Rome In A Day

With a full night of rest we were ready to take on the day. Well, almost. The jet lag lingers a bit longer when you travel west to east. We chose to forget all the walking for the day and just ride. Rome has four or five hop on hop off bus lines. All of them offer pretty much the same thing. We chose the Greenline Bus service. It had three routes which were kind of the same but two of them extended out from the city center a bit.

On most any corner you can find someone in a red vest that says Hop On Hop Off. They have all the information for all the buses. The fellow who explained it all to us led us to a corner souvenir/news stand where we purchased tickets. You can also buy them on the bus but he was so good about explaining it all to us that we went with him across the street to purchase ours.

Since it was early, about 9 am, we were on the first bus to leave from the stop. We chose the blue line which was the longest of the two that were at this stop (Terminal A). The top of the bus was covered but open and we scored a front seat so we had a great view as we toured the city.

This, I believe, is the third time we’ve been in Rome. I do need to keep better notes. We have explored most of the prime places to see, the Forum, the Colosseum, the Trevi, the Pantheon, etc. The enchanting thing about Rome is that no matter where you go there is a piece of the past. From the moment you step out of the train terminal you are immediately immersed. We followed an ancient stone wall to the corner of the street to find our hotel the day before. Ancient baths were across the street.

The open sides of the bus made for a pleasant ride on a day that was a bit overcast but still promising to become very warm. While many of the sites to see were a little off the main route, there was a good commentary running about them and some of the things we could see.

The extension of the blue route that we’d chosen took us out to a more residential area with lots of beautiful flowering tree lined streets and pretty apartment buildings. This was an area where there were quite a few museums and the zoo. The zoo sounded interesting and I almost suggested getting off there but thought better of it. The route was only a little more than half done and the morning was waning.

We passed the Forum and the Colosseum and were back again at our starting point which was near our hotel. After a short rest stop, we weren’t real hungry but needed to stay on a schedule to continue to get used to the time change. We settled on McDonald’s. Yes, here we were in Rome going to McD’s. It was easy. We knew where it was in the nearby train station/mall and we could eat lighter than pasta.

Back at the bus stop again, we wanted to take the orange line. The orange bus showed up (it had an orange stripe on front) but it turned out to be doing the short green route that just hit the major points of interest rather than going out a bit to a place called Eatary so we found ourselves ending our afternoon early. That was fine. We were still tired and an afternoon nap was welcomed.

During one of our past trips that happened to coincide with an anniversary, we had eaten in a piazza that was full of sidewalk restaurants and a couple of fountains, one of which was very large but had been covered at that time for renovation. It had been one of the more romantic experiences we’d had in Rome with entertainers stopping to perform near our table.

With the realization that nothing is ever recreated quite the same as the sweet memories, we searched my blog to try to find the name of the piazza. I couldn’t find the reference. Some of my older posts were a little funky. I searched the net for famous Rome fountains and found the one I remembered. It is called “the four rivers” or Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. Google maps had it a 37 minute walk from our hotel. Considering we had spent the day riding we decided to walk it. The weather was not as hot as the day before and we knew it would take us mostly downhill. We agreed that we would take a taxi back if it seemed too much after we ate.

The walk was not bad and took us past the Trevi fountain again which was packed with people. After weaving our way through the crowd we started past the Pantheon which was also crowded but apparently more from a fencing exhibition or contest for young people that was going on. We arrived at the Piazza Novana and were pleased to see that even though it wasn’t quite six o’clock, the restaurants were open and yes, hustling people to come in. They are gentle hustlers though and quite engaging.

We settled upon one restaurant and had a nice dinner. As the evening cooled and we finished our pasta dishes, we ambitiously chose to walk back to the hotel. There would be a little uphill climb but Bob promised gelato halfway home and I wasn’t going to pass it up this time. We found a small place for gelato part way up an incline and stopped for our treat. There was a small area to sit and eat it so we could rest a bit as well.

Refreshed, we finished our trek back and sank into bed, satisfied with our adventure and ready to begin the next one in the morning that would take us to Civitavecchia and our ship to begin our cruise.

A Half Day In Rome

 After getting our room key to work, we locked the door, put out the Do Not Disturb tag and tried to sleep a bit. Jet lag is awful and when you've had two large time adjustments within a week it's murderous. We awoke after a couple of hours feeling hungry and decided to take a walk and find something to eat along the way. 

The walk was a bit longer than we should have gone and, while gradual, we were walking downhill. We ended up at the Trevi Fountain and took a couple of pictures. We weren't up to elbowing through the crowd to toss a coin over our heads We'd done that before and sure enough, here we were back again. It must work. 

