Siena--Week One

We love being back in Italy and especially staying in Siena.  Though it has been cloudy and rainy the past week, we still managed to explore different parts of the city each afternoon.  We found several brochures with walking tours which give historical information about various sites, which made our walks fun.

Two palaces, one built by the Tolomei family and another by the Salimbeni family, look like fortresses--probably because the families were bitter rivals in medieval times.  According to legend the Salembeni invited the Tolomei for a picnic to extend a truce, but instead pulled knives and killed 18 of them.  The hill where this took place is now called "malamerenda" which means bad picnic.  Guess so!

Tolomei Fortress Home (15th century) in Siena's Historic Center

 
Our apartment is located on Via Santa Caterina--just three houses from Saint Catherine of Siena's birthplace and sanctuary--one of our favorite tourist sites here in Siena. Catherine was a devout young woman who helped persuade the church to return the seat of the papacy to Rome after its exile in Avignon.  Her head (!!) is preserved for posterity, but not kept in the sanctuary near us; rather it is in a chapel in the larger basilica, San Domenico, farther up the hill.  Not to be missed !

San Domenico--Day & Nighttime

We continue to feast at various restaurants recommended by our landlady, but have already decided on a couple favorites. This past weekend we decided to return to Osteria Nonna Gina--the local restaurant where we had our first meal, lovingly described in our previous blog.  Friday was the National Day of the Woman, and lots of people celebrated by coming to Nonna Gina's.  Every woman in the restaurant received a small sprig of "mimosa" which is the flower traditionally given to a woman on this day--although the leaves look very much like our American mimosa trees, the floweres are bright yellow puff balls.

We began our meal with Nonna's Antipasto once again and followed it with pici, a traditional Tuscan pasta, which has become one of our favorite dishes anywhere, along with Nonna's version of gnocchi, which are almost the size of German potato dumplings and covered in a light pesto sauce. So good.

Saturday we were ready for our first car trip and decided to go to Volterra, which is an old, well preserved Tuscan town, surrounded by an Estruscan/Roman wall--pictured is the gate dating back to 40 BC.  That's right, look at those ancient stones and think how long they have been there and still functioning!  A plaque said it is believed this may have been one of the earliest examples of the use of a keystone in an arch.  Also, during WWII the Germans planned to destroy the arch, but the townspeople worked to fill it with stones accomplishing blocking Allied progress, which had been the goal of blowing it up.

Etruscan Arch in Volterra

 Only an hour so so from Siena, the drive through the countryside is quite lovely--the fields are bright green and the Tuscan houses and buildings, often flanked by Italian cypresses, look just like the postcards we have all seen.

Val D'Orcia from Volterra

Volterra, once a rival to both Siena and Florence, is now much smaller than either. Their Romanesque style Duomo, or cathedral, was started in the 13th century.  The religious art was extraordinary and awe inspiring--we think much of it had been recently restored, as the colors looked alive and brilliant.

14th Century Madonna in Volterra Duomo

For us, eating well, is as important as seeing the sights and absorbing the history. We are relying a lot on Rick Steves's Italy to help us select places to vist, things to see, and places to eat; and in Volterra, one of the restaurants he recommends is Don Beta. There were a couple tourists in the restaurant, although most patrons seemed to be Ialian, as the tourist season has not gotten into full swing. It was a fortuitous choice: mushroom risotto was mouth wateringly delicious and Tuscan beefsteak savory and tasteful; capped off with cappuchinos, the meal was another memorable one.

On Sunday, we decided to take in two other hill towns, Montepulciano and Pienza.  Again, both are close to Siena, and make for a nice, but not tiring, drive through the picturesque landscape. Montepulciano is also a walled city, perched on a hill, dominating the surrounding countryside.  We enjoyed seeing it, but didnt find it nearly as interesting as Volterra.

Etruscan Cave now an Enoteca (Wine Shop)

   The highlight of our visit to Montepulciano was a walk through a wine cellar which ended up in an "enoteca" or wineshop, all situated in the remains of some Etruscan tunnels. Apparently the Etruscans might have lived in the caves, but definitely buried their dead there. After the tour and the free tasting, we felt almost obligated to buy a bottle of red wine, although the cost, about $10, was probably twice what we normally pay at the grocery store for the same quality.

Sue in Pienza's main piazza.

We continued to Pienza which was, perhaps, the high point of the weekend.  Pienza is a tiny little town remodeled in the 15th century by Pope Pius II (it had been Medieval in style and he upgraded much of it to Renaissance style).  We toured his summer palace, which dominates the town and marveled at the views of the Val D'Orcia.

Val D'Orcia from the Piccolimino Palace

 Rick Steves did not provide a restaurant recommendation, so we were on our own, but Sue has really good instincts, and based on the wonderful smells and the fact that the restaurant was full of diners, we decided to eat at La Buca delle Fate (The mouth of Fate).  We were again rewarded with a great eating experience.  The salami, prosciutto, and pecorino cheese antipasto was delicious and the pasta with rabbit Bolognese sauce was wonderful, but the homemade tiramisu was extraordinary.  We enjoyed a quiet ride home, reflecting on what we had seen, experienced and tasted, and again marveled at how lucky we are to be able to do this.

"Get this pigeon off my head."  "Don't look at me, there's one on mine, too"