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Siena - Just like the crayon color
Siena was a very abrupt introduction to medieval Italian cities. Navigation proved more of a challenge than previous towns. I suspect that the same twists, turns, and dead-ends that frustrated us were also meant to frustrate invading armies. Lillie and I also were unaware that our book-as-we-go lodging plan was not going to work in Siena, because we were rolling into town on a holiday weekend. The first two places we tried were booked completely. Lillie's/my first few hours in Siena gave rise to the closest thing we've had to an argument that we've had as a married couple. Hunger, fatigue, concern that we would be homeless for the night, and a conflict of navigational styles all collided into one giant ball of stress. With regards to navigational styles, Lillie and I fall into what I suspect are typical male/female tropes - I like maps and north/south/east/west orientations (like Boy Scouts), and Lillie was trying to follow verbal directions. Of course, directions only work if you start from the same place as the author, and navigation by map is only as good as the map is correct and clear. Both have their drawbacks, but I think the main thing is that we were starving, tired, frustrated, and irrational. It doesn't help that street signs in Italy are harder to come by than they are in most American cities. I guess if you don't know where you're going, you don't belong... Having resolved - or at least understood - the navigational style questions, we had to come up with a plan for Siena lodging. My thinking was that all of the cheap rooms were gone, so we just had to move our price point up. Sure enough, once we doubled what we were willing to pay (from 65 Euro to 120 Euro per night), we found a room at the first place from Rick Steves' book that we called. Daniela, the hotel owner was a cool free spirit and the room was very nice, and close to il Campo, which is the main square, the location for Siena's Palio, and one of the best people-watching sites in all of Italy. More on that in a moment... Having taken care of that critical business, we sought some coffee on the way to the Duomo. After buying tickets to use the next day, we learned that the Duomo would open later the next day, due to Sunday services, which would have the effect of pushing our our travel timeline back by almost a half-day. Lillie was exasperated, so I convinced her that we just needed a drink.  Rick Steves - who at this point in the trip had become our invisible friend and tour guide - recommended a bar situated in the corner of Il Campo. The bar had a balcony for customers and service sufficiently un-rushed that we could slowly enjoy our drinks, people-watch, and enjoy the sunset's golden highlights on the otherwise monochromatic buildings.  While taking it all in, I overheard a Frenchman and his daughter conversing. Feeling bad that I don't speak Italian and - as such - was the epitome of the Ugly American, I decided to chat them up in French. Fortunately, I actually studied French, although my conjugation is rusty in several tenses and vocabulary can be a challenge for more difficult subjects. His daughter had spent time in Naples, Florida, and would be going to New York City. As was the case elsewhere, when I mentioned that we were from Chicago, the Frenchman knew it to be where Obama was from. We walked to another part of town to have dinner at restaurant near University of Sienna that Rick had recommended. Seeing as how we were still in Tuscany and I'd had such a great steak in Orvieto, I decided to order it at this restaurant as well. Unfortunately, it was a bit stringy and not as good. The house chianti was good, Lillie loved her pesto and gnocchi, and our meal was capped off with some Amaretto. We wound our way home, taking a different route than the way we'd taken to the restaurant, stopping for gelato along the way. By this point, I think we were warming to Siena. We were a little taken aback by the noise from the bar across the street from our hotel room, but - once we'd put in earplugs - settled in for solid sleep. Siena Day 1.5: It had rained overnight in Siena, which I think contributed to our restful sleep. Daniela let us store our bags after checkout while we went out sight-seeing, which was a great help. We stopped for coffee, croissant, and - oddly enough - a doughnut. Although common practice and indeed the posted policy at the café to charge extra for the use of the tables/chairs, the staff was nice enough to waive it for us. A Los Angelino stumbled in with his girlfriend, and my split-second sarcasm actually made a friend for once. They'd been to Italy and London before, and had a lot of useful advice, some of which we would use later. The Duomo and related sites were worth the wait, the frustration of not having been able to see it the day before, and Lillie's concern that it was taking away from our time in Cinque Terre, the destination on our trip to which she was most looking forward. We started with the museum, where we looked at Donatello's "Madonna and Child," Duccio's Rose Window, books of Medieval chant music, and climbed up to the Panorama del Facciatone to take in a great view of the city. The baptistry has some great works by Ghiberti and Donatello. The Duomo itself has pieces by Bernini, Michaelangelo, Pisano, and Duccio. The Piccolomini Library is unrestored, but the colors of its frescos are surprisingly as vibrant as if they'd been painted yesterday.  Between our visits to the museum and the crypt, we called ahead to Cinque Terre to find a room, using Rick's book again. We'd learned our lesson about booking in advance from the prior day's near-catastrophe, and were pleased to find that we were able to reserve a room in Vernazza on the first try. |
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