amalthya: (silly crazy)
[personal profile] amalthya
Monday 9:08 am
June 4th, 2007


Sure, we'd seen the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") and wandered around most of the palazzos without actually seeing the Uffizi or the David, but we decided to head out into the countryside and see the little town of Siena.


Siena is a town that, according to our guidebook, had a fierce rivalry with Florence and rivaled it in wealth, status and architecture. Until the mid 14th century, of course, when the Black Plague decimated over half of its population.

Seeing its tiny streets and probably cramped living spaces, I could absolutely see why. We enjoyed navigating through the Labyrinth of Siena -- Charles has been using his treo as a GPS -- he's got some sort of software loaded on it, and a GPS receiver loaded on his shoulder, so it tells us where to go, though not always accurately.

I could very easily picture Siena in the 14th century, without all the Bierreterias, of course (Beer Gardens). The palace was wide and open and would have lent itself easily to an open market. Apparently, they have a yearly bareback horse race there, IN the piazza. We missed that, though.

In the guidebook, however, they told us of a church that held the Holy Relics of Santa Caterina -- specifically, her head and half of one of her fingers. No, I didn't ask how they got either, or how anyone ends up getting half of anyone's finger. But we walked down the steepest hill and up the second steepest hill with the firm intent to see the head.

Yenni became immediately allergic when we entered this very Catholic establishment. We wandered through, staring at the very old murals on the wall, having to walk on thick sheets of plexiglass as they tried to preserve the ancient mosaic of the floor.

We found a promising route to a basement room, but alas, there was NO head! Not anywhere. I saw a cabinet that looked as though it could have been a reliquary. But, no head.

Laughing and not discouraged, we decided to pay 6€ to go into the Crypt under the Duomo. There had to be heads there, right? We entered cautiously, expecting to be escorted into the pits of Hell!!

But no, there was no hell, and there were no heads. It did become a running joke, though.

We'd decided to rent a car to drive to Siena, a decision that I'm extremely grateful for. Not only was the drive beautiful, but easy and we didn't have to worry about the fickle bus schedule. I really liked driving in Italy, and was thankful that Hertz had automatic cars, even though they still seemed to be stick-shift hybrids.

So, on the way back, we decided to just drive around the countryside to see what we could find. It was Sunday night, so most wineries were closed. But we did scope out the town of Badesse -- simply because of its funny name. Yet nary a souvenir shop was to be found in BadAss! Woe!

We did also stop in Sambuca (hehe) and found a tiny café/restaurant that looked out over the beautiful valleys of Tuscany. Oh! And we passed San Casciano, the town where Justin and I went in 2002, searching for Machiavelli's house!

Dinner was delicious at that tiny restaurant. I think that, as New Yorkers, we become somewhat spoiled in our expectations of good food. Trattoria Anita, the place we ate on Friday, is still outstanding in retrospect, but none of the mozzarella thus far has been as delicious as the stuff Clint bought in Brooklyn.

And the bread hasn't been especially wonderful --- I much prefer [livejournal.com profile] alexsirkman's. But overall, the food has been delicious, because even things like tomatoes are just delectable.

Our apartment is feeling very comforting too. It's been a wonderful vacation thus far, and I'm sure I'll remember to add more things as the day goes on. But right now, it's nearly 10 and I've yet to shower. We're going to Pisa today in the car, and seeing the leaning tower.

Date: 2007-06-05 05:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alexsirkman.livejournal.com
*blushes* Thank you ^___^ I'm glzd to hear you're enjoying Europe...but haven't you seen all of it yet? I know its not that big. Come Baaaaaaack~!

Date: 2007-06-06 11:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amalthya.livejournal.com
I'm definitely getting ready to come home -- it's been a long time away! I still have Spain and Germany to see, yet. And I mailed your postcard from Italy today. Let me know when it comes!

*love*

Date: 2007-06-05 08:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] grysar.livejournal.com
So what if anything was in the crypt?

Date: 2007-06-06 11:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amalthya.livejournal.com
Uh, a single wall with some very old paintings on it. Probably medieval. Also, there were cut holes in the floor that had glass panes and were lighted that displayed.... a floor, cement, nondescript, about 30 feet down.

Seriously silly, huh?

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