Take your time to see San Gimignano

Old Nov 30th, 2015, 03:01 AM
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Take your time to see San Gimignano

Just came back from Tuscany. It was sooooo loooovely. When I woke up this morning I asked myself where hills and cypress were gone, already missing that landscape so much.
We have been in San Gimignano for a day (just a days!) staying at Villasanpaolo Hotel (http://www.villasanpaolo.com/en/). They have a inner spa and we really had to force ourselves to go out and visit places instead that remaining in the hot pool.
However, we did it and San Gimignano was, is, soooo stunning! It seems like to go back in the Middle Age. You pass over the threshold Porta San Matteo which is the same door the pilgrims coming from Canterbury entered from going onto Rome along the Francigena’s way and what you see is just old stones and towers and the sky. Because when nobles made war each other, the winner had the right to destroy its enemy’s tower and to get its own tower higher.
We visited the City Hall museum (http://www.sangimignanomusei.it/), where they preserve huge crucifix in wood by Coopo di Marcovaldo, which I didn’t know. Touching. No other word to describe them. We met an Aussie wedding in the frescoed hall where it seems that even famous Dante Alighieri has been and then go up visiting Torre Grossa. You have to. I mean, you have to if you don’t suffer on vertigo, in this case better ask to the staff because stairs are missing their vertical part, so you could have some trouble while going up. From the top you can have an amazing view over all the countryside surrounding the hamlet.
Once outside we visited the cathedral and had a coffee and an icecream in Piazza della Cisterna. Just sitting there and watching people was a pleasant way of spending time. We walked through the city onto the next door Porta San Giovanni, making a halt for dinner at Hotel Bel Soggiorno but I suggest you should go there for lunch so you can enjoy the amazing view.
We would have stop in San Gimignano some day more. Next time. Because we’ll come back that’s sure.
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Old Nov 30th, 2015, 04:14 AM
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glad you enjoyed

" It seems like to go back in the Middle Age" what is your cradle language?
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Old Nov 30th, 2015, 08:41 AM
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...cradle language?

Bilbo, to hazard a guess, I'd say "Italian"... drumming up some SG business. Fodors has become a favorite target for this sort of ad.
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Old Dec 1st, 2015, 01:53 AM
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Dante Alghieri has been to even more places than George Washington.

I agree, the native tongue is Italian. You'd think, with all the Anglophones living in Tuscany, they could find some native speaker to correct their tourist office blurbs.
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Old Dec 1st, 2015, 02:54 AM
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well Italian was my guess (just interested) but the use of "like" could just be an un-educated Brit but then I saw "on vertigo"

Still, it doesn't really describe the glory of the central square and the high buildings all around.
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Old Dec 1st, 2015, 02:59 AM
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I'm putting in an hour a day into my Italian studies (and yes I'm struggling forward) but I use duolingo, they offer a free service to translate Italian into English and I do a bit of that.

We see everything from song lyrics to tourist puff (we did a lot of newspaper translation after/during the Paris bombings) and you'd think they could drop it up there.
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Old Dec 1st, 2015, 06:14 AM
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There are various turns of phrase typical of Italian scholastic English, such as "ask to the staff".

I don't understand what you mean by Duolingo offering a translating service? Is it some sort of crowdsourcing translation? Do you translate things into English? Or do you translate from Babelfish English to standard English?

I'm always amazed at Italian companies who pay a fortune to put out a glossy brochure in Italian and English, and rely on an Italian who majored in "languages" to do the translation.
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Old Dec 1st, 2015, 07:09 AM
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bvlenci, it is a learning tool set up by the guy who set up Google's translate. Along with the usual education stuff there is a section where it crowd sources translations in (I think) 8 languages. When my Italian is feeble it is good to see what I can do and of course there is the usual issue of direct translation into bad language or to translate into native language (some translators seriously think one to one is the only way ) .

So it ends up being crowd translated through native speakers. Not sure how you put up the text for translating.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2015, 04:30 AM
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Oh sorry, I didn't understand that in order to take part in Fodor's forum it was compulsory to be English native speaker. My English perhaps sucks or if you prefer, it sucks for sure, but if you don't appreciate any tips given from someone that really put his feet in San Gimignano that's not my problem. I just was happy to share. This was supposed to be my first trip report and now I think it will be the last. But when you'll go in San Gimignano and will discover the beauty of Coppo di Marcovaldo, you'll remember about me.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2015, 04:52 AM
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Cozy, no need to get the hump, always interested in all views and just interested in the core language. One of the pleasures of coming to Italy is to "meet" and enjoy the language.

We take all sorts here, my dyslexia causes me much embarrassment but we all soldier on.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2015, 06:48 AM
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"Get the Hump"

Will there ever be an end to British slang? I still get twisted up over "Brilliant" used in the sense of "Wonderful" as opposed to its proper uses 1. very bright, or 2. ingenious.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2015, 08:06 AM
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Bilbo, I already checked it out on my own. I also learned that the EU forbids the use of their translation services.

I may recommend Duolingo to my adult school English students.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2015, 08:49 AM
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bvlenci, interesting, I'm certainly seeing Italian Tourist Office material coming through, Italian house rental details looling for a English speaking audience etc. Maybe they are VPNing it
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