Italy 2007 – Siena
When we left Florence on Thanksgiving evening, we only had about a 60 minute journey to get to Siena. We quickly found the free parking lot in the shadow of the Fortezza only to find it extremely full. As I moved to pull in to the lone open parking spot, a child jumped out of a nearby car that was also trying to get that spot. The kid ran right into the spot and stood there to ‘reserve’ it. The problem was that the car he was reserving it for wasn’t even in the correct row to take it. So, I started pulling in while giving a couple of menacing revs of the accelerator – and the spot was mine.
The stairs down to Alma Domus
We checked in to Alma Domus – a hotel run by the sisters from the same order as St. Catherine. In fact, it’s located right next to her original house. Though pretty spartan, it was well-located with a good view of the old city. We dropped our bags and set out into the city to get our Thanksgiving dinner.
Taverna San Giuseppe – the site of our Thanksgiving Dinner
Our dinner that night was at Taverna San Giuseppe – a cool grotto-like restaurant located up a hill from Il Campo. We almost didn’t get in because we didn’t have reservations – but as long as we promised to be out by the second seating, they’d serve us. We got placed at a table with another group of Americans – and after a round of Happy Thanksgiving toasts, we dove in to dinner. Mine was a spiral pasta with wild boar and cheese sauce followed by the ‘mixed grill’. I’m sure the pasta was delicious – but I didn’t get to eat much. William decided it was great and that’s the last I saw of it.
Friday was spent touring Siena. After a couple of false starts with breakfast that started with a really over-sweet creamy pastry and ended with a prosciutto sandwich, we made it to the Duomo. We shouldn’t have been surprised – Rick Steves warned us that the Sieniese take their breakfast as seriously as going to the dentist. It was impossible to find good breakfast there!
The view of Alma Domus – located below and right of the Church of San Domenico
In Italy, it seems like the Sistine Chapel gets ALL the love. Personally – I hate the Sistine Chapel, but I’ll save that rant for when we get to Rome. In my book, the Duomo at Siena with the awesome Piccolomini Library is the real E-ticket ride. It’s spectacular beyond words – and the industrious Sieniese only completed about a fourth of their original plan. I’ve even seen it before (in 2002) – and it still blows me away.
The interior of the Duomo in Siena
We spent the morning touring the Duomo, and the Duomo museum where we climbed the wall of the unfinished nave. I always try to climb to the high points in town – and this was a new one. This actually got me out of climbing the Torre del Magnia – and we got some great shots.
A family portrait overlooking Siena
Lunch was had on Il Campo at Bar Il Palio – named after the famous horse race that happens twice a year in the same square. All I really remember about lunch that day was a very average sandwich with a bowl of pretty good Tuscan bean soup. The view of Il Campo is great, however.
The Palazzo Communale located on Il Campo
After a tour of the Baptistry at the Duomo, we needed to find a laundromat. Fortunately, one was located just a block away from Il Campo. We took an hour of downtime there and ran a quick load through so we had some clean clothes. There’s simply no way to travel for two weeks with a 1-year-old without doing laundry. We had actually dropped some laundry at a dry cleaner earlier that day not knowing if we’d find a laundromat – but when we found it would be 45 Euro to do one bag, we only left the essentials. Another crappy deal was when we learned what William’s third new word would be (after “Thank You” and “Doggy”) – it was “GUCK!” and he used it frequently in the laundromat. When we caught a whiff of his bouquet, we knew instantly what “GUCK” meant.
William and Heather killing time in the laundromat – pre-GUCK
Dinner was simple and fast – we had to stop for an ever-present Doner Kabab. That’s a gyro to my fellow Americans. We got ‘em to go and ate them back in the room while William entertained us with his juggling prowess. Shortly after eating, we discovered that mom left her backpack at the kebab stand. There was nothing of actual value in it – but it’s inconvenient to lose things while traveling. Almost unbelievably – it was still there when we went back.
I wrapped up the night with a trip to the Gelateria to get my new favorite combo – Bacio with Coconut. It’s pretty much an Almond Joy in a cup. I took my yummy snack to the internet cafe’ so I could finalize lodging arrangements with our host in Rome. I left him a bunch of questions with a promise to return to check my messages the next night before heading back to Alma Domus to retire for the evening.
Next up – our road trip to Assisi.
See all the Italy 2007 pictures over at my SmugMug account right here: link