San Gimignano

Medieval Streets

Olive Tree and Castle

My Lovely Picnic View

Siena

The Unique Compo

Day 11
Under the Tuscan Influence

Our bus took us into Tuscany, the garden of Italy. This is just like the movies! Beautiful green draped hillsides. I saw lots fields and many with wild pheasants in them.

Our lunch stop was at a charming little hilltop medieval village, San Gimignano. It was encompassed by a stone wall and had many tall towers within its boundaries. This region is known for its wild boar salami - chiginla. I headed straight to a deli and ordered one of these sandwiches with a local cheese, porcino, and a bottle of cold beer. I climbed up to the top of the hill and enjoyed a picnic by the ruins of an old castle. The beautiful Tuscan country side lay before me and someone was playing a harp nearby. Ahh, a sandwich and beer never tasted so good!

I wondered around the town making my way to the piazza where there is a store that literally sells the best gelato in the world. This place won the championship! I had one cone and some of my tour members where having some too. They kept raving about this one flavor so I went back for another cone to try it. Anita and Don were teasing me about finishing off my second cone. Don said in his Georgia accent, "How can you eat so much Gelato?!"

We continued on to our destination, Siena, the lovely medieval city of stone. Ferdi took us on our orientation walk. I swear one of the best views is just a few steps from our hotel, Hotel Chiusarelli. You see the edge of town and the rolling hills below.

The streets in the center of the city are mainly for pedestrians, so there was hardly a car in sight. The compo (like a piazza) here was very unique. Instead of the usual square or rectangle shape, this one is shell shaped, with the city hall along the flat part and the rest a half circle that slopes up. It was nearly entirely enclosed with buildings on all sides. This is the site of the famous Palio horse races.

The Palio is a breakneck no holds barred horse race among the 15 contradas (districts) of the city. It is a huge deal to the people of the city, it is so passionate. Think of the Super Bowl atmosphere times ten! That's how important this race is to the citizens here.

Medieval Buildings

Gorgeous Window

Anita, Don, Cecila, Brenna, and I went to dinner at a restaurant that Ferdi had recommended for their wild boar stew. We were celebrating Cecilia's Birthday. It was a great dinner. Everyone was making "yummy" sounds throughout the meal. Wow, what flavor!

We walked back to our hotel through this amazing city. At night the city slows down and it really gives you a sense of what it might have been like to live here back in the Middle Ages. So enchanting. It's amazing how these buildings were built so long ago and are in such good condition. And to think in North America how we often just tear down buildings that are less than 100 years old.

I do believe that Siena is really growing on me.

View of the Dumo

Brenna and Cecilia

Siena at Night

Duomo (Church)

Duomo "Window"

English Pub with a View

Gorgeous Picnic!

Recipe for a Great Night with the Group!

Day 12
The Siena Wonders

Early this morning we met a local guide in front of our hotel for a tour of the city. She explained the history of this city and described what it would have been like to live in this city during its heyday of the Middle Ages. I love how this city embraces its history. You can forget what year it is winding around these streets. Well, until you're in front of a Dolce and Gabana store, oh well.

Our guide took us for a real treat! We got to go to the contrada (district) of the Eagle club house. These are usually closed to the general public except during the Palio, and of course if you have a Rick Steves' guide with you. These clubs are all dedicated to the Palio race. The clubhouse consists of a meeting room, chapel where the horse is blessed, and museum. The meeting room contains all the past palios (banners) that have been won. The banners all depict the Mother Mary to which the race is dedicated. We learned all about the Palio and its history. For instance, one year the horse was named Satan, and the priest had to bless the horse and say, "Satan, go forth and be victorious!"

We finished our tour inside the Duomo (Church). I'm not big on the churches but this was my favorite. There is so much in here from my Art History classes. The most surprising discovery was a room that was commissioned for a Pope's library. He never showed up with his books so the room was closed up and not reopened until recently. This meant that the frescoes inside were never dulled by candle or oil smoke. Wow, stunning, to see them as they were meant to be seen! They were so vibrant and surprisingly bright. There is so much here, statues, paintings, the interior and exterior. You just have to see and be amazed yourself.

Church Altar

Church Library, Amazing Frescoes

After our tour we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. I toured the Hospital museum but I wouldn't recommend it. The best was the frescoes in the entrance. But the rest was rather empty, also incredibly creepy. I ended up in the etruscan tombs surrounded by vases. I then realized they weren't vases but urns. I didn't check to see if they were still full, CREEPY!

I returned to the wonderful compo and headed for an English pub. I got a beer and squeezed into the tiny balcony overlooking the compo and enjoyed some wonderful people watching. I met a young couple sitting next to me that were traveling around Italy with the Rick Steves guide book. We exchanged travel stories of places we'd been to. They were interested to hear what the tour was like. They found that their book opened a few doors. One night they were looking for accommodations at one place and the women said they were fully booked. The couple pulled out their Rick Steves guide to look for an alternative and upon seeing the book the woman said that they actually did have one room left!

I went onto the hotel terrace to meet our group for our picnic dinner. Ferdi had the table laid out with all kinds of local treats, fruit, meat, vegetables, cheese, bread, dessert and wine. The highlights were the artichoke hearts and prosciutto wrapped in lovely melon. Ahh the sweet life.