Day Two - Siena, Continued

Our day started with what I hope to be a new tradition.  I have managed to locate the local bakery in San Giovanni, run by a nice old lady and her daughter.  She had just pulled some apricot pastries out of the oven, so I bought four of those and some bread for later in the day if we needed it.  She spoke no English, I spoke broken Italian, but we somehow got things done.  She was super nice.


The day in Siena was tremendous.  It was our first day with the sun being out all day, but it remained nice and cool which made the day much more pleasant.


We got to Siena a little before noon.  We had been warned by our friend Rick Steves not to try to park in the city center, so we found a parking lot outside the city walls at San Francesco.  It had a series of escalators leading up to the city, which was nice.  Once we got up to the city, we found ourselves in front of an immense church which I don't remember seeing the name of.  What was neat is that we got there just as an 11:00 service was starting.  You could hear the hymns being sung in a small chapel all throughout the entire building.  


After that, we found our way to Il Campo, the famous square at the center of Siena.  Most people consider this to be their favorite piazza in Italy, and it was easy to see why.  There were people lounging everywhere, drawing pictures of the Civic building, enjoying a glass of wine and a slice of pizza or sandwich.  We bought our tickets to climb to the top of the Civic Tower, the tallest structure in Siena.  It is 300+ steps of sometimes very small passages all the way to the top.  They let 25 people in at a time, and you can only stay up there for 15 minutes.  A funny moment happened on the way up when Charlie said "It stinks that we have to climb all the way up here."  A woman from the UK looked immediately alarmed and whispered to her friend "What stinks up there?"  As I walked by, I said "He means he wishes he did not have to climb, that's all."  They replied "Oh, so its like pants."  I replied "Yes, exactly."  Ahh, the nuances of the English language.


The view from the top of the Civic Tower was incredible.  You could see literally everything in Siena, in addition to being able to see down the valley for what seemed like 1,000 miles.  The most inspiring view by far was being able to see the top of the Duomo and the massive cathedral.  It's distinctive white and black stripes set it apart from the rest of the roofline of Siena. 


Once we got back down to Il Campo, we went looking for lunch.  We found a pizza place right off the left side of the square that served huge slices of really tasty pizza for only two euros.  A slice a piece and a couple of Cokes and we were all set for the next couple hours.  


We headed out for the Duomo next.  We had debated about how much to see there ( there are a few museums attached to the Duomo ), but in the end we decided to just see the main cathedral.  It was three euros vs. twelve to see everything, and we knew our kids probably would not make it through all of them without some amount of grumbling.  It proved to be a good decision as there was plenty to see.  A couple of highlights were the pulpit ( an amazing amount of detail and artistry ) and a carving in the floor called 'The Slaughter of the Innocents', depicting Herod's slaughter of all boys under two.  I sat under the main dome for probably ten to fifteen minutes just looking up at the ceiling and columns.  Ringing the entire top of the church are the busts of 190 popes, which was also really interesting.  I have never seen something built by man that was this beautiful.  It is hard to imagine the mind it took to make it happen.  


Our last stop of historical significance was San Dominico, the church that houses the head and thumb of St Catherine. We enjoyed another slice of delicious pizza on the way.  It just felt right. It was striking how vast yet completely empty the church was.  My only comparison to date with these churches has been something like St. Patrick's in New York.  Obviously not even close to the same class, but it still felt like a church.  I realize this is not a novel observation, but it was troubling at any rate.


After San Dominico, we headed for gelato.  I had Amareno again ( my new favorite flavor ).  A day without gelato is like a day without sunshine.  However, I can live with rain.  I don't know that I want to live without my daily gelato.


We made our way down one of the main shopping streets looking for some clothing items we had neglected to bring.  We found what we needed, then headed for the car to make our way back to Podere Ampella in San Giovanni.  On our drive back, we made a stop in Buonconvento where I got a lesson in grocery store shopping.  Apparently I was supposed to weigh the produce before bringing it to the register.  After some brief embarrassment, we managed to navigate the situation and pay for our food.

We made dinner at our home, dining on tortellini with pecorino cheese, some other pasta, salad and the bread from the baker. Oh, and of course more wine.

Another great day.