On a side street, we paused to look at a menu at a pizza/pasta sidewalk cafe. It was just long enough to feel a gentle pressure on the elbow and have a chair pulled out for us. All good. We ended up sitting between two American couples, one touring on their own and another with a large tour group. It was enjoyable conversation and hopefully ours made sense.

Real Italian pizza. Strangely, it tastes
a lot like American.

The temperature was rising. The sun was shining brightly and we were wearing down the longer we walked. We thought we would make it to the Colosseum but thought better of it. We glimpsed it down the street as we turned away to head for our hotel. 

As we walked, it felt like we had walked uphill both ways. At least it wasn't snowing but it was hot. A stop for water helped some but my legs were feeling like the water I'd drank and I was close to saying, "Call a cab before we have to call an ambulance." We made it though, stopping several times to rest and collapsed into bed again. 

Another hour of sleep and we were up to shower and find food again, not because we were hungry but because we needed to start to get on the right schedule for the time zone. We walked around the block and found the sweetest sidewalk restaurant. Cloths covered the tables, twinkling lights were strung through the bushes that hid the street mostly from view and the service was wonderful.

After a light dinner of salads, a bowl of tortellini in broth for me and a small plate of spaghetti Bolognese for Bob, we walked to the train station to get come gelato (for Bob). The train station is like a huge two floor mall with platforms for trains and then beneath the basement floor, the metro system. The mall is full of shops and quick places to eat. Bob's gelato was good and I almost wished I had some but I didn't need the stomachache just then.

Unlike Iceland, Italy has McDonald's. What they don't have is brewed McDonald's coffee. When Bob ordered what the kiosk said was American coffee, it turned out to be just Americano made from espresso. 

Back at the hotel, we watched a bit of the CNN channel and found that another UA flight to Rome out of Newark the day before ours had dropped suddenly 28,000 feet in the turbulence. Thank goodness I hadn't seen that before we boarded ours. 

Sleep came quickly once the lights were out. Buono Notte, Roma.

What A Night! Good Morning Roma!

 Most of our air flights over the years have worked out well. We have not had a difficult time with any for many air miles. Our luck was about to change. Not drastically but enough to be an irritation. 

We flew from CLE to Newark without a problem. As a matter of fact for me, it was quite nice. Bob got an upgrade to first class and let me take it. As he told his seat mates who posed with him for a selfie that he sent me, he was trying to be sure we'd make it to the 55th anniversary. I did enjoy the pampering, if you can call it that. First class is not what it used to be and this was just a short ride anyway.

Our flight had been changed to leave a little earlier so we arrived with about three hours to kill in Newark. After a fifteen minute ride on a shuttle to the international terminal, we searched for a United Club. The one we found was a temporary setup while they constructed a new one. The lady sent us over to another one that was closer to our gate anyway. The problem seemed to be that you needed the VISA card, not the MasterCard to get in. It was all very confusing and we were running out of time by then to find food. Bob will settle the problem for the future when we get home.

The restaurants in the Newark airport were all pretty expensive. I consider a hamburger and fries for $25 a bit much. We finally decided it wasn't going to get any better and ordered one to split. While we waited for it to arrive, I found a map online for the airport. Wouldn't you know. There was a Wendy's just a few steps from our gate. We didn't check the prices. We didn't need to make ourselves feel worse.

Embarkation for the flight to Rome went fairly smoothly considering it was a large full plane. Once everyone was settled, the announcement came that we would be delayed fifteen minutes because they couldn't get the video system to work. Someone had already spent four hours troubleshooting, she said. Then another announcement and another delay. By the time they decided we could do without, we were almost an hour late taking off. 

Now you wouldn't think the video system would be all that important. Just entertainment. Not so. Not only do they rely on it for the safety talk, which somehow managed to make it most of the way through, but it also controls the individual lights overhead. Thankfully Bob had some movies he could watch on his iPad. Others weren't so fortunate and they were bored. The noise level in the plane rose as many around us were all part of a tour group and shouted to one another.

Cue the turbulence. I didn't think Hurricane Lee was close enough to affect us yet but I'm guessing that's what gave us a rough start. "Dinner" was delayed almost an hour until we were through the rough ride. When it did roll down the aisle, there was a nasty smell of food. Not appetizing at all. Our choices were pasta that was swimming in a watery sauce and some sort of chicken dish with rice. The entrees were accompanied by some sort of little greens and a clump of barley salad and a roll that was hard enough to make me worry I would break a tooth biting into it. Thankfully our expensive hamburger was still with us and we weren't that hungry anyway.

