow made up for that.Sadly the Youth Hostel is being forced to close by the San Gimignano local authority.

Also consider taking a walk outside the town. The Tuscan countryside and the many ancient towns that can be seen on the hilltops would make a vacation on their own. We arrived after the sunflowers had died off, and if we were to return we would try to time the trip to see the sight of the fields in bloom.

Two Sunday busses got us to Florence from San Gimignano via Poggibonsi without a hitch. A short walk from Santa Maria Novella Station brought us to via Guelfa and the Hotel Il Bargellino, which was to be the best budget accommodation of the trip. A big comfortable bed in a quiet room with a fridge and a door leading onto an outside terrace greeted us. 

The hotel is located within easy walking distance of the historical centre and attractions of Florence. An afternoon's walk got us orientated in the centre of town - the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio the Bargello the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio were all easily reached on foot.

The 17th September morning we made the day-trip to Pisa. The trip takes an hour or so, but this seems very long if you've bought a train ticket but forgotten to validate it before boarding. No inspector got on, so it was OK.

The tower is the obvious attraction, but the baptistry and church in the beautiful grassed Pza. del Miracoli with the tower make a great scene that is less often in photographed.

Back in Florence, the next morning was spent at the Accademia Gallery. Michelangelo's David and "the Prisoners" attract  visitors, but the many religious canvasses often not mentioned are astonishing in their beauty. Taking the only bus we used in Florence we then went up to Pza. Michelangelo for the view over the city. A further climb leads to the lovely San Miniato al Monte church on the hilltop. Down the hill are the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, where the mind travels back to imagine a glorious past. A visit to Michelangelo and Galileo themselves (what remains of them now?) where they lie near other important historical figures in Santa Croce Church was followed by two servings of the best Gelato on the planet at Bar Vivoli. Quite a day.

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Information on the pictures:
Pictures taken using a Fuji Finepix 2400Z using a resolution of 1200x600 pixels and a "Basic" compression setting. Thumbnails on these pages are 150x150 and the larger images have been generated at a width of 750 pixels to keep file sizes small enough to load. Copies of the original full size pictures are available (File size +- 300Kb) for those interested. 
Mail Matthew Perks with any request
Copyright 2001: Matthew Perks