Spa Time

Chianchino Terme's Historic Centre

The final leg of our driving tour of Italy was to get home via one overnight stop in Tuscany. We picked a spa town, Chianchino Terme, just off the freeway and a spa hotel in hopes of getting in some relaxation time. It was almost noon by the time we actually got ready to pull out of the parking garage on the edge of Venice. Not too far down the road was a weird meeting of a number of different exits, and unfortunately, I took the wrong one. In Italy, when you miss your exit or take the wrong exit, it is not a simple matter to get back onto your original path. You cannot just take the next exit and turn around. There are many other roads to travel, hoping you pick the correct one, before being able to once again rejoin the freeway. Back on the freeway and another hour down the road, we came to a dead stop. After some time, we cleared the jam and finally reached Tuscany...and yet another dead stop. My sister, good traveling companion that she is, grabbed her iPhone, somehow navigated to the right spot in an instant and told me to take the exit we were passing. She then directed us down beautiful, winding, Tuscan roads on an enjoyable bypass versus sitting in exhaust fumes. Once again, back on the freeway, and beyond all the traffic, we continued on for awhile, stopped at the Autogrill (Italian version of a truck stop) for food, bathroom breaks, and baby feeding (and while in the car feeding the baby, I watched out the window as some friends drove by - it can be a small world sometimes), then on the road again...and stop...again. This had turned into a never-ending, 3.5 hour drive to Tuscany. Except this stop was different. Dark had fallen as well as rain pouring down, fog set in, and there was no escape from the jam. We crept along for over half an hour, having gone less than 2 miles in the half an hour, before reaching the point where the entire freeway was closed, and police were directing all of us to the same exit.

View from our hotel room windows

My sister was once again quick with her fingers on the magical iPhone, and with only one extra circle of the roundabout, had us redirected and onto the back way to our hotel. We finally reached our hotel, rain was still pouring, and I needed to feed the baby so badly that I didn't think I could even make it the 15 minutes it would take us unload and get into our room. After a 3.5 hour drive turning into a 7 hour drive, all sorts of kerfluffle in getting our room key, getting the baby fed, reorganizing our luggage with the clothes needed for this stay, and getting inside, we were worn out. As it turns out, the freeway was closed due to flooding. After we saw our room, which was a two room suite with picture windows overlooking the Umbrian hills and including two bathrooms, one with a humongous, jacuzzi tub and the other with a massage shower, then checking our rate ($50 each), we promptly went downstairs to find out if we could stay a second night. We needed a day off. I needed a day off of driving. And we had no idea if the freeway would be open by morning since the rain was still pouring.

More historic centre

The next day was a day to enjoy the itty, bitty historic centre of Chianchino Terme, enjoy a delicious lunch at the tiniest cafe but with the grandest of views, and take turns having a spa treatment and then enjoying the hotel's heated, indoor pool, sauna, hot tub, and relaxation room (comfy, leather lounge chairs, fruit, fancy tea, dim lighting - that sort of thing). The spa treatment was nice, but a bit different than I was expecting. I booked a facial. When I showed up for my appointment wearing my swimsuit and the fluffy robe from our room, my esthetician handed me a little, paper triangle with string attached and gestured towards my body, then left the room. Clearly, she wanted me to put the triangle on. But I just wanted a facial, so I was confused. I waited until she returned, then asked to make sure, and yes, I was to remove both top and bottom of my swimsuit and put on the triangle. Then lie on the table. She left again, and I followed her instructions. Then realized the table did not have a blanket. Or a towel. Or any covering whatsoever. For a facial! This was mortifying, but thankfully, the lady gave me a nice, warm blanket when she returned. And the facial was quite nice. Sadly, spending time afterward in the spa center was basically just me killing time because I felt like I should but actually thinking that my niece was visiting for three, short weeks, and I'd rather be spending time with her and Nora. Our stay in the hotel was complete when the next morning at breakfast, a table of three stopped us as we walked by to ask about Nora. One of the questions was her age. When I responded with "two months," one the ladies said, "Ha! I knew it. He thought she was three months, but I said no, she had to be less than three months because you are so big." Well, thank you. Thank you so much.

Even Baby Nora gets a spa treatment, a manicure by Auntie

Final Days

Nathan and I had the goal of restocking our cantina (wine cellar) with wine and oil while in Tuscany. Since we'd noticed a number of "Vendita Diretta" (direct sales) signs on the Radda to Castelnuovo Berardenga route, we took a day to retrace the steps, with stops including Poggiobrandani (a winery that has been owned by the Brandani family for eight CENTURIES - that is not a typo!) and the Barone Ricasoli winery (owned by the Ricasoli family for nine centuries - yowsa!). Baron Ricasoli actually came up with the original formula for chianti classico wine in the 1800s. Barone Ricasoli is the world's oldest, running winery still in original family hands, so what a treat to visit. Our winery day was a lot of time in the car, more than we'd expected, but we definitely added to our stock. No olive oil purchased, but our final stop was at a winery with the best balsamic vinegar I've ever tasted. At the time, I coughed up my taste at mention of the 40euro per bottle price tag, but now, I have to admit to regretting that we took a pass. I have dreams about that balsamic vinegar.

