5th Time is a charm: Siena

We awoke early and left for Siena for this, the 5^th time; we hoped to actually see something of the city on this trip.  The two hour car trip passed quickly, and we were soon at the outskirts of Siena.  When we had passed through two days earlier, the city was packed:  All of the parking lots were filled and to even get into the city we would have had to park in a small town nearby and catch the bus into Siena.  Thus, when we saw a parking lot that had spots vacant, we jumped on the opportunity, not really caring how far we were away from Siena proper.  Too proud to pay for a bus, we figured we would walk into town.  After all, it couldn’t be THAT far…

On the road to Siena

Turns out it was roughly 4 miles…all uphill…in the sweltering July heat.  We were treated to some breathtaking vistas of the city, and of the Tuscan countryside rolling beneath the medieval walls.  Along the way we stopped at a cemetery, with gravestones, tombs and crypts; some of the people in the lower crypts died in the 1700s.  It was a massive, breathtaking complex.  We searched in vain for a Guadagnoli, to no avail.  Maybe it’s true what they say:  Maybe Guadagnolis really do live forever.  Funny story, Shaffer took Amy to a cemetery on their first date, so similar necropolises have a special place in our hearts.

The cemetary

After our brief time with the dead, we continued our hike into Siena.  We passed through the walls, and took a step back in time:  Cobblestone streets, and earth-toned stone buildings.  The city is broken into 17 different contrade (neighborhoods), and we entered the city through Onda, whose symbol is the fish.  Onda is the archrival of Oca, who won the palio two days prior.  So everyone seemed to be in a bit of a sour mood…

We ate lunch at a little café in the heart of Onda.  Prices seemed very reasonable, and we were famished after our long hike.  Shaffer had a panino, while everyone else ordered a pasta dish, and we all had beers.  We soon found out why the prices were so reasonable:  All of the pasta dishes were clearly microwavable T.V. dinners.  And they were STILL better than most of the food you get in restaurants in the United States. 

Beers before our frozen food

After lunch we came upon Il Campo:  The central square of Siena, and the site of the palio horse race only two days before.  It is massive, and we spent about ½ an hour just walking around the square, soaking in the enormity of it.  There was still dirt on portions of the square from the horse race.  It was really awesome, and when we closed our eyes we could almost hear the thunder of horse hoofs racing around the exterior of a share.  It was really a shame that we missed the palio, but it was cool to see where the race had taken place. 

Il Campo!

Our next stop was Il Duomo:  The Cathedral.  Each major town has a duomo, and most are dedicated to the Madonna (the Virgin Mary).  For Siena, everything revolved around besting their rivals to the north:  Firenze (Florence).  Thus, the Siena cathedral is one of the most opulent we had seen.  While enormous in its own right, Siena was in the process of expansion of the church several hundred years ago:  The current church would be turned into just one transept of a massive church that would dwarf all others in Christendom.  However the plague hit Siena hard, effectively ending the rivalry.  We really wish that the plague would hit our rivals:  The Washington Huskies.  Oh wait, it did; only it was called Ty Willingham.  (Looking at you Dan Wayne and Jerry Jerome). 

The Duomo

The Siena Duomo was one of the most spectacular things that we had ever seen.  It was huge, with dozens of delicate marble sculptures adorning the façade.  Inside was equally impressive:  Fantastic sculptures, frescoes, and oil paintings.  We’ll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking. 

Our ticket also included entrance to the museum, filled with paintings and some of the original sculptures from the churches inception:  rough and weather-worn but inspiring none the less.  We also won entrance to the baptistery and crypt which also were replete with art.  We both wished we had taken an art appreciation course when in college, so as to better understand what we were looking at, but were overawed none-the-less. 

Our time at the Duomo complete, we searched out the Casa di Santa Caterina, which was a hybrid museum-shrine-church that couldn’t quite figure out what it wanted to be.  On the way there we stumbled through the Oca contrada, who had so recently won the palio.  In stark contrast to the other contrade, Oca had its flags draped over virtually every square inch of the neighborhood.  It was clear that even two days later, the party was still on.  We bought an Oca flag and affixed it to our backpack. 

Oca Flag

In the Oca Contrada

A brief Gelato stop later and we were back on the road.  Our 4 mile forced march downhill was interrupted only when Shaffer dropped the camera.  Now it makes a terrible buzzing sound whenever we open or close the lens.  You know, sometimes it feels like we screw up everything on this trip.  But, as Bob Ross reminds us:  “There’s no such thing as a mistake.  Only happy little accidents.”  Tell that to our camera, Bob. 

Our plan was to drive towards Florence, but stop for the night somewhere between Siena and Florence.  The first few places were charging upwards of 200 euro per night, which sent us scurrying back into the Fiat Panda, and peeling out towards the next destination.  Finally we stumbled across a cute agriturismo, which was being tended to by twin sisters who were foreign exchange students from Austria.  They were very friendly.  Amy thinks that Shaffer was far too friendly with them in return.  Shaffer claims he was just keeping up good international relations.  We’ll let you guys decide who is in the right. 

The agriturismo was full, but the owner had charming rooms to let in nearby Marcialla.  Lovely Marcialla which isn’t on any of our maps, and probably on no map known to man.  It was a beautiful villa:  500 years old and made of stone.  Most excitingly for Amy and Shaffer was that their room came with a proper bed; several nights of sleeping on the pull-out couch had taken their toll on our backs. 

A proper bed at last

We ate in Marcialla.  The locals were perhaps the friendliest and most outgoing we had met yet.  They were eager to recommend a restaurant to us, and loved talking to us.  Mike asked one man in a window if he could take a picture.  The man appeared to refuse and retreated inside.  However, a second later he brought out an enormously fat cat to have a picture with both of them.  Two local women talked animatedly to Eileen about the dress she was wearing, and it seemed that they either owned or made similar ones.  We were only on the street for about 5 minutes, but had extended, meaningful conversations with at least 4 different locals.  They really made us feel at home. 

We ate at a charming trattoria and were waited on by Mario, who was as congenial as he was hard-working, and gave us a really great meal.  Amy had gnocchi putanesca:  Gnocchi with capers, olives and tomato.  Shaffer had cognilio fritto:  Fried rabbit.  Yes, rabbit.  His name was thumper, and he was the rabbit from Bambi.  Get over it Kim Cooper.  For dessert, we had biscotti cookies, which we dipped into an orange liqueur.  Yummm. Shaffer introduced us as "Roberto and Amelia," in an attempt to Italianize our names.  Because "Claridge" has no analog in Italian, we had to borrow a name from one of our friends:  Thus we are known in Italy as "Roberto e Amelia Guadagnoli!"

"Roberto" and Mario

We took a bottle of wine and sat on a terrace overlooking an expanse of Tuscan farmland.  We sipped slowly, and enjoyed the majestic Italian twilight.  It was the perfect end to the day.  With wine and a view to fortify us, we rested our tired legs and prepared for our next great Italian adventure. 

Bottle of wine and a beautiful view

Special shoutout to Hattie Everroad, who apparently is reading this blog.  Hattie worked with Shaffer and Amy several years ago.  She was always very mean to Shaffer, but he liked her none-the-less.  Good luck in law school Hattie!  

Up Next:   Overpriced pizza, fruit cups, an old bridge, shopping, a journey to hell, Italian leather, fishmongers, garbage men, acrophobia, and a beautiful view:  Florence!

Arrivederci!