| A Trip To Tuscany - Day Five |
This was our last and final full day in Tuscany
and it would go on to be one of the most
memorable days of our lives. Like I mentioned
previously, it was our good fortune that we
wound up going to Siena instead of Pisa. You
can bet we were in the lobby and ready for the
tour of Siena on time this morning. Even
though the tour of Siena was optional for the
group, I would say most people chose to take
this tour.
Siena is about an hour or so bus ride south of
Florence and unfortunately it would be the
closest I would ever get to Montalcino, home
of the Brunello di Montalcino wines. The
countryside was once again beautiful, but a lot
of us were too tired to notice this morning.
Perhaps the week had started to catch up to
us. When the bus finally arrived at its
destination, it was at the base of a giant wall
that encased the medieval city of Siena.
Siena, unlike San Gimignano and many other
towns around Tuscany, is a small city, albeit a
very medieval and unindustrialized one. The
pace of the people that lived inside the walls of
the city moved about slowly, but purposely.
Did you know that at one time, Siena was the
largest city in Europe? Poor planning by the
city engineers was the cause of its decline.
There was but one watering source for the
entire city. People would come down to this
place to fetch their water for the day and to
socialize with the other people from around the
city. There was plenty of water for everyone,
that was never the issue, but when the city and
indeed the countryside fell victim to the Black
Plague, it spread like wildfire within the city
walls because of the close quarters of people
living together and to a greater extent, the one
and only source of water. Within a very short
period of time the population of Siena was
reduced to one third of what it was in its
heyday. In case you were wondering, I believe
Paris, France is now the largest city in Europe.
I thought Siena was enchanting and you could
not help believing that you were wandering
through some medieval tale, what with its
narrow streets of cobblestone and old stone
buildings lined side by side all the way through
the twisting maze of passageways and all.
Siena was at one time in competition with
Florence on a number of levels. Sometimes
they were enemies. (It’s important to note that
Italy has not always been one single country,
but many different ones) Sometimes they were
economic foes and then at times, there was just
plain jealousy. For instance, Siena at one time
boasted of the largest Duomo (Church) in
Tuscany, so the people of Florence had to build
a bigger one. Then the people of Siena had to
add to theirs so that it would be bigger than the
new one in Florence. Eventually, Florence won
the battle and you can see pictures of this
masterpiece on the first two pages of our Italy
trip. It is the white and dark striped church
that appears in many pictures on those pages.
As cool as it is, the one in Siena just might be
neater if for nothing else than the fact that I
was allowed to take pictures inside their
Duomo and it was spectacular.
I could have literally taken hundreds of
pictures inside this church there was so many
things to see and read. All in Latin of course!
Our long winded tour guide seemed hell bent
on discussing every last minute detail about the
murals made of marble in the floor. There was
far too much to see for us to spend thirty
minutes on one piece of art, so I snuck away
from the group to take pictures. There was
also a side room to this church that was filled
with so many colors I felt like I had stepped
into a rainbow.
Our tour guide, on one of the times I was
actually paying attention, mentioned that
construction for this church started in the late
1200’s and was finished sometime in the early
1400’s. Good heavens, in this day and age a
contractor would have been fired for taking
over 2 years to complete the job, let alone over
a hundred. However, with as much detail as
had gone into the features of this building, it
was easy to see why it took so long. Along the
walls at the highest point next to the ceiling,
were carved statue heads of every pope
throughout the centuries. In the middle of the
building was a two story pulpit that I was told
was no longer used, but you could see how it
was necessary to stand high above the masses
that must have gathered inside the church back
in those times. Now there is a much smaller
pulpit used at the back of the church where
services are now held to a markedly smaller
crowd of worshippers. I even found a
confessional booth to the side of the great
room. I wonder what I would have heard had I
stepped inside of it!
Since we were now running behind schedule,
thanks to in no small part our windbag of a tour
guide, so we hurried through the streets like a
herd of banshees. After a few lefts, rights and
short sprints, we ended up in the heart of the
city which is this humongous open courtyard
area surrounded by buildings in a stadium-like
fashion. This area of the city is where most of
the population of Siena congregates. There
were more restaurants located here than
anywhere else in the city and more gift shops
than you could shake a stick at. A tradition
that was started centuries ago is still practiced
here to this day. It is the annual horse race.