But wait! There's more. Off and on turbulence delayed some of the dinner cleanup. By the time we were ready to try to get some zzzs, the lights were finally dimmed. Now comes the fun part. There was no way to turn on your individual light above the seat so if you had reading material that wasn't digital, you were out of luck unless you could see well in dim light. Then there were the people who were bored. The couple in the seats across the aisle got into a loud discussion about the music choices of the wife and what hubby wanted to listen to. The guy in the seat just in front of him couldn't keep his pillow under his head and it kept flying in my direction. Then the best one. I still don't know what they were looking for but the couple turned on their phone lights and weren't careful about where the beams were directed. I'm usually pretty patient but I was ready to say something when finally the lights turned off. 

Between off and on turbulence which meant the loud seat belt tone was off and on, and the flight stewards coming through shaking plastic bags calling out "garbage" or "trash" and finally the water run. "Water! Anyone want water?" if we slept an hour out of the seven hour flight, I would be surprised. 

But we landed safely, made it through immigration smoothly, found the train to Rome from the airport and our hotel that was just around the corner from the train station. At this point I was truly grateful that Bob had arranged for an early checkin. We were ready to crash.

And then...the key wouldn't work for the door to our room. To make a long story shorter, it required the manager and then the maintenance man before the key would work. Good morning Roma!

Venice, The First Time--part two

In the morning, we arrived by vaporetto again, this time taking the one that went down the Grand Canal. We managed to get seats in front and enjoy the spectacular view of the old buildings sitting right in the water. Small docks or steps with platforms lead right to the front doors of some of the hotels along the canal. It would have been fun to spend a night in one of them. Gardens and window boxes and balconies full of flowers caught our attention as we slowly made our way to St. Mark's Square.

     It was 9 a.m. when we reached the square and there were few tourists around. The bell tower was first on our list and just opened for the day. We paid our 6 euros each and took the elevator to the top. The view of the square was wonderful. Looking beyond that, all you could see were rooftops. The canals are obscured by all the buildings. Cruise ships in the harbor dwarfed the buildings and looked out of place from that vantage point.

     We walked directly out of the bell tower and got in the line for the basilica. It was already stretching across the square. I had carried our backpack that day and as we approached the entrance, I knew I was in trouble. Security was sending people with backpacks to an area around the corner to check them. If he knew English, he didn't use it. I headed in the direction of where he pointed while the others went on ahead. There was no place I could see that looked like a bag check. I went back to the entrance and found another American who was following an Italian girl to find the place. I followed them. It was not only around the corner but also down a side street and not marked well at all. (There must not be many sign makers in Italy.) I checked the pack and received a large tag that got me to the front of the line and into the basilica in time to see the other three on their way out. They waited while I walked with the crowd up one aisle, across the front and down the other aisle.

     It is an impressive church but I didn't think it was as beautiful as some of the others we had seen in Germany and Austria. There are numerous scenes depicted with mosaics shimmering in golden highlights in the large domes looming overhead. The floor is a geometric pattern of tiles. There are no photographs allowed and while you are inside, you must remain silent. Also, throughout Italy, there is a dress code for visitors to churches. You cannot wear shorts, sleeveless blouses, or short skirts above the knee. They will and did turn people away.

     After retrieving our backpack, we returned to the square to see all the pigeons. It rivals Trafalgar Square in London. For a euro you could buy a small bag of corn and instantly make friends with hundreds of pigeons. Actually they are very gentle and there was only one "accident" recorded which was quickly cleaned up.

     We went back to the vaporetto docks and found the line ( #42/43) that would take us to Murano and Burano. It took about an hour to reach Murano but it was a pleasant ride. We disembarked at the first stop and found ourselves immediately greeted by salesmen from the glass factories. They welcomed us into a demonstration room where we watched with fascination as a red vase was formed at the end of the blowpipe and speckles of color were added. Next a horse came to life from a blob of molten red glass. There were beautiful pieces of colorful glass in all sorts of shapes and sizes on the shelves in the showroom. Prices ranged from 6 euros to...well some chandeliers I understand go for thousands of dollars.

     Glass factories are all over the island. This is the place where the glass manufacturers were sent when the citizens of Venice worried that they might accidentally burn the city to the ground. Lots of shops and little cafes line the canals that criss-cross the island. We enjoyed a delightful pizza lunch along one of the canals.

     Our next stop was Burano. We found the correct place to catch the vaporetta from Murano. It doesn't run as frequently so we had to be careful of our time. Burano was an even smaller place than Murano. It is known for it's handmade lace. As you exit the vaporetto and walk into the little town, there are a few places along the way were women sit in the lace shops and demonstrate the lace making. Their hands whip through knots and stitches as the delicate pattern begins to take shape. Not everything in the shops is made there. You need to be sure to ask for the Burano patterned lace. They sell small pieces for about 15 euros. 

