On the first full day of our stay in Toscana (Tuscany) we visited two towns.

San Gimignano, which I knew very little about at the time, is a medieval hilltop township just shy of 8,000 people.

Siena, which I was quite familiar with, is another hilltop town but one which dates back to Etruscan times and has just shy of 58,000 people.

Before we set out I was really looking forward to Siena and thought San Gimwho?

After the trip I regretted all the shots of Siena that I didn't take, but have no plans to ever return there. It's the only town or city in Italy that I felt an unfriendly vibe from. Even Milano was more affable. (Actually Milano was quite affable contrary to its "time is money" reputation. Siena for the most part simply wasn't.)

But I loved San Gimignano and its people. I have no idea at all how on earth I'll ever do it, but I do want to go back there some day. We saw so many things in the four weeks of our trip that my memory of them has become unreliable in parts. But I do remember standing on fortified stone walls that have stood for hundreds of years, looking across a valley that hundreds or thousands before me would once have kept watch on, not as tourists but as guardians. I remember the feel of it more than even the sight of it.