It was Saturday and it already felt like we had seen so much in a very short period of time. This day, too, was an optional all-day tour, this time to the city of Siena. We had, as I think I already mentioned, signed up for every optional tour, aside from the gondola ride in Venice. Our of group of 36, only 24 of us signed up for Sienna. Given our experience and those who went gushed about the trip after, many of those who skipped ended up regretting their choice. I can understand it, though, as Siena doesn't register in most people's minds, and it reflects a centuries-long competition with their neighbor city of Florence, and as we learned, Florence won out in most ways, and it reflects in Siena's status of sitting in the Florentine shadow.
It was an absolutely beautiful morning, with no rain forecast. Johnny had, however, already warned us of the following day's forecast, which was "ominous." It was hard to believe given how perfect a day we were having then. We drove south and then eastward toward Siena, driving around Florence. Along the way, Johnny announced a surprise visit, which wasn't on our formal itinerary. Traffic can be unpredictable, but worked in our favor so we had time to stop at the Florentine American Cemetery, which is one of three graveyards in Italy for U.S. servicemen killed in World War II. About 5,000 of the 12,000 troops killed in Italy rest here. As with every other U.S. cemetery we have visited in Europe, it was IMMACULATE and incredibly moving. We were the only visitors, which added to the sereness of the setting, which sits nestled in a Tuscan valley. We all really enjoyed this impromptu visit, and it remains a highlight of the entire trip for me.
Florentine American Cemetery
It was another 30 minutes or so before we reached Siena, which is built along five significant hills. The city center is very large, with really steep streets, and only residents are allowed to drive there, and only after paying a significant fee for the "privilege." Our bus had to drop us off at the base of one hill, not too close to the city walls. Buses used to be able to drop folks off at the top, but it became too unwieldy and noisy, so the city recently built large car parks and run shuttle buses up to the walls, which is how we reached the city, and our first views onto Sienna proper, which is quite lovely. During the drive, Johnny told us of the history and the long-going economic and military conflicts between the cities, with Florence ultimately prevailing under the Medici family, who did their best to keep Siena in the background.
With the skies cloud-free, the heat was building, and we were beginning to feel it already. We had a long walk to an overlook, where we met our local guide, a university professor who was born and raised, and continues to live, in the old town. We had a standard city walking tour, which included many churches, including the cathedral, famous for its mosaic flooring. The mosaics themselves are covered up 10 months of the year, and we were fortunate enough to be visiting during a window when they were visible to tourists. In addition, though it was news to me, Siena is famous for its annual horse race, or the Palio di Siena. It is a traditional twice-annual horserace dating back to the 17th Century. Siena itself comprises 17 districts, or contrade (wards), each with their own flag and motto, and all very competitive with one another. On a rotating basis, 10 of the 17 wards compete in the Palio, riding bareback and wearing medieval garb matching their contrade's colors. The race is held on the main piazza of the city (which is in a literal bowl between the hills). Dirt is trucked in to form an oval track, with the ride comprises three laps around the piazza. Crowds fill the center of the track and line the outside. The whole things take less than 90 seconds and looks like absolute mayhem. It has run annually since the 1600's, only missing two years during Covid. Otherwise, it continued unabating, even during two world wars. The winning contrade gets bragging rights and they hold a huge feast (like a block party) in their ward in the weeks following the race. In fact, our guide's ward won this year's competition, and she told us of the elaborate plans underway for the feast.
Our First Views of Siena
Basilica of San Francesco
You Can See How the Tables and Chairs are Cut To Compensate for the Angle
Shields of the 17 Contrade (Wards) of Siena
Baptistry of the Duomo Siena
Duomo Siena
One on the Many Floor Mosaics, Only Uncovered for Two Months of the Year
Piccolomini Library Within the Duomo
Original Choir Book (Huge...was Used by the Entire Choir)
Statue of St. Paul by Michelangelo, and He Made it a Self Portrait
Pizza!
Piazza del Campo, Where the Annual Palio di Sieno (horse race) Takes Place
We did our best to stay in the shade as we snaked through the city, but we were hot nonetheless. As soon as we completed the tour, Johnny oriented us and said we had a few hours to explore, eat, rest on our own before meeting up for the return journey. K and I made a beeline for an outdoor cafe, on the main piazza, as we were both hungry and very thirsty. As I mentioned, the piazza is in a bowl, so the cafes ringing it have tables with uneven legs to compensate for the steep grade. Even with the special tables, our drinks and food were lopsided.
Our Lopsided Lunch in Siena
Lunch was very good, as was the shopping we did, as we snaked through streets we'd not seen on the tour. We had, by the way, already begun a daily ritual of getting famous Italian gelato whenever we could. With the heat, we had no problem convincing ourselves that we'd earned a midday gelato, which we thoroughly enjoyed. When we reconvened, however, we were both ready to get off our feet and out of the heat. I'd been tracking our steps and ground covered with my smart watch through the trip, and we'd already walked nearly 15 miles this day, and with the heat, we were sapped. The walk back to the shuttle stop seemed much longer than when we'd arrived, and I finally broke out our umbrella to help shield us from the sun, as we were outside the city walls by now, and there was little to no shade. There was a shuttle about to depart when we arrived, and Johnny urged us to hop on. It was already full, but the next shuttle would be 10-15 minutes, and he figured we'd be better riding in a crowd than baking in the sun, with no guarantees of a non-crowded future shuttle. As as we started to move, it was obvious that the shuttle was not air conditioned, and the open windows did little to abate the stifling heat. I could feel the sweat pouring down my legs and back, and reaching the parking area and our bus was a Godsend. Johnny had called ahead to our driver, Marco, who he told to turn on the bus and crank the A/C, even though Italian law doesn't allow for unoccupied buses to remain on. Boarding that ice-cold bus was a feeling I won't soon forget.
As we all slowly recovered our wits in the cool bus, folks started exchanging stories of what they'd done, and we soon reached consensus that we'd all really enjoyed Siena, despite the heat. It was a pleasant surprise to us all. In addition, as we do at the end of every trip, K has us rate our favorite day. In our post-trip assessment, K put Siena at the top of her list. My choice, however, is still coming up.
We got back to Montecatini around 5:00pm, and were due to leave for dinner -- a "Tuscan feast" at a local wine and olive farm -- around 6:30pm. That left us enough time to shower and reassemble ourselves. I would have been fine with a take-out pizza at this point, but this evening ended up being one of my favorite from the entire trip. We drove about 30 minutes, back toward Lucca, to a family-run, centuries old farm, which produces olives, olive oil, and wine. They had both outdoor and indoor spaces, and we ate our meal in their wine cellar. Following a short walking tour of the farm, which focused on grape and olive production, we settled into a multi-course meal, with associated wine tasting of their own vintages. The wine was free-flowing and tasty. There was even dancing to close out the evening.
Touring the Vineyards at Il Poggio Montecarlo Rosso
One of Their Vintages at Dinner
I Made a Friend at Dinner
Within our group were three couples who knew each other from Gaithersburg, Maryland, and two of the couples still live there. They travel together often and were all very nice. One of their number is also an amateur opera singer, and he was encouraged to sing while we were all on the outdoor dance floor. There were lots of other people at the place, aside from our group, to include a large wedding party, but this guy had zero qualms about getting up and singing. It was quite something to see.
It was nearing 10 when we got on the bus for the shortish ride back to Montecatini. Johnny and Marco had another surprise for us, as during the drive back, they blasted some well-known songs (think "YMCA" and "That's Amore"), which we all sang while Marco flashed the inside lights on and off, on beat, like in a disco. I have not laughed that much, or enjoyed myself so much, in quite a while.
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