Castello di Meleto - a winery we visited with a swanky tasting room

A visit to Monteriggioni made the lists of both Aunt Lisa and me, so after our wine tasting extravaganza, we headed over to this walled town to take a gander at their towers still standing. I was looking forward to comparing this town of 14 towers to San Gimignano, with it's 17. Dante speaks of Monteriggioni (in Inferno), and, for those more up to date with modern culture, I've recently learned that Monteriggioni is a town featured in a video game called Assassin's Creed. I do not know anything more about this video game, mainly because the last video game I played was on an Atari - the first model. Monteriggioni is an easy town to visit, with parking outside the walls, a nifty money-making set up wherein visitors pay too much to walk on a pathway that parallels the top of the walls to take some nice, pictures of the countryside, and a couple of cafes staffed with waiters tired of tourist season and ready for us all to go home. Still, there are several shops with more interesting wares than the usual tourist fare, and I got to sit and watch an older couple who live in town sit on their front stoop, the woman knitting and the man hailing his friends as they walked by. Monteriggioni was a quicker visit than expected, so we headed on to San Gimignano, where everyone in our group could make the comparison.

For me, San Gimignano wins, hands down. Monteriggioni is quaint, charming, and probably deathly quiet by 7:00 pm. San Gimignano is a town for the tourists nowadays. Everything seems to be geared toward the almighty tourist euro, but that doesn't detract from the power of wandering through the hilly town, tall towers coming into view with every curve. And the views (free) from the fortress wall at the edge of town are divine!

Nathan in thought

Our final day, we realized that we still hadn't spent any reasonable time in Siena - the closest, real city to our hamlet! We headed in that direction, first stopping at the Parco Sculture del Chianti. This place had been on my list all week, and little did we know, it was only a five minute drive from our rental apartment if we took the dirt road short cut. All wheel drive tires are awesome. The sculpture park was the brainchild of an art-loving couple who purchased their country home and proceeded to create an outdoor art park featuring the works of artists from all over the world. Some of it is neat, some weird, and some I just plain didn't "get," but I love their vision. Finishing the outdoor park, we headed across the street to the "gallery," which turned out to be the couple's home. Their home is an art lover's haven, with gorgeous and/or interesting work at every turn, all in a home filled with light pouring in from windows overlooking the countryside. I fell in love with a particular painting, which may become our "Italy" art piece...even though the artist is from South America.

Gorgeous Baptistry in Siena

Our final, Tuscan adventure took us into Siena, where Nathan's aunt and uncle explored the Duomo, and Nathan and I got gelato while walking around, enjoying Siena's atmosphere. Heading back to the Duomo to meet them, I realized that I'd never been into the Baptistry. Our timing was perfect since we saw them walk into the entrance as we walked across the piazza, so I popped in as well. The Siena Duomo's baptistry is a riot of frescoed ceiling work, black and white striped columns in marble, a bronze font, and inlaid marble floors with several designs, including a Celtic knot pattern that took me straight back to Ireland. I marveled anew at the sheer volume of priceless treasures that fill Italy's towns, from the smallest of villages to the largest of cities. We ended our day and our Tuscan trip with a final walk through Siena's Il Campo - one of the best ways to end a week in this beautiful, magical region that calls so loudly to authors, artists, movie-makers, historians, and travelers.

Driving through Chianti

If only they'd been for sale...or free, by the dumpster

Our time in Tuscany passed, at the same time, at a snail's pace and faster than I ever imagined. It was an interesting feeling to have at once a feeling of endless time and not enough. Nathan and Uncle Ted fit in one more ride, this time from Radda in Chianti to Castelnuovo Berardenga. Aunt Lisa and I followed, parking in our "secret," free parking spot in Radda to explore while the guys put their bikes together and took off on their ride. Radda is a nice, little town, and on the day we visited, filled with Americans. The streets were filled with the sounds of Americans chatting. That may not sound that unusual in such a heavily visited region as Tuscany, but Radda itself was all of one main driving street and one pedestrian street. But big with the American contingent. Although on our subsequent visit the following day, French...French people everywhere, almost as if the town has some sort of underground list of assigned days to various nationalities.

