Italy 2012 – Siena

This morning began late, when the next door iPhone alarm went off at 9:30am again. We took our time getting ready and headed out for our morning coffee around 11. We sat at Cafe Turcher on the main drag blogging and playing with photos, and generally watching the people go by.

Speaking of people, there are always very young children out and about (and often cranky or acting very silly) here. I think that here, unlike at home, naps and bedtimes are at the parents’ convenience. Some lucky children get their naps in strollers. However, many very young kids can be found out and about during naptimes and at 9 and 10 at night (and not always happy about it). Which I find interesting, because even if I didn’t worry about Mo’s naps for her own welfare, I’d certainly worry about it for my own sanity’s sake.

Yesterday we finally found some real gelato on the main drag here in town. There was another gelati place in the piazza next to our piazza, (there is no shortage of piazzas here), and although I wanted to try a new place, it wasnt open. So, we went back to our other gelati place, Dolci Vita, and we weren’t disappointed. Then we took a stroll through the large public park on the hillside just outside the city walls. There were sculptures, a fountain, a spectacular view, and an ancient amphitheater (well, ancient by our standards, probably several hundred years old) where they now show outdoor movies in the summer.

We then met Giovanni at the Piazza Garibaldi (which is yet another piazza completely different from the two aforementioned piazzas), where we jumped in his car and he drove us to Siena. The drive over was fun, with some history sprinkled in about how the wealthy medieval and renaissance landowners built fortified summer villas in the valley to tend to their crops out of the ruins of still older castles. There used to be small castles sprinkled throughout the valleys back in The Day, but after the castles were destroyed in times of war, the locals out the ruins to their own purposes in times of peace that followed. Sometimes that would be followed by war, and then peace, and the cycle went on. Sometimes times of religion were mixed in, and castles would be built on monasteries, with the later farming villa built on top of it all and with the leftover pieces.

Then we reached Siena. Remember how I mentioned that there are no ghosts in Cortona because it is too alive? Well, I’m certain Siena is packed with poor, miserable, lonely, and tortured ghost souls. Siena feels dead. Even though it was packed full of people. Oppressive. Oppressed. Whereas Cortona was built to serve the people, and the city and the people – even visitors – somehow become part of each other, Siena is the opposite. You feel like in Siena, the people are only there to serve the city, because the city wishes it, and anyone’s presence there is only because the city allows it. The city dominates the people. There is no synthesis of people and city. There is only a city. Dominating, dark, and feeling completely abandoned (even though it’s inhabited and crowded). I was glad to have seen it, but even more glad to leave it and return to the welcoming comfort of Cortona.

After seeing Siena, we barely made it back for our 9pm dinner reservations. Tonight we ate at Osteria del Teatro. The first two courses (a truffle fondue and a veggie ravioli) were wonderful. For a main course, I had the local pork (cinta seneza), and Rich had the local steak. His was good (but I wouldn’t say great). I didn’t think mine was very impressive at all – dry and bland. rich tried it, though, and liked it, and accused me of having pregnancy taste buds.

And he may be right, because pregnancy brain has definitely been prevalent on this trip. Here is a list of Important things that I have left in semi-public places so far:

– iPad on the plane in Rome;
– Phone in the hotel restaurant bathroom; and
– Purse in the restaurant tonight.

There was one more, but of course I forget now. Somehow I’ve managed to get all of my important forgotten things back.

By the way, speaking of kids out late, on our way home from dinner at 11pm, we passed a dad with a cute little girl about 18 months old out and about. He was trying to get her to hold his hand and walk, but her only plan was to sit herself right down. Not sure why he wasn’t just carrying her, instead insisting she walk. Oh well.

Tomorrow we have our first completely free day, so we’ll see how we manage!

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Location:Siena, Italy