     We caught a vaporetto back to Venice, managing to arrive in time to have a nice dinner before our scheduled gondola ride. Near the Rialto bridge was a pretty area full of tables topped with white linen and decorated with small colorful lights. It sat right on the canal. After our $15 coffees, we knew it would probably be expensive but we would only be in Venice once. The waiter spoke English mixed with a heavy Italian accent that was fairly understandable. He was also a great salesman. He described the specials. One was a seafood dish with pasta and three sauces. We assumed that he meant there were three sauces to put on the pasta along with little pieces of seafood. Well, no matter. We knew we were in trouble when he placed a huge tiered bowl of ice with various pieces of seafood, including two half lobsters, crabs and oysters. The sauces were for the seafood. I don't even remember the pasta. The whole thing was somewhere around $200 by the time we added drinks. It was delicious. The view was great. And next time we'll ask the price even though it's a "speciale".

     When we arrived at the gondola stop there were about 60 people waiting with us--no gondolas in sight. Just as we were wondering what was going on, a dozen gondolas pulled in between the striped poles to let their passengers off. We boarded our gondola being careful not to move too much. It's almost like getting into a canoe. With amazing skill, the gondoliers used their long tongued poles to manipulate the vessels out of their dock and into the canal. It was an armada of gondolas that slowly made its way down the Grand Canal. In the evening, the canal is not as busy so we did not bob around like those who rode earlier. In the center of the armada, was a gondola with a tenor and an accordion player who serenaded us as we floated between buildings illuminated with the colors of the evening sun. As we entered a narrow canal to navigate the maze of small waterways that lace the island, the sound of Ole Sole Mio resonated from the exteriors of the buildings. Romantic? Yes and no. After all we were with our family and 11 other gondolas filled with people. But the setting could not be matched in the best of romance novels.

     It was good we had time to relax for our train ride back was to be very stressful. We arrived in time to catch the last train. The question was--which one went to Mestre? We finally found someone who assured us we needed to get on the train he pointed to. Once on we realized we were in a sleeper coach. We got off and another person directed us to the same train; this time to a coach full of private compartments. We sat for a while until some others came along with tickets for the seats we were in. Off again. The signs indicated all along that the train went to a French sounding place. I was panicking. Again an official looking individual directed us onto the train, this time in a different car. This car looked more like the commuter cars we had been in for the ride to Venezia. We relaxed a little and a passenger assured us again that the train would stop in Mestre. Polly and I just kept exchanging glances. Would we sleep in our hotel tonight or in some unknown destination? Thankfully, as the train neared the Mestre station, it slowed and stopped. On the way out, we asked where the train was going. France. Cie la vie!

     Oh yes, I can't leave Venice until I tell you about the pay toilets—a must for any self-respecting woman. They only cost about .50 euro and they were very clean and well worth the wait. Our guys said the non-pay toilets were indescribable.

Venice, The First Time--part one

[This was our first trip to Venice. Here's part one.]

Our last look at the Alps was obscured by fog and rain as we drove from Salzburg into Italy but we knew when we crossed the border. Everything became frenzied and highway signs became confusing again. We arrived safely in Venice and checked into the Best Western Hotel Bologna. The hotel was directly across the street from the train station where we boarded a train for the 10 minute ride to historic Venice. That sounded easy. It wasn't. This was Italy. At the train station there was no easy way to find which platform was loading to go to "Venezia" and no one easily accessible to ask. After standing in a long line for the information room which opened to only one person at a time, we finally got some insight into where we needed to go and managed to get on the right train.

Disembarking, we found the Vaporettos (water taxis) in front of the station. We opted to take #1 to St. Mark's Square, knowing it made more stops along the way but we would have more time to look around. Somehow we got on # 82 instead and went the opposite direction we wanted to go but we still ended up at St. Mark's. We arrived at the square amidst gray skies and drizzle. I looked around at the old buildings, dirty and crusty, and wondered how anyone could think this was such a beautiful place.

     We wandered down crowded side streets looking for a place to eat. The dreariness of the weather contributed to the feeling of oppressive passageways filled with people jostling each other to keep out of the rain. I immediately began wondering if I was going to enjoy this place at all.

     A few gondoliers called out to us to take a ride through the small canals running between the buildings. They weren't getting much response from the weather beaten crowd. Finding a restaurant in a small courtyard, we gratefully ducked under the overhang to find a seat. Our dinner was unremarkable (and expensive) but it was fun to sit and watch the crowds go by. The rain stopped just before we were ready to venture out again and make our way back to the square.