Vertine

We drove from there to Gaiole, trying to follow the route the guys were cycling. We got to Gaiole during riposo, but took a short stroll down the small, pedestrian zone. Like Radda, a nice, little town - not necessarily a destination, but a good stop on the way. From there, we drove up, up, up the mountain to Vertine, a walled, mountain top village that sounded interesting. And it was. The village looked like it hasn't changed a bit in the last 400 years or so. We parked outside the walls, then walked through the enormous opening cut into the stone walls. To walk the town was about a 10 minute loop, assuming one stops for some photo ops. We didn't go into the church, but did sit at the small cafe near the entrance for a lunch of a panini and meat/cheese platter. Our view was of the old, stone buildings and the quiet village, but the surrounding countryside outside the walls filled our eyes with Hollywood worthy, Tuscan views.

Post ride in Castelnuovo Berardenga - too bad we didn't notice the mural before they changed out of cycling gear

We traveled on through the countryside, past a small river, through the woods, and over the mountains, finally reaching the guys in Castelnuovo Berardenga. While they changed and loaded bicycles back into the car, we walked around the town - still during riposo, so our walk had no real destination - just a chance to explore yet another lovely town. To continue our more relaxing day, we decided on a casual dinner in our apartment and ended our day with some cotolette di pollo (fried chicken cutlets), pasta, cheese, salami, olives, and wine. Yumm!

Italy Highlight

Check out the totally awesome, orange Cinquecento...must-get-one

Our second day of vacation brought one of my all time favorite moments in our year in Italy. It all began when we dropped the guys off in the town of Cortona, with their plan of cycling to Montepulciano. Cortona turned out to be a trip to Abilene (family joke, but taken from an actual phrase - Wikipedia it if you really want to know), but on our way into Cortona, we'd passed through a massive market going on in Camucia. Camucia is a fairly modern looking town at the base of the hill heading up into beautiful Cortona (best known today as the setting for Under the Tuscan Sun and still home to author Frances Mayes, at least for part of each year). There seems to be no real reason to stop in Camucia on one's way to Cortona...unless this market is happening. As it turns out, this was their annual festival, and the market went on for streets and streets. Lisa and I didn't even cover the whole market before getting the phone call from the guys saying they were already near Montepulciano. Having not found a whole lot of things to interest us, we got on the road to fulfill our chase car duties.

Recycled Etruscan and Latin stones at base of a palazzo - see...recycling = good

Montepulciano was a town we'd stopped into back in May and loved; however, we visited during reposo...or what I refer to as "that darn reposo." I decided then that this was a place we had to revisit. Montepulciano is also the town, for those of you who are Twilight movie fans, used in New Moon - when Edward is about to step into the sunlight to commit vampire suicide by forcing the Volturi to kill him, then Bella runs across the piazza to stop him...all that was filmed in Montepulciano. Just in case you were wondering.

But all of that is not the real reason we wanted to visit Montepulciano again. Actually, we wanted to return to one specific shop, a copper shop. We'd purchased a piece from this shop back in the spring, and as we walked through the rest of town, carrying our shopping bag, a man standing in a doorway looked at our bag, then said, "I made that." He was the coppersmith. We smiled, waved, thought how neat it was, and continued on our way. We wanted to revisit the shop. This time around, after making our purchases, we headed straight to the coppersmith's workshop, poked our heads in his door, held up the bags and began speaking in our pidgin Italian that we'd bought something in the spring and had returned for more, that we loved his work. And thus began our visit with Cesare Mazzetti, an amazing artisan who made the copper topping on the Duomo in Siena, also made a copper platter presented to the Pope and which is now a holding of the Vatican Museum, and an all around nice guy. Signore Mazzetti, after a short conversation, seemed to recognize our interest in his work, so he closed up his workshop and took us next door to his private museum, holding some of his first molds, work done by his father and his grandfather, and his collection of ancient copper pots. The chance to visit with Signore Mazzetti one on one, hear about his craft, listen to his stories of his family history, and just have that connection with him was one of the true highlights I've had here in Italy. So often, our interactions are superficial at best. I have such enormous respect for artists, especially those who are keeping alive the "old ways," in a world that has increasingly turned to inexpensive mass production with the accompanying loss in quality. And what a rush to have a real conversation in Italian, something beyond our standard two or three sentences! If you're interested in learning more about Signore Mazzetti and his hardworking wife who runs the shop, please check out their website - even better, visit the Montepulciano shop in person to pick out your own Italian souvenir.

