San Gimignano: 11km

The other day, as part of my vacation in Italy, mom and I headed from Siena to San Gimignano, hailed as "the Manhattan of Tuscany". I had printed directions before I left, seeking to avoid getting terribly lost in Italy. The directions basically had us exiting the highway at Poggibonsi, then traveling through that town to San Gimignano.

The trouble was that instead of going through Poggibonsi, it's as if the instructions were leading us to skirt the town. Fortunately, at each traffic circle or intersection, there were signs pointing the way to San Gimignano. I was pleased to see that the first sign indicated that we were only 11km away from our destination. But after a few more turns, and several minutes' driving time, the next sign(s) still said 11km. I drove nearly six clicks and got no closer to San Gimignano than that damned 11km. We did eventually reach the city, of course; it was just baffling that the numbers weren't dropping.

Fall Hours

After trying unsuccessfully for several days to head to Top Pot, I finally made it there this evening. The plan was to ensconce myself at a table with some coffee and a doughnut, either writing in my journal or getting a head start on the week's task list. That plan was dashed once I got to the cafe. Posted on the door was a sign announcing their new fall hours. These hours (until 9) contradicted what was on the website (indicated as 11pm for Saturday and Sunday nights). The one advantage to arriving 20 minutes before closing was that my donuts were free.

Weather Forecast

As I write this, there's a delightful little thunderstorm going on right now. It's not quite the "crack-boom" goodness of a summer thunderstorm in the desert or the Midwest, but a few deep rumbles are enough to get me a little nostalgic.

I know that when there's a thundershower in the forecast, the weather widget on the Mac's dashboard has a cool picture of a cloud with forked lightning. I hit the hotkey, hoping to see confirmation of what my ears were already telling me. Instead of a thundercloud, the weather icon showed a partially obscured moon (nighttime, cloudy). Baffled, I checked the Weather Channel's site. It, too, proclaimed "partly cloudy". You'd think they'd stick their head outside every once in a while.