Siena

Italy blog #6- If you don't see the tips section, you haven't scrolled far enough to hit the end (lots of cathedral photos in this one)

After Bologna, we hit up Florence, but I'm saving that city for another day as there is too much to write about on that one. Instead I'm going to write about one of our field trips to Siena. Siena is a medieval town, one of the major ones in Tuscany, and is the location where a semi-annual horse race (di Palio) occurs. The town is on the top of a hill and was originally settled by the Etruscans. The Romans settled closer to rivers, while the Etruscans had more strong holds on mountains. The Romans eventually took over Siena, and the town's emblem comes from the Romans. The emblem is of a she-wolf with suckling infants Romulus and Remus, and can be seen everywhere in Siena. I have to say, I would not like to climb that hill every day, as pretty of a city as it is.

The first decorated Christmas tree we saw

One of the streets leading down the hill

Piazza Il Campo

The She-wolf with Romulus and Remus

After trying to get our bearings, we meandered down the hill to Piazza Il Campo. From there we headed straight to Palazzo Pubblico, which is their town hall. We bought combo tickets for Museo Civico and Santa Maria della Scala Complesso museale (Santa Maria della Scala Hospital). The highlights of Museo Civico are the stunning frescoes. Some of the scenes were the traditional religious ones, while others depicted life and the times in the region, from a wheat surplus to famine, and images of being under strict rule. Pretty cool.

Palazzo Pubblico

Before going to our next destination, we had to get lunch. We had the most amazing appetizers, and quite potentially one of the top three meals at Osteria Del Gusto (http://www.osteriadelgusto.it/cucina.html), which was just around the corner from the Baptistry of the Duomo. Even better yet, they had vegetarian options (yay!). My appetizer was Pecorino cheese (3 different ages) with honey or mustard, and the mustard was more like a jelly and extremely good. There was just too much cheese. Brie had Pecorino flan with a Chianti reduction, also very good. The main meal I had taglieri pasta with seasonal vegetables and a puff pastry nest with Chianti classico wine (there are different kinds of Chianti based on the region it's produced from). Brie had a rose wine with gnocchi senese. We were very, very happy after lunch, I wish I could have finished it all, but there was just too much.

We were going to go to the old hospital, but ended up going to the Duomo (http://www.operaduomo.siena.it/). I was already churched out from all the other places we've been, but this place was AMAZING. The floor had scenes etched in marble, some places were protected by padding, but others were exposed. The marble added much later in the cathedral's life was greenish black and white striped. There was a lot of imagery throughout the religious artifacts of babies being killed (images depicting King Herod's decree ordering the mass killing of the baby boys in Bethlehem to avoid the prophecy that the “King of Jews” would take his throne). The library had Illuminaries inside, and was brightly lit. On the ceiling were beautiful frescoes. The cathedral library and the cathedral itself had works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Bernini, and Pinturicchio. Inside the baptistry, there were works by Donatello, Ghirberti and Jacopo della Quercia. Underground in the crypt were some pretty cool frescoes (I keep saying they're cool, but it is truly amazing that they uncovered these things and they survived so many years). The museum had too many reliquaries, but it did have images of what the floor of the cathedral looks like without the protective covers on many of the carvings- spectacular. Lastly, right around sunset, we climbed with the Facciatone in the museum, which is a multi-leveled terrace. We were able to see the city of Siena and the countryside of Tuscany from up there. Perfect timing for the sunset and us being up there.

The cathedral

the cathedral

The faces of all the popes line the cathedral

the cathedral

Some of the images in the floor

Another image in marble

Inside the dome

closeup of the dome

The she-wolf with her litter

Huge portraits in the floor

One of the Illuminaries with the reflection of the ceiling

Illuminary in the library

Another Illuminary

The ceiling of the library

More of the library

Library

Illuminary in the library

Front of the church

The doorway towards the crypt

Baptistry

Baptistry

Baptistry

One of the family emblems in the city

Reflection of the window of the church on the hospital

View from the terrace

View from the terrace

View from the terrace

View from the terrace

View from the terrace

Sunset from the terrace

We were at the middle and top of this terrace

Duomo

Duomo

Duomo at night

After finally climbing down from the terrace, we headed over to Santa Maria della Scala Hospital, which is a museum now. It was one of the first hospitals in Europe. It had its own organization which cared for pilgrims, helped the poor, and provided for abandoned children. One of the halls still had its original frescoes, which depicted everyday life at the hospital. The bartering system for farmers, the care by wet nurses of abandoned children. This museum though was by far the most confusing museum I have ever been in. We couldn't tell where we were allowed to go, where it wasn't ok to go, even if we saw all that we should. It also had an identity crisis of what it was supposed to be, art museum (abstract or ancient), memorial of a hospital long gone, church, etc. To add to the confusion, there seemed to be some special event that was going to happen that evening as people were setting up tables and things of that nature, which added to our confusion.

the hospital museum (some of the older frescoes)

That was our last destination for Siena. One of the oddest things we saw as we headed over to catch our bus, was adds for Black Friday, as we were in Siena on Black Friday, too weird. Before long we were back on the bus headed back to Florence. I managed to sleep almost the entire way to Siena and back on the bus (it was too warm inside to stay awake), it was so nice to have Brie up and paying attention. After arriving back in Florence, we went for gelato over by Piazzo della Signoria at Bar Perseo (even though it was cold out). Brie had a pistachio one (very good) and I had a Grand Marnier flavored one with stracciatella in it. We then went to dinner in Mercado Square at Da Garibardi (http://www.garibardi.it/). I was exhausted, we had been on the go non-stop for over a week, and I wasn't sleeping too well, so dinner is a bit of a blur. On one side was an tourist Italian couple, on our other side was a family from kids, to parents, to the grandparents, and the kids were little and having a lot of fun. The waitress was amazing and fun. I had ravioli with Pecorino inside and pears and balsamic reduction on the side. Brie had osobucco with a side of garlic spinach which was cooked very nicely, and we split a demi bottle of Morellino de Scansaro Terenzi wine. Dessert- I got dessert wine with amaretti biscotti, I didn't realize you were supposed to dip the biscotti in the wine (ooops), and the wine was very very sweet (sweeter than any moscato I've ever had). Brie had a ricotta cake slice (a local specialty). After that we headed for the hills....

Siena at the very end of the day

Black Friday, even in Italy

My next blog will probably be about Arezzo and Cortona..... I'll save Florence last for the Italy portion of the vacation (we traveled a bit in Germany too!).

Tips:

• Look up where you have to buy your tickets for the bus to Siena (called the SITA bus) from Florence before arriving. Take the express bus, it won't take you was long. Yes, you want to take the bus, not the train. The bus takes you to the top of the hill, the train leaves you at the bottom.
• We went to Siena without a plan, that being said, you HAVE to go to the Duomo, I don't care if you're churched out (like I was), you just have to go. Try to also go up the Facciatone in the museum, it was so pretty.
• Do your best to eat local food (each region has its own specialty).
• Some Italian words for you:
• Buongiorno! (bwohn-johr-noh) (Hello! and Good morning!)
• Arrivederci! (ahr-ree-veh-dehr-chee) (Goodbye!) (Formal)
• Ciao! (chou) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Informal)
• Salve! (sahl-veh) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Neutral)
• Buonasera! (bwoh-nah-seh-rah) (Good afternoon! Good evening!) (Formal)
• Buonanotte! (bwoh-nah-noht-teh) (Good night!) (Informal)
• Bene, grazie. (beh-neh grah-tsee-eh) (Fine, thank you.)