Abbeys and Fairs and Hilltowns

Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore

Our first full day in Tuscany was a day to hit the big stuff. Back in May, when Nathan and I brought my mom up to the region for a four day trip, we drove an area called Crete Sinese. Nathan quickly logged that route as a must-do via bicycle for it's classic, Tuscan views of rolling hills capped with the classic, Cypress trees. After dropping off the guys on the side of the road with their bicycles, Lisa and I headed toward the town of Asciano. With a glance at the time, we bypassed this charming looking town to head south to the Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, which closed in early afternoon on Sundays. Our multitude of guidebooks had little to say about this monastery (Benedictine), founded in the 1300s, but we felt it would be a fun stop. And I have to say, this place might have been my favorite tourist type site of the whole week.

The monastery has it all - grand church (of which I only caught a glimpse), cloister with frescoes by famous folks, refectory with a big, Last Supper tapestry, library filled with really old books, wine cellar (where they sell wine and olive oil made by the monks), shop with more tisanes and potions made by the monks, peaceful grounds to walk (albeit, a somewhat steep hill), and a restaurant with great food. A mass was going on when we arrived, so I glimpsed the church from the back, then headed into the cloister to take a look at the frescoes covering all four walls, some of which were done by Cortona artist, Luca Signorelli, in the late 1400s. For anyone who hasn't gone over the Resources page of this blog, one of my favorite nonfiction books on Italy is Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes. In it, she talks a lot about Luca Signorelli, so I was pleased to see some of his work up close (Note: I'm not sure if the fresco pictured above is one of Signorelli's). With closing time looming, I glanced about the church part quickly, then headed to the wine cellar while Lisa checked out the library. The buildings were beautiful, red brick and set into a hillside, and while we were a bit taken aback by the tour buses and cars lining the outside road, the monastery has done a great job of maintaining a place of peace and calm amidst masses of visitors.

After our lunch on the monastery grounds, we headed back to Asciano. It just looked too cute to skip, so even though we were now in mid-afternoon on a Sunday (which equals quiet, quiet, quiet), we took a spin through the pedestrian streets, lined with the traditional, stone and yellow buildings, shuttered up against the day's heat. We lucked into a little craft fair going on, although I think we were the only visitors. Still, this was my first craft fair that is more like what I'm used to from the U.S., so I enjoyed seeing what was on offer - mostly stuff that was way more expensive than either of us would pay...except for an enormous, handmade copper pot for 80euro that I'm regretting leaving by the wayside.

While in Asciano, we got a call from Nathan and Ted. They'd made it to the town of Buonconvento and had decided to stop riding. Nathan's goal for the day was to be sitting in Montalcino at the Fortezza (fortress) Wine Bar with a glass of Brunello, the traditional wine from the area around Montalcino. We all had the goal of then continuing on to another monastery, Abbazia di Sant'Antimo, this one described more extravagantly in our guidebooks. Buonconvento is a town with an itty, bitty walled section - the entire walled section is probably smaller than a respectable castle. But since we were there, it was a nice stop and a quick, 10 minute walk through town, complete with the stares of locals wondering what on earth we were doing there. On to Montalcino, we lucked into a parking spot, and soon realized the reason the town was hopping on a Sunday afternoon was the honey festival going on. A large tent set up in the Fortezza detracted from Nathan's anticipated view while sipping his Brunello, but meant we were able to pick up a jar of yummy honey.

Finally, a short drive south to Abbazia di Sant'Antimo took us to a lovely stop in the middle of the countryside. Set in a valley and surrounded with vineyard covered hills, Abbazia di Sant'Antimo has sat calmly through the ages. An oratory (chapel) was built here in 352, then the monastery in the 700s. The "new" church was started in the 1100s. Years of use were followed by years of decay until the Italian government restored the structure in the 1870s. While the monastery was formerly of the Benedictines, the Canons Regular now call this their religious home. The monks offer daily services of Gregorian chants, which we unfortunately missed. I can only imagine how those voices must fill the soaring, stone church and echo off the walls. While the service would have been a great end to our first day of vacation, we had a long drive home after a long day of touring around, and our cozy apartment awaited.

12th century Carving

A Week in Tuscany - Our Brief Home

View out our living room window in Tuscany, rental apartment

The culmination of Uncle Ted & Aunt Lisa's visit was a week in Tuscany - a whole week! Bike riding for the guys and sight seeing for the ladies. For any cyclists reading this blog who just got really excited, thinking they'd get a whole bunch of great "cycling in Tuscany" tips and viewpoints, I've got nothing for you. I know nothing about kilometers cycled, height gains, gear, etc. Absolutely nothing. I do know how to drive a chase car, although not very well, since every single day of cycling ended with the guys reaching their destination long before we arrived with the car, clean shirts, and most importantly, comfortable shoes. Have you ever tried walking on hilly, cobblestone covered streets in shoes with big metal, square things stuck to the bottom? Me neither, but it looks hard. Anyway, a week in Tuscany for me means a week in Tuscany for you.