     St. Mark's Square is a huge area bordered by St. Mark's basilica and the old and new Procuraties. The old were built originally for the St. Mark's attorneys. The Doge Palace sits next to St. Mark's Basilica. And the famous Bell Tower rises above it all. At street level, Procuraties are filled with cafes, restaurants, and shops. There are four or five cafes with huge areas of little tables set up in the square where you can sit and listen to live music being played. As we pondered what to do, the sun broke through the clouds and the front of the basilica was illuminated. The golden tiles glittered in the late evening sun and the building began to look fresh and clean as the water evaporated from the facade. Ah, so this is why people come here, I thought, as the sky above became blue and a slight breeze freshened the air.

     We decided on a cappuccino at a table near the string ensemble that was playing beautiful music. So enchanted were we that we never stopped to look at the prices on the menu. We sipped our delicious brews, enjoyed the view and the atmosphere. Then the bill came. When we converted euros to dollars it worked out to be $15 a cup. We didn't notice the cover charge on the menu. We probably could have ordered something to go along with the cappuccinos and gotten a better value. But then, this was Venice, the heart of the historical area and we had just watched the sunset and been entertained by wonderful musicians. We swallowed our shock, laughed a little, and took a picture of the bill for posterity.

     Finding the train platform again to head back to our hotel was frustrating but we managed to find a couple of women who understood English and helped us out. It had been a lovely evening and now I was looking forward to the next day.

First The Antipasti

Christmas meals in Italy are varied by region but one thing they have in common is the antipasti. Well, at least the general idea of the dish or platter. It is basically a platter with all sorts of cold meats, cheeses, condiments and vegetables arranged beautifully to create an invitation to begin dining.

I chose this item as a part of my reflection on Christmas in Italy because it is so adaptable to any Christmas celebration. Here is a list of things you might choose from for a more authentic antipasti, which by the way means "before food or before the meal."

Cold cuts sliced thin:
prosciutto
salami
mortadella with pistachio
mild coppa

Marinated vegetables such as artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, and mushrooms.

Cheeses:
Bocconcini
chunks of parmigiana
thin slices of asiago, provolone and fontina

Breads like Grissini bread strips, focaccia, ciabatta, and other varieties of artisan breads.

All sorts of gourmet olives

You can also add deviled eggs, grilled veggies, figs or melon (wrap the melon in prosciutto).

Antipasti make a great addition to any buffet table and informal gathering.

BUON APPETITO!

Buon Natale!

No matter what country that celebrates Christmas with a figure of generosity, there is always a reward to children for good behavior. Even if it is a witch! La Befana is the witch that during the Christmas season will go house to house rewarding good children with a special treat. She was featured at the Italian venue in Epcot when we visited. Let me tell you about the legend and how she got started.

La Befana predates Santa Claus who gained recognition around WWII. La Befana dates back to the 13th century. She is pictured as an old witch lady with a large red nose, hunched back, dressed in a jacket of colorful patches and with a broom in hand. The legend says that on the 12th night of Christmas (January 5) the three wise men set out to find the baby Jesus. La Befana was asked to join them in their search but she declined. She said she had too much housework to do. Later she changed her mind and went out to find them but never did.

Every year on January 5, La Befana travels on her magic broom, still searching for the baby Jesus. She climbs down chimneys and leaves candy and fruit for the good children and coal, onions or garlic to the naughty ones. Children leave out stockings or shoes to be filled hopefully with sweet treats. After her visit of course there is feasting with family and friends.

Through My Lens - More Siena, Italy

Sunday In Siena, Italy

Our last day in Siena was a Sunday and while we visited several churches, we found no worship services. Bob and I elected to wander to one of the further reaches of Siena that we hadn’t visited yet. 

Our first destination was the piazza where the Basilica San Francesco was. The parking lot in front of the church was full of cars so we very quietly opened the church doors because we were sure there was a group of worshipers inside. It was empty. Beautiful but empty. A stained glass window depicted both women saints, Catherine and Francesco but we didn’t find any information on who Francesco was.

On our map it appeared that there was a park of sorts behind and next to the church. We found private signs (some words are evident in any language) and didn’t go in the gardens but ended up in a rather upscale area of condominiums and wandered past them and back up into the older area of the town.

Another church was empty when we went in to explore. Beautiful marbled floors resembled the Duomo floors. A huge altar with gold trim graced the front of the sanctuary. Beautiful but empty of worshipers. Surely there had been services sometime. This was Sunday.  Was it just too late in the morning?

