Tag: San Gimignano

How to drink water like a Roman

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In restaurants, frizzante or gassate.  (If you want to skip the bubbles, order acqua naturale.)

On the streets, from fountains.  No joke.  Unless otherwise labeled, the fountains here all contain potable water.  Same water that runs into your taps at home.  James still talks about the time he saw a little old lady set down her market bags and walk straight into the fountain in front of the Spanish steps to take a few sips of water.  It’s a thing.  Drink up.

If you don’t have a fountain close by (the horror), look for a nasone.  The nasoni are the drinking fountains of Rome.  (Read a little more here if you want back story.)

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The water here is safe and delicious.  We use a Brita at home to try to remove some of the calcium, but the water certainly won’t damage you on a visit.  The kiddos get supplemented with fluorated water, as well as fluoride drops.

Water flows out of the nasoni in perfect fashion to fill up your trusty water bottle.  If you want to use it like a water fountain, no need to crawl underneath.  See that hole on the top of the faucet?  If you cover up the end, the water will shoot out the hole.  #instantRomanstreetcred

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Sometimes water flows out of a nasone all the time.

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Sometimes the nasone doesn’t have enough pressure and nothing comes out.  Womp womp.

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Sometimes the nasone has a knob so YOU can control your own water destiny.

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I can’t say whether nasoni are all over Italy, but I have seen them outside of Rome.  The nasone above was spotted at our trip to Hadrian’s Villa.  The one below–also the fanciest nasone I’ve encountered–we found in Tuscany outside San Gimignano.

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EEEEEEeeagle

So before you come over, particularly if it is a hot weather trip–aka March – November, do yourself a favor and download a nasoni finder app or iMap.  That cold, refreshing water will be the perfect addition to your water bottle.

And if you are feeling really crazy, slurp up some H2O at your nearest fancy fountain.  The other tourists may think you are nuts, but Romans will give you a knowing nod.  (OK, that would be very un-Roman, but they are TOTALLY thinking how cool you are.  Don’t be surprised when they come up to ask for directions because they think you are one of them.)

Just try not to fall in.

Apples and Oranges: San Gimignano and Volterra

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Two hill towns, both alike in dignity, in fair Tuscany where we lay our scene.  I hoped to have “hard hitting” analysis on the “better” hill town from our recent trip to Tuscany, but our experiences were really apples and oranges.  I liked both San Gimignano and Volterra.  If I could only recommend one, it might be San Gimignano.  No, Volterra.  But probably San Gimignano?  See, what I mean?  I just don’t know.  I want to say Volterra, but I feel like it didn’t get a fair shake.  Lemme ‘splain.

If you look at the guidebook (Rick Steves’ is our go to), it talks about both towns being nice but Volterra being more untouched by time and San Gimignano being super touristy.  San Gimignano is easier to get to from the highway, which likely factors in.

We did San Gimignano in a morning, the morning of the day with the gorgeous weather.  We had a nice walk through town.  In a way the hill towns are great for kids.  Because only local residents can drive, traffic is limited.  Definite elevation changes, but almost everything was stroller friendly.

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Henry became obsessed with this olive tree

Henry became obsessed with this olive tree

San Gimignano is famous for its surviving towers.  There used to be more (70something?).  These were a defense mechanism.  If you were getting sacked, you climbed up your tower and burnt the stairs.

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Tower selfie

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The town absolutely was touristy.  The tiny town has not one, but two torture museums.  Buses of tourists pulled up.  We passed through many groups visiting from all over the world.  I’m not sure we actually saw any locals.  It was not uncomfortably crowded, but we weren’t there during peak season.  In a way, the touristyness helped us out because things were actually open on a Sunday morning.

Streets off the beaten path were much quieter

Streets off the main drag were much quieter

After our stroll around town, we had a lovely al fresco lunch at Locanda di Sant’Agostino.  It was adjacent to a square and Henry ran around with Alessio, a similarly aged boy who happened to be eating with his parents one table over.  Even though we didn’t get to see inside the church or museums, we had a really nice time just experiencing the city.  One of those dolce vita moments.

Bruschetta

Bruschetta

 

Drinking local wine Vernaccia

Drinking local wine Vernaccia

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Henry’s new thing is climbing ALL THE THINGS

Contrast this to Volterra.  We went inside the city three times, but never in the daylight.  All three times were chilly.  Once it was raining.  I hoped to spend a morning in Volterra, but that was the day of ALL THE RAIN so we just kept going post afternoon nap.

Ancient Etruscan arch. In WWII, the town convinced the Nazis not to destroy it by literally digging up the streets to plug the gate.

Ancient Etruscan arch. In WWII, the town convinced the Nazis not to destroy it by literally digging up the streets to plug the gate.

Volterra definitely felt less touristy.  You didn’t see as many tchotchke shops although there were some.  You did feel like you were surrounded by Italians.  Real live Italians that actually lived here.  But I can’t definitively say that Volterra is less touristy; only that the town is less touristy in the evening, which is what you’d probably expect many places.

Well preserved ancient theater

Well preserved ancient Roman theater

Palazzo dei Priori

Palazzo dei Priori

We did enjoy some nice food, like our magical night at Enoteca Del Duca.  Trattoria da Bado outside of town was amazing.  We also had a tasty meal at Don Beta, which was conveniently open closer to when we like to eat.  We had a miss on Sunday night where we scrounged for takeout pizza after nothing was open, even things that said they’d be open.  *Cough* La Vena di Vino *Cough*

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Volterra had sort of a creepy vibe.  This could have been heightened by the dark.  It felt stark.  Craggy.  A little desolate.  This is where Twilight’s Volturi live.  Meyer picked it based on the name, but you could totally see a vampire strolling around the corner at night.

Local cookie, Ossi di Morta, "bones of the dead" (It tastes almondy and crunches. You know, like bones.)

Local cookie, Ossi di Morta, “bones of the dead” (It tastes almondy and crunches. You know, like bones.)

I’m glad we saw both.  Volterra was a very intriguing city, but our overall experience in San Gimignano was probably more pleasant for factors outside of Volterra’s control.

So after that imperfect and highly unscientific comparison, if you could visit only one, which one are you leaning toward?