Day 5 - June 18 - Siena

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We slept in so late this day that by the time we got going, we wondered if it was worth going to Siena. This feeling was amplified when we got to the train station and, like the day before, could not find the bus stop. Luckily, we did find a tourist info booth. They pointed us to the bus stop, and the nice bus driver on the Siena bus held the bus an extra 3 minutes so we could buy our tickets. We were on our way! The bus ride took the same route as the Chianti van of the day before, and the ride to Siena was about an hour. The bus dropped us off not too far from the central square, which was what we really wanted to see.

We headed to the Campo first to oooooh and ahhhh at its magnificence. It is a Quaint little square with perfect ambiance and atmosphere. We were highly amused by the gorgeous fountain, which the pigeons used as a drinking hole, drinking water right out of the stone wolf’s mouth spout! The stone detail on the buildings, the doors and door knockers, and the eyes of the statutes - which I understand are similar in design to Pisa’s - are all details that just make this place a unique experience.

As we were taking pictures in the Campo, I was approached by more than one “tour guide” trying to corale us into their group. They were aggressive in the sense they follow you around and talk at you and don’t take no for an answer. I just started turning my back and ignoring them. They get the message pretty quick and move on. Its if you engage with them at all that they keep trying to get you on board.

After photographing the square, we went inside to the little atrium. We wanted to climb the tower and go to the museum. Here we encountered our first major disappointment of the trip. The tower was closed! No reason was given - just it can’t be opened today. Sam tried to hide it but I could tell he was particularly disappointed. We looked around the atrium, and then entered the museum.

The Museo Civilco was pretty neat. It’s famous of course for its paintings “Allegories of Good & Bad Government” which are very impressive. Parts of those paintings have a slight sparkle - I noticed it on the crows. The “bad government” side is pretty destroyed, but still you can make out grotesque men lazing about, mutant animals, darkened countryside. On the good government side there is a bright countryside, lots of workers hard at it, and tucked into a corner of the painting Romulus, Remus and the wolf.

Other paintings that really struck me were the massive naval battle with the Germans; the painting of an old friar or monk, sainted (there was a holy ring over his head), with a dove by his face holding a model of Siena; the room with 24 noble men lined up in their black robes, recognizable as the ruling people of Siena; and on one “adoration of Christ’ painting, the light shines so spectacularly on the gold, it truly is a miraculous.

There was, however, no air conditioning in this museum and it was stifling. We left and headed for lunch at a restaurant I had carefully picked out and really wanted to try - Antica Osteria Da Divo, where you eat inside some old Etruscan caves. Here we had one of our best meals - a local Sienese pasta, a thick noodle in gravy-tomato sauce with venison. Our stuffed pork appetizer was also good, but that pasta was the star!

After lunch we spent several hours walking all over Siena. Here are the highlights of that walk.

• Statues: of Romulus, Remus and the She-Wolf are everywhere in Siena. The most impressive one is in the square, by the Museo Civilco, but the others are also worth looking at. Siena was supposedly founded by the son of Remus (Senius).

• Stinging Bee: We came across a beautiful park, with a playground and a wall overlooking old Sienese roves. It is obviously a popular spot; a group of local high school kids were hanging out by the wall, having lunch and goofing around. As we walked by the sandbox, my heart stopped. There was a bee. But this was not just any bee. This was THE BIGGEST BEE I HAD EVER SEEN. I remember it as being as big as my open palm; Sam says maybe as bit as two fingers. Anyway, nothing like the finger-nail sized bees of North America. Immediately I knew it was the “stinging bee” that Marco had described the day before, the symbol of the ruling Barbarini family, native of course to Florence, Siena and Chianti. I am terrified of bees. I froze. I considered running. The bee buzzed around the sandbox, watching me. Then I thought, “no I need a picture, no one will believe the bee is this big!”. I slowly pulled out my camera. As soon as I pointed it at the thing, his buzz got louder and he stared right at me. I swear he was going to attack. I slowly backed away to a reasonable pace then ran to the other side of the park. No picture - but no sting either. Sam went back to him after I had calmed down a bit to try to snap a shot, but he was gone, and as lovely as the partk was, I was not hanging around to meet any of his cousins. We moved on.

• The Music School: Standing outside the botanical gardens, I heard some beautiful piano music and realized we had come across Siena’s music school. I stopped for several minutes to listen, looking out over the gardens and over Siena. My grandma had been a pianist, and the music reminded me of her. She had travelled a lot, but had never gone to Italy, and was always so proud that I had gone onece in her lifetime. Now I was back. I think she would have been proud of that too.

• The Duomo: We went into Siena’s Duomo later in the day. There are no words to describe it - it was the most beautiful church we saw in 32 days in Italy. There were many, many busts of popes lining the old walls. The floor and ceiling were as exquisite as the art within. So much marble, everywhere you look. Do not miss Siena’s Duomo!

• The Books: My favourite part of the Duomo was the books. Real books. The kind written and painted on parchment by monks, with all sorts of colours and carefully written words and detailed mini-paintings in them. I could have looked at those books for hours. Pictures were allowed - but no flash - so I got a few precious ones to remind myself how much I love those books.

• The views into Chianti and Tuscany: from so many lookoffs in Siena, you could see different scenes of the city and in the difference, the rolling hills of Tuscany.

Although I had planned that we would spend a full day and evening in Siena and take the last bus back, heat and exhaustion once again got the better of us. We were back in Florence by 6pm, having spent about 5 hours in Siena. We had retreated to our terrace with good wine and the delicious meats and cheeses purchased in Chianti the day before well before dark.

We chatted for a bit with an Americn mother travelling with her two daughters, one a seventeen-year old. Apparently while in Rome, the Twilight movie stars had been making an appearance near the opening of the Vatican. The teen, an avid fan, had attempted to refuse to accompany her mother and sister on the Vatican tour. The mother struck a bargain; they would do the Vatican, then come and wait out the stars. They sat in the afternoon Rome heat among gangs of Roman teens waiting for three hours for the first star to show up. The girl pushed her way to the front, got a signature and had a twenty-second conversation with the actress who plays Bella. “It was the best part of the whole trip!” she exclaimed, speaking of a trip - her first to Italy - that had taken her to Rome, Orvieto, Cinque Terre and now Florence. Sam and I congratulated her and tried to share her excitement. But we exchanged a private glace of a amusement, and one that also said: maybe we won’t travel with our teenagers, either.

The American family retreated to sleep, and we finished our bottle of wine quietly, glad for the quiet and glad once again that we had done this before real life took over. We heard church bells in the distance to end off another spectacular day.

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Photos

Siena 1
Michelle at the Duomo

Siena 2
Pigeon drinking water

Siena 3
Sam with Romulus & Remus

Siena 3
The Tuscan Countryside

Siena 3
Statues on the Duomo