San Gimignano, Italy: 18 June 2016

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Two hour wait for our pre-booked rental car... but we ended up with a nice Alfa Romero, <br />which took us to the town of San Gimignano... in the midst of a festival, in a village <br />unchanged for almost 500 years... the Tuscan countryside, home to wild boar... San Gimignano traces its heritage back to the Etruscans who <br />occupied the hilltop over 2,500 years ago... today the town is a UNESCO World Heritage site... largely because of the surviving towers, and the unchanged <br />medieval character of the town centre which escaped the <br />influences of recent "Gothic" revival... some modern comforts remain... the village hosts a festival every June... which includes weapons from the Middle Ages, <br />such as this Battering Ram... and giant crossbow... at one time there were over 70 towers in the village, <br />only a dozen or so remain today... medieval loom... battle gear... we arrived in time for the Grand Procession... a gathering of local people in medieval costumes... celebrating the towns history... and capping off a weekend of events and competitions... water well, with grooves worn over countless years... San Gimignano, there was a lot more to see, <br />but we had to leave for our next destination... the town of Montepulciano.