Wine tasting and beauty

We have been in Siena for a few weeks now and have done so many wonderful and interesting things that we are a little behind on our blogging.

A couple of weeks ago, we visited a winery we learned about in Rick Steves’ guide to Italy--Santa Giulia near Montalcino.

Without the help of our iPhone and GPS, it would have beenn very hard to find, but following our trusty Genie's commands, after a panoramic ride thru the Tuscan countryside, we turned down a dusty country road and three kilometers later found this beautiful setting.

There we were greeted by Kae Terzuoli, a lovely Japanese woman who came to Italy a few years ago to learn about its history and culture and one day took a wine tasting trip to the Montalcino area where she met her future husband GianCarlo.

Together they have created a little slice of Tuscan heaven and provide a great experience for visitors to their family owned winery.

While GianCarlo tends the grapes and makes the wine, Kae  leads the tours of the winery and hosts the wine tastings.

Raised in Yokohama, Japan she has had to learn about wine making from her husband and his family.

She was a fount of knowledge and a delightful hostess. We all so enjoyed our tour, learned a little, and loved the wines--Brunello, Rosso di Montalcino and Merlot.

Following our wine tasting, we drove to the other  side of Montalcino, to visit the Abbey and church of Sant’Antimo.

We arrived near dusk. An unpaved road leads you to the 12th century Romanesque Abbey, which looks much as it must have 800 years ago when pilgrims arrived there on the road from France to Rome: beautiful, serene and welcoming.

Fortunately, we were in time to enter the sanctuary, but not to hear the monks singing their Gregorian chants--we were told by the caretaker that the few remaining monks had moved to France, so that beautiful music will no longer be heard in this sacred place.

Still it was an inspiring experience, just to sit quietly in one of the pews, look up to the ceiling high over your head, and meditate on the day's happenings.

It truly is a remarkable and holy place; you feel it as you walk around especially late in the afternoon on a incredibly beautiful late summer day.

Return to Siena

For the sixth time since 2000, we have returned to Siena--the heart of Tuscany--and truly one of our favorite places. Once again, we are staying at Casabella, the farm house owned by our landlady and now friend, Marzia Caselli. 

This time we are accompanied by six good friends: Mart & Bob Larson, Steve Clagett and Jennifer Parker, Carole Reedy and Blythe Tennent--good friends and great traveling companions. We will be here for the next month or so.

Casabella is a 19th century structure, originally occupied by Marzia’s husband’s farming family, but renovated by Reno’s with modern conveniences, like  the swimming pool and now rented out to visitors like us who love the Tuscan countryside and are looking for a place for a Tuscan idyll--and Casabella doesn’t fail to provide.

Casabella is just outside the village of Sovicille, about five miles from the city of Siena--our favor  ite Tuscan city.

During one of our last visit we met a young American ex-pat, Anna Piperato, who now, among other things, works as a guide for Rick Steves. She graciously agreed to give us an introductory tour of Siena, despite having a chock ablock full schedule.

Our friends, like us, were all entranced by Anna and her wonderful stories of Siena, including all about the Palio and her adopted contrada, Lupa.

We were all surprised at the number of tourists we encountered in Siena.

We have visited many times in the past, but not during what seems to be the height of the tourist season--how did we miss that?

Anna did her best to steer us away from the crowds and the hubbub, but that is almost impossible to do at times, especially in the middle of the day when the bus loads of tourists from Florence and elsewhere arrive for their two hour tour of this historic and interesting town. Fortunately, we had Anna and lots of time to look and admire.

The center of the city is Il Campo, a hexagonal shaped piazza and the location of the Palazzo Pubblico, which has served as the center of government for the city since the Middle Ages.

Siena, an arch rival to Florence in the 14th century, lost that struggle due primarily to the ravages of the Black Plague.




 Their loss, however, is the modern tourist’s gain as the city seems almost frozen in time--and even at times seemingly crowded, is nothing like Florence and Rome which seem inundated with hordes and hordes of visitors.

