Cooking   with Danilo

During our second week in Siena, we all traveled to Poggio Alla Croce, where some years ago we met the Becatinni Family—Danilo, GianCarla and Lorenzo and Rina and Dario,GianCarla's parents and doting grandparents to Lorenzo.

For many years, Danilo, with the help of his family, operated a great little restaurant in the town, but with the grandparents aging and Lorenzo now working full time in the fashion industry, they decided to close the restaurant. 

Today they concentrate on hosting tourists visiting the area in the four apartments that they own in the town, which is only 10 miles from Florence. 

However, Danilo, who  is a wonderful traditional cook, misses cooking and whenever the opportunity permits, is happy to show visitors how to make great Tuscan food, like ravioli, panzanella, and tiramisu.   

These are the dishes he demonstrated in a three hour cooking lesson. Simple foods but they have to be done right. 

Mart, Jennifer, Steve and Blythe were the eager students. 

Sue, Larry, Carole and Bob served as cheerleaders and photographers.  

It was a fun time when some of us discovered cooking talents we didn't know  we had, while others of us decided that it was almost as much fun to watch a cooking lessons as to participate in one.  All of us really enjoyed the results of the lesson. 

Danilo asked us to dine in the family loggia that looks out to Florence in the far distance ; he joined us for coffee  and dessert and regaled us with stories and pictures of the family and of their many guests over the years. He is a true gentleman, comfortable  with his guests, and despite not being able to speak English, seems to communicate with ease what needs to be said. It was experience we will all long remember.

We all got to share in the meal created by Danilo and his willing  students, dining in the Becatinnis beautiful loggia...

with its beautiful vistas of the Tuscan countryside. 

The cooks were rightfully proud of their accomplishments!

Pienza

One of our favorite Tuscan hill towns, besides Siena, of course, is Pienza. 

Overlooking the stunningly beautiful Val D’Orcia, it is the perfect size and perfect distance (one hour) from our home away from, Casabella, for a one day visit.

Once known as Corsignano, Pienza, in middle of the 15th  century, was razed and rebuilt by the hometown boy, Pope Pius II (Aenius Piccolomini) and then renamed in his own honor.

According to Wikipedia, it is the first known humanist urban planning project.

Pius, a scholar, poet, world traveler and diplomat, hoped his planned city would become a center for learning and commerce.

During his brief reign as pope, it flourished but never really grew or prospered after that. 

So in many ways it is a 15th century time-capsule, with its small, but beautiful renaissance piazza, anchored by the Duomo and the Piccolomini Palace.

We toured the Palace, whose other claim to fame is that it served as the setting for Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 romantic production of Romeo and Juliet.

Those of us of a certain age remember how ground breaking and beautiful that film was.

As it is the film's 50th anniversary, costumes from the film were on display and the theme song from the movie constantly wafted from the gift shop.

The palace is somewhat austere but still very interesting to tour; we had an especially good guide and interpreter this time. Larry & Sue have seen it several times.

A  bright and beautiful day, it was  great  for shopping (pecorino cheese, leather goods, and jewelry to name a few) and touring;

There were many opportunities for group shots and panoramic photos of the Orcia valley, which stretches away from the hilltop town to the beautiful Mount Amiata, the highest peak in Tuscany, which you can see in in the far distance.

For  lunch, we ate (or over indulged) at one of our favorite restaurants, La Buca delle Fatte (the mouth of the fairies). Which according to Larry, means something like A Place for Good Fortune.)

Whatever it mean, it was a fabulous and filling meal! And a fun and relaxing day.

Monteriggioni

Monteriggioni is not much of a town, probably fewer than 50 people live there now, but it still retains its medieval wall and is a perfect place to visit, shop and relax while absorbing a little Italian and Tuscan history.

Throughout much of Italian history, the town has been a Siena ally, and many times in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Sienese sought refuge in its walls when attacked by their arch rivals, the Florentines.

Those days of conflict and wars are long gone, fortunately, but on the Sunday after our arrival, we sought refuge from the maddening hordes of tourists (how could there be so many people in late September?) invading Siena and fortunately we found it in Monteriggioni.

The village has a charming central piazza—lined, of course, with wine shops and restaurants, but anchored by a lovely but tiny 12th century Romanesque church.

The church probably couldn't hold 100 at max and these days probably sees a lot fewer, but it is still very sweet and serene. 

Cute little shops selling to tourists are on the two streets that make up the town—leading you two blocks from the square and then back again.

Several of our party bought shoes while others opted for jewelry.

Once again it proved  a nice  respite from some of the larger and more crowded hill towns.

Our best find was a new (or at least new to us) place to eat—il Ristorante da Remo. They managed to seat all eight of us on the patio, despite having no reservation on a beautiful and warm late summer day and being full of other hungry tourists just like us.

The food was terrific, some of the best we have had and that is saying a lot: their pici pasta with truffles was outstanding and everyone loved their selections, which included rabbit, pork, fish and beef.

The young proprietor, Eduardo, is the son of Remo. His family also owns and operates a nearby luxury hotel (il Piccolo Costello). 

He was quite handsome—some of the ladies (who will go nameless) flirted shamelessly with him.  After lunch he introduced us to his American born fiancée, Katrina. We all vowed to go back soon!

This blog contains two group pictures, in the first, Larry is missing as he was the photographer, as was Mart in the second.

King Robert and Queen Caroline bid you a fond adieu from Monteriggioni. Ya'll come back you hear!

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.