San Gimignano, the Tuscan City of Towers

In what should have been an easy excursion from Florence, our day-trip to San Gimignano was made more time-consuming because of the bus service.  We were told to catch the bus at the train station Santa Maria Novella, and were so convinced of the simplicity of this advice, we walked there confidently hoping to catch the 9:00 am bus.  Ah, but things are seldom as easy as that here in Florence.  After purchasing bus tickets at a tobacconist shop, and having the shop-keeper come out into the street to point us to the bus terminal (not really near the train terminal) we felt we were getting close.  The 9:00 am was long gone before L. asked a man in the bus terminal which bus to take, and learned we could catch the 9:40 for Siena, but should get off at Poggibonsi and wait for the bus to San Gimignano.  Oh yeah, now I remember, one must go through Poggibonsi when travelling from Florence to anything in the Siena district.  ("when I die I don't know if I am going to heaven or hell, but I know I'll be going through Poggibonsi").
As we approached San Gimignano we could see the profile of the fourteen towers at the crest of the hill.  The bus chugged up the road toward the high gate through the rough medieval walls and we piled out onto the street.  It was just as I remembered from years ago, and wasted no time finding a great leather shop.  An hour later both L. and I had purchased wonderful, buttery-soft leather purses, in L's case, the purse she had remembered seeing in the same shop two years ago and regretted not buying then.
We then walked to the Piazza della Cisterna for gelato and mingled with the horde of tourists who were also enjoying gelato.  This piazza is not large, but it is charmingly Tuscan in appearance with a stone cistern in the center.  I can't imagine this was the sole water supply for the town, as the guide book would have us believe, but it must be the most picturesque.  Around the corner is the entrance to the Piazza Duomo, which fronts the large Romanesque church.  The steps leading up to the church were crowded with young people, tourists, children and dogs, and I had the impression that most of the people were locals, as if San Gimignano was the destination of the Italians driven out of Florence by the hordes of foreign tourists. 
Since I am always interested in antiquities, I persuaded my companions to visit the Museo Archaeologico, which contains some very nice artifacts from in and around San Gimignano.  I am especially interested in the Etruscan artifacts, and finding any examples of Etruscan writing, which has not been completely deciphered, at least the last I heard.  I had to stop in the little alabaster shop, off the main piazza, to see what carved goodies I could buy to stuff in my luggage.  The Tuscan alabaster is world-class, with a pure white translucent quality unlike Greek or Egyptian alabaster.  I love it, and have several pieces, delicate covered jars, vases, and little animals, all pure translucent white.
The town itself has an interesting history, with a fuzzy pre-history of Etruscan origins, perhaps dating back to the 4th century BC.  The Romans supplanted the Etruscans as the power in this region, and the town continued as stop on major trade routes.  Even though so much is known due to old documents and archaeological excavations, I find it interesting that the major question remains: what were the towers for?  At the height of the city's power, there were 72 towers, now reduced to fourteen.  Buy why?  One theory I heard was that they were used for drying long strips of woolen fabric, another was that the towers were built as a sort of "one-upmanship" between feuding families.  I'm just grateful the few towering survivors remain to give San Gimignano a unique character, and unmistakable skyline.
If you visit San Gimignano, check out the leather goods shop:
Le Torri, s.r.l.
Leather Goods Made in Italy
Via San Giovanni 22/24 -- 117 -- 34
www.letorrionline.com