We left florence in the morning and headed out into the Tuscan countryside. We wanted to visit the 2 towns we had seen in the game Assassins Creed 2. We caught a train to Castellina in Chianti which was the nearest stop to Monterrigioni Castle. At the second stop massive hailstones started coming down and we were like oh crap we’re only wearing T-shirts and shorts. It was slightly out of town so we thought the weather would get better nearer and the sun came out one stop before we were supposed to get off. Unfortunately when we got off the train it was pouring down with very heavy rain. We ran out of the station and down the street until we found a cafe with a canopy and stood under it for a while. To make things worse the castle was a 30 min walk through winding country roads and the bus service was non existent with the bus stops covered by large bushes. The cafe owner let us borrow an umbrella which helped for the walk although we were already soaking wet and I could feel my trainers squishing every step. Bearing in mind we were still in Italy everyone was still trying to run us over. On a positive note we were given a bright red umbrella to signal people that we were in the road.

The castle looked pretty much the same as the game from the outside but it was significantly smaller from the inside. It had some of its towers knocked down but a few were still standing. The inside was like a mini village with a few restaurants, wine shops, a church and houses. There was no mansion at the top of the castle or anything huge. We found a well but the winch wasnt working. They let us climb to the top of the walls and I was about to take the leap of faith but realised there was no stack of hay at the bottom.

It started pouring again so we ran into a restaurant to get dry. We sat down for lunch and to try some local food. For starters I had grilled bread with melted local cheese topped with basil and drizzled with honey. Suj had grilled garlic bread bruschetta with fresh tomatoes. For mains I had gnocchi with a pesto sauce with tomatoes and an almond coating. Suj was more adventurous and got wild boar with potatoes. After we had eaten, the sky cleared up a bit so we dried off during our 30 min walk back to the station.

Next stop San Gimignano. We arrived to the much larger town of San Gimingnano which you could compare to a medieval New York with its large towers in the town and also where the twin towers were still standing. The city flag was still flying everywhere. Again much smaller than in the game but the similarities could be seen. The city is on a hill so from the top you could see views of the vineyards around the town and far out into the Tuscan countryside. We also bumped into our hostel housemates from Florence which was funny. After spending time walking around, we left the city walls and followed a narrow path around the side to get a good view of the city from the outside. We got far enough but the clouds came down very low and covered the towers and as a result couldn’t take a good picture. From there we headed back to Florence ready to explore it tomorrow.