The night we had taken our late walk, we’d passed a piazza with a statue in the middle that was lit up quite nicely. I recognized it as we passed by again. It didn’t look quite as nice in the daytime. You might even say it was a bit scary with all the heads at the top of the building looking down at you. Piazza Salimbeni actually is formed by a palace built in the 14th century and renovated in the 19th century. 

As we headed for the far end of Siena and the Porta Camollia we found ourselves in a part of town that featured kabob places and shops that displayed Middle Eastern garb for sale. It was almost like walking into another country.

Along the way we were stopped by a group of four Americans in a car who had driven into the city and wondered if they could park there without getting a ticket. We had no idea about the parking but were able to share our map with them and point them in the direction of the Piazza Del Campo in the middle of town. I suggested they take a picture of our map with their iPhone and use it until they could get their own.

At the Porta Camollia, we stepped outside the wall of the old city and looked around. I think Bob was hoping for a McDonald’s nearby. We walked a couple of blocks and then returned to the portal and stopped at the little café there for some coffee and a couple of donuts that were really good. Not McD’s but better, I thought.

That evening we visited a restaurant not too far from our hotel where we had stopped to take in the view from their terrace on a previous walk-by. Clever advertising “Come in and take a look at our view.” It was a bit too chilly for dinner on their terrace but we went inside and were seated at a nice table. Our last Italian dinner was a hit with the best antipasti we’d had the whole trip. It was almost a meal in itself

We always manage to find some sort of entertainment wherever we go—partly because we are so easily entertained. This night we found a large group of young people gathered in the park area behind and below our hotel. There was a race track set up and several stalls with donkeys in them. Eventually each donkey got a rider and we laughed as they tried to set up a start line for a race. A couple of the donkeys would break through the line each time they tried to make an even start. Obviously the donkeys were eager to get the race over with. 

The organizers somehow managed to get them almost even and just let them go. Two of the donkeys lost their riders but finished the race anyway. The young people surrounded the winner singing and chanting and hoisting a banner high. I got the feeling we had watched a parody of the actual Siena horse races.

As I snuggled between the crisp smooth sheets that night my thought was that this was the last night we would be in a bed that wasn’t moving. Hopefully our cruise would be smooth and uneventful weather-wise. 

Exploring Siena and Chianti, Italy

Over the days we spent exploring Siena we ran into small groups of young people dressed nicely and one among them with a laurel wreath on his/her head. The wreathed girls also carried a bouquet of flowers. We finally asked and found out that they were celebrating graduation. I'm guessing from their age and the nearness of the University of Siena, they were college graduates.

This day in Siena, we slept in a bit. There was no particular plan in place—at least not until later when we were due to eat dinner at a winery/farm/hotel. After breakfast we decided to walk again to the Basilica in the Piazza San Dominica where Saint Catherine’s sanctuary was. Somewhere there was supposed to be the house where she grew up and Bob’s brother hadn’t seen the relics (Catherine's head and thumb) yet and was curious.

After the visit to the Basilica and pointing out the relics, we walked past a soccer arena to the Fortezza Medicea (the fortress) that was now a beautiful park with great views and lovely paths to walk. Amazingly we discovered that the majority of the trees lining the walkways were buckeye trees. Huge buckeyes lay beneath the trees just begging to be made into Ohio State necklaces. It was, after all, a football Saturday, one that we would not be able to enjoy since the game was in the middle of the night in Italy.

A stop for coffee and then we decided to try to find the house of Saint Catherine. We ended up at the sanctuary again and Bob went into the gift shop to ask where the house was. It turned out we were in it. The sanctuary was where the kitchen had been and her bed chamber was below it where now there was a chapel.

All that walking and exploring can stir up an appetite and we had not had any real Italian pizza yet. In the Piazza Del Campo we found a nice outdoor restaurant where we could eat and enjoy some people watching. Italian pizza is so different than American pizza. There is less cheese and sauce and much different toppings. Ours had salami and was really quite good.

There were a lot of souvenir shops that featured University of Siena shirts and I didn’t realize how close we were to it until we decided to find the portal into the city we had seen the day before on our excursion to San Gimignano when we returned. It had an unusual old gate in it. As we walked to where we thought it was, we noticed lots of students, many with musical instruments in cases near some buildings that we identified as the music department of the university.

Bob’s brother and his wife took the minibus back to the hotel from the portal that we found. Actually, it turned out not to be the one we’d seen the day before. There are at least seven or eight portals into the walled city if I recall correctly. Bob and I opted to walk back. It was a nice day and we were enjoying the scenery. We found an interesting belfry and listened to some of those music students as we passed by the music department again.

