Siena Saturday

We got a rather early start, especially when you consider there were four people getting ready, with lots of talking and laughter. But we were down at the pastacceria by 8 o’clock, pastry and coffee in hand. By 8:30 we were on the train on our way to Siena.

It was another hot day in Tuscany, so we just paced ourselves. Neither Bec nor TR had ever been to Siena, and it is one of our favorite towns in Italy. As you recall, last week they had run the Palio, so it was interesting to contrast Siena yesterday from Siena a few days ago when it was filled with festivity. They had the Campo cleaned up and, except for some dirt between the stones, there was hardly any sign that the race had been held. There was not nearly the display of flags for the contrade as there had been when we were there the day of the race, but you saw a few Porcupine Contrada flags peppered around, indicating they were the winners of the race.

We walked around a bit, and, after a quick stop for coffe, we visited the big church, or what they call the Duomo, as well as the museum and bapistry. We saw a lot of beautiful art, with an emphasis on Siennese art. Siennese art has a very distinct look to it, being sort of dark and rich, and of course, nearly always religious in nature.

In addition to the Duomo, we also visited the Church of San Dominico. That’s always a must-see for me, because who wouldn’t want to see the head of St. Catherine of Siena? I’m telling you, it’s just not a day in Italy if you don’t see a body part of a saint. While poor Catherine’s body is in a church in Rome, her head made it back to her hometown.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant along one of the side streets near the Duomo. We shared wine and each enjoyed a plate of pasta. TR had pasta with wild boar sauce, Bec and Bill had the thick homemade pasta noodles they called pici, with a meat sauce, and I had ravioli with that same meat sauce. It was all very good.

TR loves to shop, and he was very clear on what kinds of things he was looking for. Siena has a large number of shops that sell beautiful examples of Italian pottery, and he knew he wanted to buy some things in one of those shops. It was fun to watch him get excited about seeing all of the pretty pieces of ceramic. However, Bill doesn’t enjoy shopping (and that’s putting it mildly), so I had been smart enough to suggest that we take two cars to the train station in Certaldo so that Bill and I could come home when his head seemed ready to explode, and TR and Bec could take their time and shop at their leisure.

Bill and I got home around 4 o’clock, and we went to the market and picked up some things for dinner and for Sunday, since the stores will all be closed. The other two got home probably around 5:30 or 6, with some purchases in hand and many more waiting to be shipped.

We fixed up a plate of prosciutto and salami, along with some cheese and fresh fruit, and I made a salad out of the wonderful green beans, tomatoes, basil, and capers. We enjoyed that cold meal, with some red wine, outside on the patio below the bell tower.