Lodging options are numerous in Tuscany - hotels, B&Bs, Agriturismos (like a farm stay, but nicer than it sounds), house rentals, even stays in castles that dot the countryside. After a little searching, we settled on an apartment rented through VRBO in the tiny, tiny (really tiny) hamlet of San Sano, about 30 minutes from Siena. After about five hours on the road on a beautiful, sunny day, we drove into San Sano and found a little slice of paradise. The village is surrounded by olive groves and wineries and local businesses consist of a hotel, a restaurant, and a salumeria (very small grocery) that doubled as the coffee bar. That's it. San Sano apparently dates back to the 12th century, but you wouldn't guess that from the condition of the buildings. All over Italy, charming villages are filled with buildings that are oh-so-quaintly falling to pieces. San Sano's buildings looked a bit like the Disneyland version of an Italian village - really old appearance, but no crumbling, no peeling paint (since all the buildings were a beautiful, golden stone), no alleys that look a little scary; instead, we walked through the village admiring a town fountain, planters filled with colorful flowers, perfectly manicured lawns, and modern windows and doors.

"Downtown" San Sano; stairs go up to our rental...I only wish the car was ours, too!

Our rental apartment was perfectly situated on the corner, upper floor of a complex that has been turned into condominiums, complete with parking and a pool. We had a view over the vineyards at sunset, and in the mornings, we got to watch the hard working gentleman from the bar/restaurant put out his veggies, water his flowers, sweep the street, and in general, do more in about an hour than I accomplish in an entire day. His coffee bar/salumeria had the sign "Nonnino's" (Grandpa's) out front, so we took to referring to him as Nonnino (privately, of course), and he became a great source of conversation. No morning was complete without the first to rise in our apartment updating all the others on Nonnino's morning activities. I particularly took great joy in sitting with a cup of tea and a book on the balcony in the morning, enjoying the village coming to life, watching Nonnino making sure all was right in his world, and learning the habits of the residents in this place, my home for an all too short week.

Hardworking Nonnino

Living La Dolce Vita

You knew that phrase would have to come up sometime. I've resisted for months now, but today, it's time. This week has been my first truly "free" week in months. Nathan has even been gone (but will be home by the time this posts), so I had only to worry about myself and Crazy Dog - I could eat whatever I wanted (turns out, a person can live on bagels and wine), watch whatever I wanted on TV, spend as much time on the computer as I felt like, read in bed with the light on, all sorts of crazy things. I thought I would enjoy some time to really relax with no obligations. Turns out, not so much. I've spent all week reading Facebook posts by Nathan in Germany and my family back home on "our" annual vacation to the Florida Gulf Coast - they go every year, while Nathan and I just try to make it as often as possible. Quite frankly, I'm jealous. Flat out green with envy. Of all of them. Nathan is calling me with tales of his love for Germany and how we should move there in his post-Navy career. My aunt and cousins keep posting pictures of themselves at the beach, and I'm not in the pictures, while my aunt consoles me on the phone with possibly true tales of thunderstorms. But today, as I was organizing, editing, and labeling the photos my mom took while she was here visiting, I came across one she took of me. Then I remembered, life in Italy can be pretty good indeed:

Tuscany, A lounge chair, Wine, and a Kindle - what more does a girl need?

Tuscany Wrap-Up

 We spent our final, full day in Tuscany in Siena, that gorgeous, rolly city, with streets that curve and turn back upon themselves, a campo famous throughout the world and considered one of the best piazzas in Italy, and a zebra striped Duomo with the most vibrant frescoes around. After finally working things out with our landlady regarding the dog, we intended to leave Scully behind. He was having none of that. For the only time in his entire life, he went into hysterics when we left, complete with high-pitched, loud barking that just would not stop. And so, Scully went to Siena, too. Since I'd seen the Duomo and Museum just a couple of months ago, Scully and I set up camp on the church steps, him with the adoration of every passerby and me with my Kindle. I don't know how Nathan and Mom's visit to the Duomo and Museum went, but Scully and I had a fantastic morning. We moved along the steps with the sun, always staying in the shadow. I continually cleared cigarette butts from each new location - Crazy Dog got his moniker by many of his personality traits, one of which is his severe nicotine addiction. He attracted kids and adults throughout the morning, so I had near continuous conversation. In addition, after the first hour went by, a nearby deli owner took Scully under his wing and began bringing out pieces of baguette and bottles of water. After the second hour, we'd moved up to cheese. Sadly, this nice man gave all of the food directly to the dog. After Mom and Nathan joined me for a picnic lunch on the Duomo steps and they'd finished up their visits to the church, museum, baptistry, and the panoramic viewpoint overlooking the city (in the museum), Nathan took over Scully duty and headed to the Campo, where the two of them took a little nap.

