We spent May  23rd in San Gimignano, a small town in the province of Siena, Tuscany.  It was pretty much a free day in town apart from a presentation later in the morning.    I ended up spending most of the morning just walking around town.  San Gimignano has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  It was easy to see why- walking through the walled town gave me an idea of what it must have been like in the MIddle Ages. The Old City is enclosed with 13th century walls is famous for its medieval architecture.  The Towers and House-Towers belonged to the old merchant and finance aristocracy who competed with one another through their massive buildings rising above all others.   I read that a total of 72 tower-houses with some being as high as 165 feet were built here. .   This led to the town being known as the "Town of Fine Towers".   About fourteen  of those tower houses have been preserved.  

20130523_tuscany_0032-Edit-Edit I just started wandering in the streets.  As with most of these small towns, once you get away from the main plazzas it is fairly quiet.  

20130523_tuscany_0045-Edit-Edit Of course I needed my doggie fix for the day and  this fellow was a real cutie.

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La Torre Grossa (The big Tower) is the tallest tower of San Gimignano and is located in Piazza del Duomo.   Its construction started in August, 1300 and was finished in 1311.  It is 54 meters high and public access is allowed.  I climbed to the top to enjoy and photograph the views of the town and the surrounding countryside.

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20130523_tuscany_0116 The Piazza della Cisterna is the main square of the town.  It is triangular in shape and is surrounded by medieval houses of different dates.  At the centre of the plazza is a well (dating from 1346) which was the town's main source of water for the town residents.   Parts of the paving date from the 13th century.   Our hotel was located in this square.

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20130523_tuscany_0121 The "Gelateria di Piazza" located in the Piazza della Cisterna is known all over the world.  Sergio is the master ice cream maker and his ice-cream parlour is mentioned in the most important world guides.  It must be true because the line ups were unbelievable and everyone in town seem to be eating ice-cream.  I have to  admit I was just like everyone else and  stood in the long  line up to get the ice-cream.   It was worth it as the banana and cherry combination was delicious.

20130523_tuscany_0111-Edit-Edit After my ice-cream I continued walking around the town exploring and admiring the architecture.  

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The group met for dinner and then went out for some after-dinner and night shooting.  Jed and Brenda took us to a great spot over looking the countryside. 

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20130523_tuscany_0086-Edit-Edit We were getting some really nice light on the hills.

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We headed back  to the Plazza della Cisterna for some night shots.  

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20130523_tuscany_0132-Edit-Edit One of the last shots of the evening.  It was time to get some sleep as we were meeting at 4.50 AM to some sun rise shooting.