Siena & San Gimignano
Siena: We all stayed in a bit
this morning, going through three pots of coffee and enjoying the
gorgeous views from our terrace to the Tuscany countryside below.
The misty view from our bedroom this morning
Agriturismo Malafrasca sign
Later, we piled into our van and DT drove us into town.
Siena is an ancient city, once ruled by The Council of Nine. Siena was
nearly devastated by the plague and no new buildings have been
constructed inside the city walls since 1348. Entering Siena is like
traveling through time... even though we actually entered the city on a
series of five long escalators, carrying us from the car park into
another world.
DT parks our van in Siena
Woody wove us through the ancient streets and into the famous Piazza
del Campo. This plaza is divided into nine sections, representing each
faction that governed the ancient town, built on seven hills. We walked
through the streets of beautiful Siena - here are a few photos of our
visit:
Window art (dt)
Piazza del Campo - the main square in Siena
Piazza del Campo (dt)
Fountain, with pigeons, in Piazza del Campo - Siena
A pigeon takes a drink (dt)
Piazza del Campo
DT and Terry in Siena
Piazza del Campo tower - inside and out
The Government building
Miniature delivery truck
All this pasta is making us as big as cars
Daily life in Siena
Luscious grapes
At about 1 pm, we left Siena and drove to San Gimignano,
another ancient hill-top town. In its day, San Gimignano had 76 towers
protecting the walls, each owned by a different family - with serious
competition as to structure and height. Only fourteen towers remain
today. San Gimignano has many squares and the streets wind around, up
and down, in an impossible maze. This is one of the quaintest towns in
Italy - also devastated by the plague and because cars are not allowed
in the core, it is also like walking back in time - but with internet
hot-spots.
DT, leading us through the streets of Tuscany
The well in a town square
One of the remaining towers in San Gimignano
Tuscan Steak on a bed of Arugula
We had a great lunch at a very nice restaurant in the
ancient city. We dined on a covered terrace overlooking the Tuscan
countryside. We really needed a rest and we were all starving, so it was
a welcome break from all our hill walking. We did a little shopping and
a little museum touring before heading back to our villa.
Tonight we opened a bottle of wine and sat on the terrace to watch the
sun set while listening to Italian opera - very relaxing. Woody made
ricotta and spinach ravioli with a pesto sauce and Kathy prepared a
spinach salad. A loaf of crusty bread and a little more Chianti
rounded-out our delicious dinner.
Today I walked only 15,396 steps (6.5 miles). No gelato
today - instead I enjoyed a perfect panna cotta after lunch.