Mom and I shopped - or tried to, but many of the shops were closed. The biggie for me, the Pratesi shoe outlet, was open, and with Mom's birthday gift help, I got my first pair of Italian leather boots. So gorgeous!!! After all shopping was finished, we met up back at the Campo, where Scully again proved his nickname is justified by flipping the back of my skirt up with his head. Now, all of Siena and her tourists know exactly what color my underwear was that day. Crazy dog.

Our day to return home was a long, but active day, per usual. We drove the Crete Senese, a road south of Siena that has the most gorgeous views of Tuscany I could have ever imagined! Sometimes, places don't look like the movies. Tuscany looks exactly like it does in the movies. Green and yellow hills, cypress trees dotting the sky, stone farmhouses placed so picturesquely that it seems a film producer had to be involved. Nathan and his uncle are biking through Tuscany this fall, so the drive gave us a great opportunity to scout out the region...except that Nathan kept saying, "This will have to be on our route," and said it so often that I think it all has to be on the planning route. There didn't seem to be a single place where I heard, "Well this is no good."

From the Crete Senese drive, we stopped in at Montalcino, first visiting a wine store outside of town which included a long visit with the friendly, knowledgeable owner (Francesca at Enoteca Fontepreci) and then a winery she recommended, Mozart Winery (aka Il Paradiso). Both were great stops for Nathan to get more information, tastes, and purchases of the local, hotshot wine, the Brunello. In Montalcino, we had a casual, delicious lunch at the wine cafe located in the town's old fort. This is the first cafe in a fort I've come across and what a great setting! A quick browse through town, all wine shop all the time, and then on to Montepulciano.

Montepulciano was another town I fell in love with, and not only because it's where Twilight's New Moon was filmed. The facade architecture of the cathedral was fascinating and unique, resembling a crumbling log cabin, yet made of stone. Montepulciano is all hills, and as Nathan commented on departure, it was uphill both ways to our car - I don't know how, but he's actually not wrong. We were anxious to get on the road to get home before it got too late, so Montepulciano only got a quick perusal from us, but it goes on our list of places to return for a longer look.

Tales of Tuscany

Staying outside of Siena put us smack in the middle of gorgeous Tuscany, meaning the whole region was open to us. While I do want to visit some of the more out of the way towns, we decided that for this trip, we should see some of the biggies first. This led us to our first day's visit to Cortona, the town written about by Frances Mayes. Her fabulous books, best I can tell, put the town on the tour bus map (Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany, and my personal favorite, Every Day in Tuscany). And lovely it is.

We approached from the flatlands and saw this beautiful city cutting into the hillside, complete with towers and the deep red rooftiles atop sandy colored buildings, colors so prolific in this region. I fell in love with Cortona, but that was probably due to the beautiful, blue skies that formed such a perfect backdrop for both the town views and the panoramic views of the countryside. Or it could have been because we visited on market day, always a fun treat, or that there was a medieval festival of sorts going on, filling the town with medieval costumed performers and making it so easy for us to cross the line of time between past and present. I even lucked into a shop with a clerk who wanted to chat...in Italian! I love it when that happens! After a delicious lunch on the main drag in town and another quick spin through town and to the Duomo (church), we headed back to our hotel to drop off our dog and on to San Gimignano for a visit and dinner.

San Gimignano's Towered Skyline

San Gimignano is a real favorite of mine. It's the only Tuscan town to retain so many of it's medieval towers, 14 still standing of it's original 60+. This makes for a fantastic skyline. Rick Steves writes that San Gimignano is given over wholly to tourism, and I suppose I found that to be true. But just walking those cobbled streets beneath the towers and climbing up to the fortress and the uneven, rock staircase to look out over those same towers...magical. With most of these little towns, activities are limited. They are small, filled with shops (some good, some typical tourist tchotch), have a church or two, maybe a civic museum, and several restaurants and cafes. We didn't visit every church and museum and shop, but we wandered, we enjoyed. Wild boar, cinghiale, is king here, and shops are filled with boar related items, advertised with boar heads hanging off their outer walls. Shops were for tourists, and I don't think we passed a single store dedicated to "real life," but still, San Gimignano is a wonderful visit.