I should know better than to try to recreate the memory of a previous trip. It was just that I loved the excursion we had taken a few years ago to Tuscany when we had a lovely lunch at a farm/bed & breakfast. The MyTours brochure from Siena had no lunches but featured a candlelight dinner in a vineyard. Okay, I said. Not the lunch I wanted but I could go with that. Then they said, well, it’s too cold for dinner outside so it will be in the restaurant at the winery. They assured our guys that it would be very nice and I gave in.

Our ride picked us up a little after six but early enough that the driver could drop us in a small town, Castellina, in the Chianti district for a little stroll before dinner. It was dark but the main street was lit quaintly and there was a nice church along the way. Bob found a leather belt he liked in one of the shops and bought it but most of the shops were closing. 

We met our driver again and continued on to the place for dinner. During our ride we learned of the black rooster, the symbol of the Chianti district and the logo that can only go on bottles of wine made in the Chianti district. Legend has it that back in medieval times Florence and Siena were always fighting over territory. To end the dispute over who would own a large piece of land between the two cities it was decided that they would each send out a horseman at the break of dawn when the rooster crowed and wherever they would meet would determine the border and who owned what. 

The people of Siena chose a white rooster as their alarm clock and fed it well hoping it would crow early. The people of Florence chose a black rooster, kept it hungry and hoped it would crow earlier. It did. The horseman from Florence covered much more territory before meeting up with the one from Siena. The area was known as Chianti and the black rooster became the symbol. 

 I’m sure the hotel and restaurant would have been very picturesque if we could have seen it during the day. The hotel is called Casafrassi and is in the middle of a vineyard. As we passed by part of the vineyard, our driver pointed out where we would have had dinner if the weather was not so cold. And dinner in the restaurant was good but nothing really special. The company was fun though. Two more couples (one who lives ten minutes down the road from us at home) and a delightful young woman from Kent in the UK made it an entertaining evening.

It was a late evening though. We ate too much and were pretty miserable that night. Note to self: keep the memories as memories and don’t try to recreate them.

Basilica Cateriniana, Siena, Italy

The weather for our stay in Siena was amazing. Warm during the day. Cool at night and no sign of the rain so far that had been forecast on our weather app. The afternoon trip to the Basilica of San Domenico was a pleasant walk through narrow up and down streets and, in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, very steep streets.

We found the sanctuary first and went there thinking that that was where we would find the post cards and the relics of Saint Catherine but all we found was a beautiful chapel and a gift shop that held no post card of her thumb. Confused, we went up to the church to look in.

The outside is mainly brick but we thought perhaps it had been built around the older structure because inside the church looked much older than it appeared on the outside. It was huge and had the most spectacular stained glass windows. Unfortunately, as we had found in the sanctuary, no pictures were allowed whether flash or not.

There was a small area near the altar that had some pews in it and a small group of worshipers were partaking of a mass. The sound of singing and chanting filled the cavernous church and seemed to resonate from the wooden rafters above us.

Several signs indicated a souvenir shop just past where a small group of tourists were gathered in front of some sort of shrine. As we passed and looked over their heads we could see in a long glass case, the head of Saint Catherine looking very ghostly as it was lit up for viewing.

In the souvenir shop, we found picture postcards of the thumb that was enclosed in a glass urn-like receptacle. Neither of us had seen anything like that in our walk through the church so Bob asked the clerk in the shop. He pointed us to a glassed recess in the wall near where the head was. Sure enough on our way out, we stopped and it was there. No joke. There were postcards of it.

Italy is known for its leather products and there are all sorts of shops selling all kinds of quality leather goods at all sorts of prices. I had left the purse at home that I use for travel. It is leather and I’d bought it for $10 at Pisa when we’d visited the tower several years ago. It was well used but I missed it. On the way back to the hotel, we found another similar purse for $22 but “for you lady, $20.” Sold.

For dinner this night, Bob’s brother had made reservations for us at a restaurant close to the hotel but there were no menus in English. He had been reassured that someone would translate for us. It worked out fairly well and we could brag we ate with the locals. My “pork” turned out to be beef but most of the rest of us got what we thought we would.

With a late night meal, we didn’t want to go straight to bed so we walked down to the center of town. The hotel had assured us upon our arrival that walking at night was quite safe and we truly did not feel any differently. Our walk took us down a new street with lots of upscale stores and lots of young people out and about. Later we realized we were near a university. So we old folks mingled with the young folks until it was way past our bedtime and left them to their late night fun.

Through My Lens - Siena, Italy

Siena, Italy - Piazzas, Horse Races, and the Duomo

 The Athena Hotel was a dream from the start. The views from our room and the terrace of the hotel were spectacular and everything you’d ever imagined about the Tuscan countryside.