Every year, they fill the outside track of this
courtyard with sand and people gather either in
the center courtyard or in the buildings that
line that outside to watch these horse races
throughout the day. Think of it as Siena’s
version of the Kentucky Derby.
We were given an hour to walk around the
courtyard and see the shops and stores before
we had to meet at one of the restaurants for
lunch. There was a building that had a giant
clock tower perched atop of it that drew Leslie
and I’s attention. Upon hearing how much it
cost just to go up in the tower, we changed our
minds and instead settled for taking pictures of
it from the ground. Lunch was authentically
Italian although regrettably, largely
forgettable, alas, even the wine was marginal.
After lunch, we were ushered quickly back to
our buses for the journey back to Florence.
When we arrived back at our hotel, our
hospitality crew handed out envelopes that
were personally addressed to each person.
Inside, you were given instructions and a time
that you were to be ready and down in the
lobby for dinner that evening. And with that,
we headed up to our room for a little R&R.
Dinner tonight was a big deal. Men wore suits
and the ladies dressed to the nines. Aside from
this being our last dinner in Italy, it was also
Leslie’s company’s awards banquet. We didn’t
know ahead of time where this dinner would be,
only that it was going to be really special. Man
did they ever deliver on their promise!
We arrived in the lobby at our designated time
along with one other couple. Outside the hotel
was a horse and carriage waiting to whisk us
away to dinner. I would say the ride was
romantic except that I was seated with my back
to horse and driver and never saw where we
were going, only where we had been and what
we were fortunate not to be stepping in! These
horses seemed to move faster than the puny
cars that roamed the streets of Florence. We
arrived in front of this building that we were
told was yet another museum in Florence, as if
there weren’t enough. Leslie and I along with
the other couple were told stand together and
wait outside the entrance to the museum. In a
few moments, they motion for us to step
through the door. There directly in front of us
were men with long trumpets dressed in
Renaissance costumes along the left and right
of us. Someone announced who we were and
as they did we moved forward to a trumpet
serenade. I’m serious, I can’t make things like
this up!
Once inside, you could see several white cloth
tables throughout an open air courtyard to this
museum. You were encouraged to walk up this
incredibly long staircase to the second floor
and see the art. I did that at first, but I must
confess, I was all cultured out at this point.
However, the top of the staircase proved to be
an outstanding vantage point for some great
pictures of the courtyard below and guests that
were arriving. All through the evening, Italian
men in white coats carried trays of hors d’
ourves for you to munch on and of course,
plenty of Chianti wine.
When we finally sat down for dinner, we were
treated to an opera-like singing performance
from three very talented individuals. Figuro,
Figuro, Figuro! After hearing these
performances for about thirty minutes, I found
myself in the bathroom with a few other
gentlemen where I joked out load, “You got
your chocolate in-a-my peanut butter.” This
was met with a rousing round of laughter,
however, one traitor in the bathroom took my
idea and went out to the stage to one of the
open mics and uttered my line to the crowd.
They laughed hysterically! Bastard! That was
supposed to be my moment!
Dinner was extremely fancy. I took a few
pictures of the food and as you can see the
presentation was remarkable. I thought the
food was delicious, but others in my party felt it
was a bit to fru fru for them. After dinner, we
were once again treated to another
performance of a different kind. Men and
women, all dressed in Renaissance costumes,
assembled in a drum and trumpet ensemble,
while some women danced and highlighted by
two men that were trained flag throwers. They
were incredible! Afterwards we had all of the
back-patting awards given to this employee or
that broker, etc… And then it was off back to
our hotel. Our week in Italy had come to a
glorious end!
Our last night was a Saturday and it just so
happened that the US was playing Italy that
night in the World Cup. If you will recall, the
US actually tied Italy, which was an incredible
feat considering that Italy went on to win the
World Cup and had never lost a game in the
tournament. Every bar in town was crammed
full of locals that were watching the soccer
match. As we were heading back to the airport
on our buses the next morning we encountered
a group of young men in their late teens that
had obviously figured out somehow that we
were Americans. One of the young lads ran
out into the street ahead of us and stopped the
bus and proceeded to drop his trousers and
moon us in jest for the results of the game
while the boys on the side were laughing
hysterically. Of course, everyone on our bus
was laughing hysterically too! I think that
playful action summed up the people of Italy
that we met on our trip. They were all fun-
loving people that seemed to get the most out
of life and we could all learn a lesson from
them back here in the hectic life of the States!
