October 10th, San Gimignano, 37k

We spent the day in and around this lovely hill town. We had our breakfast of cereal campside as the sun was slowly shining on the town, our view from our camp, and then on us. We walked up the steep path to the bar for coffee and croissants. We then rode the bike 2k to town. We visited the cathedral with its storyboard like art frescoes depicting the history of SG. We climbed one of the town's 12 towers to get a birdeye's view. Ironically, some of the towers align like the World Trade Center. A few had tables and chairs on top of them. We listend to yet another street musician who played a beautiful harp. We took our lunch up another path that overlooked the valley below and had our packed peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We had a session at the Internet cafe trying to do damage control on the ever declining stock market, and then hopped on the bike to do a 25 k ride on a scenic road recommended by Lonely Planet. This was on the way to Volterra which we were going to visit. However, the description seemed very similar to some other hill towns we had been to and we were seeking uniqueness. The roads were hilly, but we ate up the k's in record time, sans panniers. We returned back to town afterwards having earned our right to a world-renowned gelator (and I am ashamed to say we had two of them, so good were they and so deserving we felt).

The day was warm at 25 degrees Centigrade. Cyclists are everywhere and we talked to many at the main plaza here. Everyone is intrigued by our tandem. It is a real conversation starter. We met a large group from Norway, a couple from Seattle and numerous local cyclists. We returned to the local supermarket/Coop for our dinner suppliles. At camp, we showered, cooked pasta and made a salad.