On Thursday the 9th we left Siena for Florence, but decided to go via San Gimignano, partly on Liam's suggestion. This medieval town is truly a tourist wonderland in Summer, and would resemble some sort of crazy medieval theme park if it weren't for the fact that the town, with its prestigous towers, really was a medieval powerhouse. 'The Manhattan of Medieval Europe' is perhaps the best description I've read.
We had some difficulty lugging our backpacks in search of a non-existent bag-deposit, but thankfully Em found a nice hotel that let us store our bags in the lobby for a small tip. This allowed us to explore the town at greater ease - first up the Torre Grosso, with stunning panoramic views of the Tuscan countryside, rolling green hills all the way to the horizon, then a whip around the museum and the Dante room, where the poet addressed the local council. 
The icing on the cake of this half-day stop-over was the 'saffron cream' gelati from one of the most famous - and best - gelati stores in all of Italy (whose famous customers include Tony Blair and Ian Thorpe).
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