The other anchor of the city is the 14th century Gothic cathedral, or as they are called in Italy, the Duomo. Anna gave us a great lecture and tour on the church, its history and city.

The interior columns are made of alternating layers of white and black/green marble, giving it a very unique and intriguing look. The dark marble is almost impossible to find these days and it was even scarce by the 15th century.

One of the Siena Duomo’s most beautiful features is its beautiful marble mosaic floors. Other medieval and renaissance cathedrals have their marble floors with their inlaid designs, but few can reveal Siena’s many elaborate and story telling pictures.





It took nearly two centuries to complete all of the pictures. For most of the year many of them are covered to protect them, but we were fortunate to visit during a short period when they are uncovered each year. Wow!

 

Some of our favorites included the "the Italian hill town zodiac" with Siena surrounded by its competing rivals like Lucca, Pisa, and San Gimigiagno.


Fate, with her feet planted on the orb and on the wings of wind denoting how capricious and unpredictable Fate can be.

Larry’s personal favorite was Prudence: she of the three heads, looking to the past, the present and the future, before making a decision.

The Duomo is filled with other treasures, like a Baroque Chapel with two Bernini statues.

 

The Picolomino Library with 15th century frescoes that look as fresh today as the day they were painted. They depict the life of Pope Pius II who was Sienese and proud of his heritiage and home. The first of the series shows Aenius Silvius Picolomino as a young man on one of his diplomatic missions. He was an admirable and far seeing man.

One of Berninni's sculpture—St. Jerome, cradling the cross as if it were a violin.

A bas relief of a Madonna and Child, now in the Duomo Museum.

One of the stained glass windows removed from the Duomo and now in the museum.  It is nice to be able to see one so up close.

Only three of us opted to climb the 230 steps up to the Facciatone of the 14th century extension so the Duomo.  The Scienese in the their pride wanted to build the largest church in Christendom; the Black Plague put an end to that dream.  It is the best view in town.

View of the Duomo from the high front of the unfinished larger church.

View of the town center from the Facciatone.

 Madonnas are certainly a recurring theme.

As we left Siena on our second day, just after a quick thunderstorm, these rainbows were our parting gift from the city.

 

Estes Park & Lily Lake

Recently, we decided to take a couple of days and get out of town--before the start of school and our leaving on our long planned Trip to Italy.







Our destination:  Rocky Mountain National Park and environs.

We invited our friends, John and Martha Birney--actually it was their idea & they were happy when we proposed bringing Charlie, our grandson, along. 


And one of our favorite spots in the Park is Lily Lake--a small lake with a very doable, but fun one mile long walk around the shore.










While Sue and Martha strolled along the shoreline, taking time to rest and relax on the conveniently placed benches, the boys (John, Opa and Charlie) explored the rocks and trails above the Lake.

For Charlie, there are always new things to explore; a long dead fallen tree trunk or a rock formation to climb and then slide down. He seems to be part mountain goat.

And, of course, the mountains teem with aliens who have to be destroyed--note the "space gun" in his hand in several of the photos.

Every view of the Lake seems to be more beautiful than the next. We had a beautiful day for our hike and visit.

Unlike much of the rest of the park, Lily Lake is quiet and relatively unvisited, so you don't have to fight the hordes of summer visitors to take a walk, pause for a rest, snap a photo or just enjoy being out in nature. It proved the perfect outing for all of us.

On our way up to the Park, we stopped in Lyons to visit with a lovely woman, Annie, that we met a couple of years ago.

She was our server at Osker Blues, a good barbecue restaurant in Lyons, CO. At their first meeting, she and Charlie instantly bonded, so whenever we visit the Park, we have to visit with Annie as well. This time she invited us to her lovely home along the river.

Charlie had never gone river tubing, but with Annie as his guide and tube companion, he took to the sport with great enthusiasm.

Opa was along to share the excitement, but Annie was the best part of the trip for Charlie.

This is not how we made the trip to the Park, but it is certainly how Charlie would have chosen to go, had he had a say!.

Summers in Denver can be so much fun!