Our first night we sank into smooth crisp sheets and basked in the luxury of a bed after our overnight flight on the previous day. Breakfast was a surprise with more than the usual Italian fare that we’d experienced before. There was scrambled eggs as well as the thin sliced meats and cheeses and pastries that we’d had in previous stays in Italy. And most importantly, the coffee was good.

We walked to the Piazza del Campo in the middle of town and found the office of My Tours that we’d seen advertised at our hotel and I’d found while researching TripAdvisor. We signed up for three tours, a walking tour to start at eleven and then a tour the next day to a walled city and after that a dinner at a winery in the country.

Our walking tour guide for Siena was Maria who happened to be from South America with some family connection to Australia but was married to an Italian. She spoke very good English and we were able to understand her quite well.

She began the tour by talking quite extensively about the horse races that take place in the Piazza del Campo twice a year. I had done a post on them here previously so I knew quite a bit of what she was talking about. I had no idea however how small the area was where the races took place. As she talked, I tried to imagine 30,000 people squeezed into the center area of the piazza and the horses trying to make the small curves and inclines as they raced around with or without riders. You see, even if the rider falls off, the horse is still in the race.

Further along in our tour, she took us to one of the stables and explained how each horse had their own place in one of the seventeen sections of the city. They were heavily guarded when chosen to run and the rider and the horse would be led to the race course several times to practice surrounded by “guardians” who would make sure nothing happened to either of them. All of this ceremony and work twice a year just to win the privilege of having the banner in their section’s museum. I’m assuming there is probably a little horse betting on the side although that wasn’t mentioned.

Along the street by the stable we paused to look out over the city to the Basilica of San Domenico, the church where the relics of St. Catherine lie. The head of the saint was on display as well as a thumb. There was some discussion about how the head came to be separated from the body but it seems it was not that she was beheaded but rather it occurred naturally after her death. The thumb was on display because at one point in time it was said her hands bled spontaneously in the same spots where nails would have been put into Christ’s hands.

We continued on to the Duomo which is the overpowering structure of Siena. A huge black and white striped tower can be seen from most every point in the city. When we reached the Duomo, Maria got our tickets for entry as well as tickets for those who wanted to see the crypt. Of course Bob and his brother did.

Maria explained that it was fortunate our visit fell when there were no services in the cathedral because we would be able to see the marbled artwork in the floor. During services it is covered to prevent wear.

The Duomo courtyard had on one end a wall that signified where the original cathedral was to end. We were actually standing in what should have been the sanctuary if the cathedral had been built to the size originally intended. Because of wars and money, the original plan was resized in order to actually finish a building. Once inside though, I could not imagine how it could have been any more spectacular.

There were all sorts of colored marble making up the mosaics and the columns in the Duomo. The green marble Maria said would actually look different at different times of the day as the light played on it. She took us around pointing out other places inside we could explore if we wanted to stay longer and then she left us to go our own way.

We decided it was time for lunch and found a little restaurant on a side street and had some unusual but apparently quite common soup. It was a tomato, basil, garlic soup that was thickened with bread—thick enough that you could have eaten it with a fork rather than a spoon. It had a good taste and was very filling. By the way, most restaurants will affix a cover charge to your bill. We assumed that meant a tip was not necessary.

Fortified, we went back up the steps to find the crypt and the museum of the Duomo. The museum had quite a lot of religious paintings of the time but what I found fascinating was the display of huge books of hand copied music with all the beautiful and delicate painting to accompany the writing. Painstaking work.

 

The crypt was not what the boys expected it to be (no bodies) but it was quite interesting. Ancient frescoes were well preserved on the walls. We wandered around and peered through the glass covered holed in the floor that showed that the excavation of the crypt went down several more levels.

The baptistry of the Duomo was an interesting place as well. You had to be baptized before you could worship in the cathedral so it was a separate building but attached to the Duomo. People were using large mirrors provided on the pews to look at the paintings on the ceiling but a few were standing behind the baptistry and looking at the wall with the mirror. We never did figure out what we were supposed to see there if anything.

Up and down the streets of Siena, we wound our way back to the hotel for a rest. The walking was not easy for those of us who normally walk on level ground. To our dismay, we found that most of the restaurants did not open until seven for dinner so we were quite prompt when we arrived later at the place the guys had chosen to eat. It turned out to be one of the best meals I had during our stay. My gnocchi was potato based and stuffed with a very mild sausage. It was accompanied by a nice sauce and veggies and some deep fried kale that I absolutely love. I need to find out how to make it.

By the time we made our way back to our rooms, we were ready for bed. A little jet lag and a lot of leg work—I only hoped our late dinner wouldn’t keep us up. It didn’t.