Siena Wednesday - 10/7/15

We woke up to thunderstorms this morning and wondered what that might mean for our tour of Siena.

We also woke up to this treat provided by our hosts at Cretaiole.

At 8:50 our tour guide for the morning, Antonella, arrived at Cretaiole. Rain or shine, we were on our way, caravaning through fog and lingering rain. Antonella told us that for the sake of not losing anyone she'd be driving like a nun. She also taught us two other expression. Get two pigeons with one fava bean which should be self-evident and Are you building a cathedral? when someone takes too long doing something.

We all arrived safely in Siena at about the same time and within minutes of leaving the parking garage the sun was shining.

I'd say there were two highlights to the trip. The first was seeing the most magnificent cathedral I've ever seen.

How interesting to see Jewish prophets adorning the outside of a Catholic Cathedral!

 

 

The second highlight was learning about the fierce rivalries amongst the and how that plays out in the Palio horse races held each summer. (I'd read a book called Juliet by Anne Fortier in 2010 which gave me a little bit of background on Siena and the Palio so I was anxious to learn more.)

Really prime spots for watching the race

Although Antonella was born in Sardinia (who has a fierce rivalry with Sicily), she is a giraffe.

Really prime spots for watching the race

 

 

At the conclusion of the tour several of us went out to lunch in a ristorante that used to be a church.

After lunch we walked back to the main square to hit up the ATM and from there we headed back to the parking garage. Until we passed a sign directing us to the synagogue... So that's where we headed instead. Disappointingly, we arrived there at 2:50pm, it closes at 3pm and when we rang the bell, no one answered. We ambled down that street hoping it would meet up with the street to the garage.

Rather than driving straight back to Cretaoile, we headed for Bagbo Vignoni. It's a small town centered around a Roman bath fed by hot springs.

 

 

The town also is the site of mills due to the hot springs providing a continuous source of energy. These mills were in use until the 1959s, not that long ago.

We took a stroll around the quaint town, stopping for gelato before going back to our car. Next stop was the agriculture place (can't recall the exact title) where Lou had hoped to buy packets of seeds. That place always seems to be closed when we stop by. Italians have a crazy way of doing business.

Off to the Coop (grocery store) to buy a few things we needed for dinner. We needed olive oil but unfortunately, they had only two varieties, two that we tasted last night and didn't like, and only one size - large! We paid for our purchases and drove to the family farm to see if anyone was around to sell us Cretaiole olive oil. Liliana was there. She got us the oil but had no change so told Luigi he could pay Luciano at grappa time tonight. I'm not sure if Luigi went to bed too early or if Luciano didn't show up but... we'll have to remember to pay him tomorrow.

Once back at Cretaiole, we stayed outside walking in the garden, picking tomatoes for dinner and enjoying a magnificent sunset. Dinner "at home" followed by a very quiet evening in La Cantina, our home away from home.

We have another jam packed day tomorrow starting with an artisan tour in the morning followed by a cheese tasting and ending with our pici (local pasta) making lesson and communal dinner.

Buona notte!