Piazza of San Gimignano

On the way to Tuscany

After nine months in Italy and about the same number of trips back and forth to Rome, we finally had the chance to take the little detour off the freeway to Subiaco Abbey. At least I thought it was a little detour. At the end of the day, it actually took about three hours, but it was three hours well worth it to see this amazing, 6th century monastery rising out of the cliff with an interior completely covered in frescoes. St. Benedict holed up in a cave here for a few years, founding the abbey, before moving down the mountains and founding the abbey at Montecassino (of WWII fame). We were headed up to Siena, only a four hour drive away, so we had some spare time for me to cross Subiaco off my list. Parking at the bottom of the hill, we walked up, up, up, then entered through a narrow, twisty staircase to a little piazza next to the abbey. The engineering of the building is fascinating as it's built on top of Benedict's cave and the walls seem to just grow out of the rock. Since we had Scully with us, we took turns going in. Mom and I visited first, and after passing the monk at the entrance, there were no other monks around, no arrows pointing the way, nothing. We visited the chapel next to the entrance, peered down a hall that seemed to be admin offices and rejoined Nathan to take over dog watch. Nathan disappeared for quite awhile, then came out with a confused look on his face, saying, "You know there's a whole lot more than that chapel, right? And was there ever! At the back of the chapel is a staircase down into Fresco Wonderland, complete with St. Benedict's cave, a tucked away staircase up to a small chapel, and more stairs down a Rose Garden and some exterior frescoes. In this land of frescoes, Subiaco is king. Sadly, no photos allowed - but I did take one of this warning, located outside the entrance door:

No Hussies Allowed

Continuing on to Siena and our hotel, we dropped off the dog at the hotel and headed into Siena for dinner. When I visited with my friend back in February, we'd lucked into this fabulous restaurant. Locals sitting next to us informed us that this restaurant was one of the two best in Siena...and gave us the name of the other one. We headed to this other one, Tre Cristi, for dinner, especially after reading rave reviews on Trip Advisor. It was very good, but none of us would classify it as our best meal. With one big "but"...absolutely the best grappa we've ever tasted. Grappa we've never even imagined existing. Grappa that tastes like butter. Grappa that we've now been completely unsuccessful in tracking down to pick up a few bottles ourselves, so if anyone knows where to buy 10 Year Reserve La Centenara by Aquileia, let me know! 

The best part of the evening was getting to the Campo right at dusk, that magic hour when the buildings glow.

Tuscan Pics

We spent the long weekend in Tuscany with my mom, staying at a farmhouse hotel outside of Siena. Using this as our base, we managed to visit five Tuscan towns and one monastery...and still fit in a lazy evening on the hotel terrace eating meats, cheeses, olives and fruit with prosecco and local wine. A Tuscan idyll indeed. My mom and I are preparing to drive up to Rome, so my time is limited to do a big write-up of our trip, but I wanted to post just a few pictures. These are all from our hotel, Fullino Nero, a beautiful, stone farmhouse. Our apartment had a full kitchen with dining table, living room with pull-out sofa bed and bathroom, plus a bedroom with 2nd bathroom. It worked perfectly for us except for our landlady's consternation with Scully.

Dogs are allowed, and I'd included him on our reservation as a pet. And yet...when we arrived, she informed us the dog would always need to go with us when we left the room so she could come in for the trash and towel switch-out. We'd booked a place in the country that allowed pets specifically so we could leave Scully in his crate to rest (broken foot, remember?).  We explained we had a crate, so there would be no problem with anyone coming in while he was there. She was confused. We set up the crate. She was confused. Then she said he might bark. We said he would not. Then she said the crate might scratch the tile floor. We said it would not. Lots of staring at one another in silence until Nathan finally put Scully's dog blanket underneath the crate. Then she said he might "pee-pee" on the floor (all of this discussion was in Italian). We said he would not. We finally seemed to reach an agreement, and we went off to dinner, but the dog seemed to be an issue the entire time we were there and it left us feeling on edge for the duration. Regardless, the hotel, room, and landscaping were just gorgeous, and it was a wonderful, Tuscan retreat.

View from our apartment window

Final Trip Photos

And here are the rest of the Siena photos that I wanted to share...

Siena's Main Square, Il Campo

Duomo interior - reminds me of a Dr. Seuss book

We spotted this through an open doorway on a quiet street - no idea of it's significance, but wouldn't you love to ride in this carriage!

Duomo exterior is so ornate and fun

Duomo exterior again - I loved how this lion seems to be looking right at me

We came across this...thing while attempting a shortcut to Siena's market; it's not listed in any of my guidebooks. There are two more arches just like this one, a pool of water in the covered area (filled with koi) and a tiny amphitheater. We liked the two decorative lions here having a little chit-chat.

Several times, we found ourselves on a road with a view towards this church. We never found out the name of it, but we always paused to enjoy the view.

