Because we continue to read about tourism in Italy, with the hope of returning sooner rather than later, today, from the NYTimes: "Hit and run" tourism in the tiny town of San Gimignano.

“Some people, jokingly, say that we have to get out of the ‘Bermuda Triangle,’ a reference to the hordes of tourists in sandals and shorts who migrate between St. Peter’s in Rome, the Uffizi in Florence and Piazza San Marco in Venice,” said Francesco Rutelli, deputy prime minister and culture minister. “We want the world to discover Italy’s hamlets, with their historic artistic, cultural and religious itineraries, and the local handicrafts. This Italy has extraordinary productive and economic potential.”

But in San Gimignano, some feel the town’s popularity is too much of a good thing.

It takes less than 15 minutes to cross the roughly 900-by-500-yard historic center at a leisurely stroll. Mass tourism came here at the end of the 1970’s, said one local official, growing at a 5 to 10 percent rate each year. In no time the 1,400 residents living in the historic center were overrun by outsiders.

The city is also a popular site for school class tours, which has only compounded the problem, especially in the spring months. “I don’t have to tell you that 500 elderly Germans don’t occupy the same space as 500 teenagers who act as they’re supposed to act at their age,” said Mr. Lisi, the mayor. “Long weekends are a tragedy.”

“We just can’t handle the numbers,” added Daniele Cappellini, the official responsible for transportation here. In a city equipped to handle 60 tour buses comfortably, last year there were as many as 160 on busy days, he said. “When it’s so crowded, tourists don’t even get a sense of what San Gimignano is really like,” Mr. Cappellini added.

Who’s been there? What’s the special appeal of this place for tourists? Is it just because it’s on the way from Florence to Rome? Isn’t Italy filled with small places evoking medieval times and stuffed to the brim with gorgeous churches, mosaics, frescoes, Etruscans and the like?

More Italian travel in the NYTimes today: Abruzzo:

After a comfortable sleep and a hearty breakfast of homemade jam, bread and cakes, we continued on our quest of ancient sites. Our goal was to find a hermitage or two, Christian monks’ caves that were eventually turned into pilgrimage sites and small churches. In Abruzzi, especially in the Majella Mountains, the hermitic tradition began to flourish around 1000. The most famous of the monks was Pietro del Morrone, who at age 79 in 1294 became Pope Celestine V. He inspired the establishment of the Celestine order and reconstructed many of the Majella hermitage sites.

WE started with Santo Spiritio, the best known of these sites. From the mountain town of Roccamorice, we continued farther up into the Majella Mountains along a small track, which ended in a parking lot. From there a short path led to a long grass-covered shelf that jutted out beneath the two-story hermitage.

From our angle beneath it, the ancient stone hermitage looked as if it were about to be swallowed by the side of the mountain. The only sound was of the river far below, the dripping of an old fountain and an occasional birdcall. It wasn’t hard to understand why St. Celestine wanted to get back here so quickly — he was the only pope to resign.

Even more serene was our second stop, San Bartolomeo. We parked not far from the Macchie di Coco restaurant and walked from there through a field of wildflowers. After about 20 minutes, we came to some crude steps that led down a steep slope and suddenly dipped through a small natural tunnel. Seconds later, as we readjusted our eyes to the bright light, we found ourselves on a stone shelf about 10 feet wide. Straight ahead was what looked like a tiny house tucked under a roof of stone.

Tentatively, we walked to and then pushed open the wooden door, imagining we would awake the wrath of a sleeping bear or monk. Instead, we found a cool, empty, three-roomed shrine of stone, with just enough room to stand. Signs of recent pilgrims — dried flowers, coins and photos — cluttered the altar. After an hour of exploring, we reluctantly walked back to our car.

A discussion of the first article at the Slow Travel discussion board.