Italy Trip Day 3 - San Gimignano and Volterra

Today we began exploring the many hill towns of Tuscany, starting with San Gimignano, located just about 10 kilometers away from our farmhouse. Today was also the day that Mason officially hit the wall. I think three straight nights of staying up past 10 o’clock and taking limited naps had finally taken its toll on the little man, and he let us know it. San Gimignano was a very impressive town – at least what we were able to see while chasing Mason around all the piazzas and down the narrow streets. It is a nearly perfectly preserved medieval town, with a very distinctive skyline of sorts, consisting of 14 tall, narrow stone towers. You can actually see the town’s towers from about 20 miles away, which is pretty impressive considering it was all built 400 to 500 years ago.
After a much needed nap (for everyone) we visited another hill-town called Volterra. While Volterra was not quite as impressive as San Gimignano, Mason was in a much better mood, making the visit a bit more enjoyable. Volterra has been around since before the Roman-era in Italy, and its famous Etruscan gate made of massive stones (dating around 400 BC) still stands as the entrance to the city. Mason has his “I’m an American tourist” act down pretty well we discovered, as he likes to go stand in front of objects (like the Etruscan gate) and scream “Cheese! Cheese!” at the top of his lungs. Through this behavior, he has made it onto the film strips of many Italian tourists so far this trip. While this seems to be a good thing for Mason’s ego, we’re not so sure this is a good thing for the American image in general.
After the day was done, we ate another fantastic dinner at the farmhouse tonight. Homemade lasagna, a soup from a family recipe, barbeque chicken and an antipasta plate filled out the night’s fare. At dinner, I realized how accepting the Italians are of children, compared with some of the other European cultures. After Mason’s loud performance the first night at dinner, most Swiss would be giving us the evil eye if we brought him in for dinner the second night. Not in Italy, however. In fact, one table of older Italians actually bought Mason a small wind-up toy and brought it to him at dinner. He has turned into quite the conversation piece around the farmhouse, and he has begun really hamming it up with all the other people staying at the farm. We will see if his charm wears off after a few more dinners.