Panoramic View of the Duomo and the rolling hills of Tuscany

Travels in Italia - Siena

Our final stop on the Italy tour was Siena, and what a finale! We had a rough start with a windy, bus ride through foggy Tuscany that left both of us feeling a little carsick. When we finally arrived in Siena, we set off for our hotel, this one being the only hotel for which we didn't have a good map of the city or clear directions. An interesting fact about Siena: it is hilly. Very, very hilly. At this point, I'd done almost all of my Christmas shopping and about half of my birthday shopping for the rest of the year, so traveling light was a distant memory. After a long slog up and down hills, backtracking about six times, and passing a breathtakingly beautiful Duomo, we reached our gorgeous hotel, Il Chiostro del Carmine, located in what was originally a 14th century Carmelite monastery. Entering into the courtyard of our hotel wiped away all the negatives from our Volterra hotel and exhausting walk to the hotel. Peaceful and beautiful...we were back on our hotel jackpot streak.

After a little rest, we hit the town, or at least Il Campo, Siena's main piazza. I'd visited Siena in 2003 and remembered only one thing about the entire city - Il Campo. It's a huge, sloping, circle, anchored at the bottom by the City Hall and it's huge tower (over 300 ft) on one side. I love Rick Steves' description of the Il Campo colors in his Florence & Tuscany 2011 guidebook: "The square and the buildings are the color of the soil upon which they stand...a color known to Crayola-users and other artists as 'Burnt Siena.'" The setting sun hits those colors and cause the piazza to turn a glowing pink, giving evidence to the reason artists flock to Tuscany. In need of a little refresher, we headed to Il Palio for cocktail hour and sat at the window staring out at this beautiful town square. We only left when a man sat down outside and caught us staring at his luscious, pink martini. Apparently, he mistook the lust in our eyes as aimed at him, so in order to avoid an awkward moment, we quickly paid our bill and headed off to dinner.

The next day, our only full day in Siena, we walked through the car-free old town to the weekly market, held on Wednesdays. A little note here - markets in Italy can cover a wide range of items. Generally, the solo word "market," means clothing and household items, possibly a section with produce and flowers. Markets a big deal here to American spouses - huge deal, actually. I've only been to one so far. I have no good reason or excuse for this. The one I visited here in Naples was interesting, but filled with an awful lot of junk. K thought the same about the Siena market, but I was wowed by it. I absolutely loved it. We found a vendor selling mill ends for thread/yarn on cones (K and I both knit) for only 2euros per cone, there were children's wool coats, lined in silk, for only 15 euros, and so much more. But, we were only in Siena for a day, and we had several more things to see.

We needed some lunch and picked a place we passed while walking on a quiet street near our hotel. Seated next to an Australian couple living in Siena, we got to talking with them. As it turns out, by sheer luck, we'd landed in one of Siena's best restaurants. We enjoyed our lunch so much that we immediately made a reservation for dinner as well - the final dinner of our trip.

Feeling much better with a good lunch in us, we headed to Siena's wedding cake, 13th century, Duomo. It is spectacular. Black and white striped columns line the nave, inlaid marble designs cover the floor, there's a Michelangelo sculpture, a Bernini chapel (my favorite sculptor, and unfortunately, the chapel was closed for restoration...which means I will definitely be back), a carved, marble pulpit that is so intricate I can't even believe human hands created it, and best of all, a side library with vibrant frescoes, painted in the 1400s and never restored, yet still as bright as if they'd been painted last year. The Michelangelo statue adorns an alter that was supposed to be for the tomb of a cardinal. That cardinal became a pope, so the tomb was never used. Michelangelo was supposed to carve several of the altar's statues, but the "David" project came up, so he left Siena having only completed one statue. Visiting the side library with the vibrant frescoes, we took note of the strong warning to keep the line moving - then entered to find a completely empty room. where we could stare and take photos to our hearts' content. I love off-season Italy!

Duomo interior is as beautiful as it's exterior

Michelangelo's statue of Paul

The Piccolomini Library's amazing frescoes tell the story of Pope Pius II, who was from Siena

Just a small section of the marble pulpit, with relief panels telling the story of Christ's life; It was carved by Pisano in the 1200s.

One of the many marble, mosaic floor panels - this one shows Siena in the center with other, lesser cities surrounding her

With the plan to climb the tower of City Hall, we headed over there and disappointingly found it had closed just after lunch. So back we trekked to the Duomo, where there is a museum with a rooftop, panoramic view. We just made it in before they closed and got to run up for a marvelous view over the town and countryside. This gave the added bonus of being able to view the exhibit containing the original, stained glass window of the Duomo up close, as the museum has it in a beautiful, well-lit display.

And so, our trip came to a close. I can't think of a better city in which to end. K preferred Florence to Siena, but I really fell in love with Siena. Even in the off season, the streets were crowded at dusk, time for the passagiatta (typical, Italian walk around town at dusk), so the town was active enough to not feel creepy yet small enough to have a quiet vibe. I cannot wait to return.