Pictures of Siena
and it would go on to be one of the most
memorable days of our lives. Like I mentioned
previously, it was our good fortune that we
wound up going to Siena instead of Pisa. You
can bet we were in the lobby and ready for the
tour of Siena on time this morning. Even
though the tour of Siena was optional for the
group, I would say most people chose to take
this tour.
Siena is about an hour or so bus ride south of
Florence and unfortunately it would be the
closest I would ever get to Montalcino, home
of the Brunello di Montalcino wines. The
countryside was once again beautiful, but a lot
of us were too tired to notice this morning.
Perhaps the week had started to catch up to
us. When the bus finally arrived at its
destination, it was at the base of a giant wall
that encased the medieval city of Siena.
Siena, unlike San Gimignano and many other
towns around Tuscany, is a small city, albeit a
very medieval and unindustrialized one. The
pace of the people that lived inside the walls of
the city moved about slowly, but purposely.
Did you know that at one time, Siena was the
largest city in Europe? Poor planning by the
city engineers was the cause of its decline.
There was but one watering source for the
entire city. People would come down to this
place to fetch their water for the day and to
socialize with the other people from around the
city. There was plenty of water for everyone,
that was never the issue, but when the city and
indeed the countryside fell victim to the Black
Plague, it spread like wildfire within the city
walls because of the close quarters of people
living together and to a greater extent, the one
and only source of water. Within a very short
period of time the population of Siena was
reduced to one third of what it was in its
heyday. In case you were wondering, I believe
Paris, France is now the largest city in Europe.
I thought Siena was enchanting and you could
not help believing that you were wandering
through some medieval tale, what with its
narrow streets of cobblestone and old stone
buildings lined side by side all the way through
the twisting maze of passageways and all.
Siena was at one time in competition with
Florence on a number of levels. Sometimes
they were enemies. (It’s important to note that
Italy has not always been one single country,
but many different ones) Sometimes they were
economic foes and then at times, there was just
plain jealousy. For instance, Siena at one time
boasted of the largest Duomo (Church) in
Tuscany, so the people of Florence had to build
a bigger one. Then the people of Siena had to
add to theirs so that it would be bigger than the
new one in Florence. Eventually, Florence won
the battle and you can see pictures of this
masterpiece on the first two pages of our Italy
trip. It is the white and dark striped church
that appears in many pictures on those pages.
As cool as it is, the one in Siena just might be
neater if for nothing else than the fact that I
was allowed to take pictures inside their
Duomo and it was spectacular.
I could have literally taken hundreds of
pictures inside this church there was so many
things to see and read. All in Latin of course!
Our long winded tour guide seemed hell bent
on discussing every last minute detail about the
murals made of marble in the floor. There was
far too much to see for us to spend thirty
minutes on one piece of art, so I snuck away
from the group to take pictures. There was
also a side room to this church that was filled
with so many colors I felt like I had stepped
into a rainbow.
Our tour guide, on one of the times I was
actually paying attention, mentioned that
construction for this church started in the late
1200’s and was finished sometime in the early
1400’s. Good heavens, in this day and age a
contractor would have been fired for taking
over 2 years to complete the job, let alone over
a hundred. However, with as much detail as
had gone into the features of this building, it
was easy to see why it took so long. Along the
walls at the highest point next to the ceiling,
were carved statue heads of every pope
throughout the centuries. In the middle of the
building was a two story pulpit that I was told
was no longer used, but you could see how it
was necessary to stand high above the masses
that must have gathered inside the church back
in those times. Now there is a much smaller
pulpit used at the back of the church where
services are now held to a markedly smaller
crowd of worshippers. I even found a
confessional booth to the side of the great
room. I wonder what I would have heard had I
stepped inside of it!
Since we were now running behind schedule,
thanks to in no small part our windbag of a tour
guide, so we hurried through the streets like a
herd of banshees. After a few lefts, rights and
short sprints, we ended up in the heart of the
city which is this humongous open courtyard
area surrounded by buildings in a stadium-like
fashion. This area of the city is where most of
the population of Siena congregates. There
were more restaurants located here than
anywhere else in the city and more gift shops
than you could shake a stick at. A tradition
that was started centuries ago is still practiced
here to this day. It is the annual horse race.
Every year, they fill the outside track of this
courtyard with sand and people gather either in
the center courtyard or in the buildings that
line that outside to watch these horse races
throughout the day. Think of it as Siena’s
version of the Kentucky Derby.
