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We slept in and ended up eating breakfast out on the patio; which was nice. We then set out for Monteriggioni which is the only fully intact medieval town in Italy - all of it's 14 towers are still standing and it is fully enclosed by the original ramparts, which have grown to over two meters thick. The entire town, at it's largest, contained no more than 450 people. It was only 10 minutes from the Villa and was like stepping back to the 13th century (when it was founded as a fort-town by Sienna to defend against the Florentines).
San Gimigimnano
After Monteriggioni we set out for San San Gimignano, mostly because we knew we could do it in a half day and because 3 of the wines we'd liked in Italy so far were from there! San Gimigimnano is referred to as the "New York" of Chianti, not because it's busy but because it has five large thirteenth century towers which create a beautiful skyline. The first thing we decided to do after much picture taking was have lunch. It was a fortuitous decision, because the place we ate at was delicious, we also had a bottle of wine but neither of us can remember what it was called (it was a Chianti from San San Gimignano!). We then did some wine tasting and bought three bottles Chianti. We also made friends with a very dirty cat.
Finished with dinner at Ristorante L’Alberggacio right there in Castellina. It’s a bit hard to find, but I’d enthusiastically recommend this high-end restaurant because their presentations are outstanding, the service absolutely impeccable, and they are very skilled with flavour balance and combinations. The portions are small(ish), but it was actually a welcome change to appreciate food quality over quantity! They also have an outstanding expansive wine list concentrating on local vineyards (of course!)
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