We were given an hour to walk around the
courtyard and see the shops and stores before
we had to meet at one of the restaurants for
lunch. There was a building that had a giant
clock tower perched atop of it that drew Leslie
and I’s attention. Upon hearing how much it
cost just to go up in the tower, we changed our
minds and instead settled for taking pictures of
it from the ground. Lunch was authentically
Italian although regrettably, largely
forgettable, alas, even the wine was marginal.
After lunch, we were ushered quickly back to
our buses for the journey back to Florence.
When we arrived back at our hotel, our
hospitality crew handed out envelopes that
were personally addressed to each person.
Inside, you were given instructions and a time
that you were to be ready and down in the
lobby for dinner that evening. And with that,
we headed up to our room for a little R&R.
Dinner tonight was a big deal. Men wore suits
and the ladies dressed to the nines. Aside from
this being our last dinner in Italy, it was also
Leslie’s company’s awards banquet. We didn’t
know ahead of time where this dinner would be,
only that it was going to be really special. Man
did they ever deliver on their promise!
We arrived in the lobby at our designated time
along with one other couple. Outside the hotel
was a horse and carriage waiting to whisk us
away to dinner. I would say the ride was
romantic except that I was seated with my back
to horse and driver and never saw where we
were going, only where we had been and what
we were fortunate not to be stepping in! These
horses seemed to move faster than the puny
cars that roamed the streets of Florence. We
arrived in front of this building that we were
told was yet another museum in Florence, as if
there weren’t enough. Leslie and I along with
the other couple were told stand together and
wait outside the entrance to the museum. In a
few moments, they motion for us to step
through the door. There directly in front of us
were men with long trumpets dressed in
Renaissance costumes along the left and right
of us. Someone announced who we were and
as they did we moved forward to a trumpet
serenade. I’m serious, I can’t make things like
this up!
Once inside, you could see several white cloth
tables throughout an open air courtyard to this
museum. You were encouraged to walk up this
incredibly long staircase to the second floor
and see the art. I did that at first, but I must
confess, I was all cultured out at this point.
However, the top of the staircase proved to be
an outstanding vantage point for some great
pictures of the courtyard below and guests that
were arriving. All through the evening, Italian
men in white coats carried trays of hors d’
ourves for you to munch on and of course,
plenty of Chianti wine.
When we finally sat down for dinner, we were
treated to an opera-like singing performance
from three very talented individuals. Figuro,
Figuro, Figuro! After hearing these
performances for about thirty minutes, I found
myself in the bathroom with a few other
gentlemen where I joked out load, “You got
your chocolate in-a-my peanut butter.” This
was met with a rousing round of laughter,
however, one traitor in the bathroom took my
idea and went out to the stage to one of the
open mics and uttered my line to the crowd.
They laughed hysterically! Bastard! That was
supposed to be my moment!
Dinner was extremely fancy. I took a few
pictures of the food and as you can see the
presentation was remarkable. I thought the
food was delicious, but others in my party felt it
was a bit to fru fru for them. After dinner, we
were once again treated to another
performance of a different kind. Men and
women, all dressed in Renaissance costumes,
assembled in a drum and trumpet ensemble,
while some women danced and highlighted by
two men that were trained flag throwers. They
were incredible! Afterwards we had all of the
back-patting awards given to this employee or
that broker, etc… And then it was off back to
our hotel. Our week in Italy had come to a
glorious end!
Our last night was a Saturday and it just so
happened that the US was playing Italy that
night in the World Cup. If you will recall, the
US actually tied Italy, which was an incredible
feat considering that Italy went on to win the
World Cup and had never lost a game in the
tournament. Every bar in town was crammed
full of locals that were watching the soccer
match. As we were heading back to the airport
on our buses the next morning we encountered
a group of young men in their late teens that
had obviously figured out somehow that we
were Americans. One of the young lads ran
out into the street ahead of us and stopped the
bus and proceeded to drop his trousers and
moon us in jest for the results of the game
while the boys on the side were laughing
hysterically. Of course, everyone on our bus
was laughing hysterically too! I think that
playful action summed up the people of Italy
that we met on our trip. They were all fun-
loving people that seemed to get the most out
of life and we could all learn a lesson from
them back here in the hectic life of the States!
Pictures of Siena
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