Day 11: Tuscany and SienaHotel: Hotel Chiusarelli
Phrase of the Day: Sono en file (I am in line...sometimes needed in the crowds) |
Miles
Contradas in Siena
High Temperature for the Day
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Did you know?
Siena sits on a labyrinth of subterranean tunnels, comprising its intact and working aquaduct dating from the Middle Ages.
From Monterosso to Pistoia
We said goodbye to a stormy sea this morning as we left the Cinque Terre. A quick ride on the train to Levanto then we are back on the bus heading to Tuscany and the town of Siena. We stocked back up on Italian chocolate at the Autostrada before stopping for lunch at Pisoia, a small Tuscan town. From the main piazza, we wandered the small town, finding most places closed from 1-3, so we explored the streets and settled outside on some steps to eat lunch. Stephanie bought us all gelato at a local gelateria; the pistachio and chocolate were delicious!
Onward to Sienna
The hill town of Siena looks like a painting! The lush green of the surrounding landscape leads up the hill to the beautiful city. After checking in to our hotel (and asking for our room number in Italian - taught to us on the bus by Stephanie), we went out on a locally-guided walking tour of Siena. Here, too, the city itself is a sight on its own, but it is also such a unique place with its 17 contrade (districts), each with their own symbol including the giraffe, owl, and unicorn amongst others. The contrade are unique to Siena and membership in a contrada is only through birth. Each contrada has its own emblem, church, baptismal font, fountain and motto and as you walk around Siena, emblems of contrade are visible on buildings, helping you to figure out where you are in the city.
Siena's huge Piazza del Campo is not only a gathering place but is the site of the traditional Palio di Siena , where 10 selected contrade compete in a horse race around the piazza. The race is in honor of the Virgin Mary and the horses are even blessed in the churches of the contrada for whom they are racing! We were able to watch a video of one of the races (and the unbelievable crowds in the piazza watching) at our dinner with the Forest contrada. We were able to see their church and the banners of their winning Palio races, with dinner prepared and served by members of the contrada itself. What a wonderful sense of family and community!
Siena's huge Piazza del Campo is not only a gathering place but is the site of the traditional Palio di Siena , where 10 selected contrade compete in a horse race around the piazza. The race is in honor of the Virgin Mary and the horses are even blessed in the churches of the contrada for whom they are racing! We were able to watch a video of one of the races (and the unbelievable crowds in the piazza watching) at our dinner with the Forest contrada. We were able to see their church and the banners of their winning Palio races, with dinner prepared and served by members of the contrada itself. What a wonderful sense of family and community!
Tuscany is so full of history and beauty - you meet wonders of art and architecture on almost every corner
- Trudie Styler
Exploring Siena
It was a beautiful morning in Siena and we were up and out for an early morning walk around the city before meeting our tour group. Our tour took us to Massimo's stained glass workshop where he uses the same techniques as were used 500 years ago, both cutting and piecing together stained glass, but also "painting" detailed imagery on the glass with ground glass frit. His knowledge was evident as he showed us the process from the drawing (or cartoon), through the final cementing with linseed oil and chalk to ensure no gaps exist and the stained glass is stable. His Canadian apprentice was fun to talk to as well as she shared her interest in trying to save this kind of traditional art from extinction.
Our next stop was the Siena Cathedral, striking for its horizontally striped black and white walls and columns. Michelangelo's statue of St. Peter, which some say is a self-portrait, is here. A Donatello bronze of John the Baptist, and a library which was never really used is now open with vibrant frescoes looking as though they were painted today, but are 500 years old. After a tour of the highlights of the church, the rest of the day was on our own. We found a wonderful supermarket to walk through, selling pizza by the slice as well as the local Siena almond cookies called Ricciarelli...delicious!
Back to the cathedral for the "Gate of Heaven" tour to explore the roof of the cathedral. Up a spiral staircase into the walls of the church to the roof and walking along, high up near the ceiling, had us marveling at all the different marbles used in construction and the sheer scale of the stained glass and paintings that looks small from below but huge when so close. Peering down into the church from above provided a wonderfully unique perspective. We did the full cathedral tour, including the Museum, baptistry, crypt, and the church itself. The crypt was so interesting as you can see rooms below the church, with frescoes, that they didn't know existed until the 1990s! Another church built on top of an older one, a theme that we have heard before and will hear again before we are done in Italy! Very different from the cathedral was the simpler Basilica of San Dominico, whose patron saint is Saint Catherine. Her mummified head and one of her thumbs (yes, her thumb!) are displayed in reliquaries here, making me wonder where the rest of her is displayed! The House of Saint Catherine, where she lived, found us surrounded by a fairly large group of nuns. We had seen large groups of nuns lined up to go into the cathedral, taking pictures and shopping, too. Did you know a group of nuns is called a "murmur"? We ended our day with, of course, more gelato!
Our next stop was the Siena Cathedral, striking for its horizontally striped black and white walls and columns. Michelangelo's statue of St. Peter, which some say is a self-portrait, is here. A Donatello bronze of John the Baptist, and a library which was never really used is now open with vibrant frescoes looking as though they were painted today, but are 500 years old. After a tour of the highlights of the church, the rest of the day was on our own. We found a wonderful supermarket to walk through, selling pizza by the slice as well as the local Siena almond cookies called Ricciarelli...delicious!
Back to the cathedral for the "Gate of Heaven" tour to explore the roof of the cathedral. Up a spiral staircase into the walls of the church to the roof and walking along, high up near the ceiling, had us marveling at all the different marbles used in construction and the sheer scale of the stained glass and paintings that looks small from below but huge when so close. Peering down into the church from above provided a wonderfully unique perspective. We did the full cathedral tour, including the Museum, baptistry, crypt, and the church itself. The crypt was so interesting as you can see rooms below the church, with frescoes, that they didn't know existed until the 1990s! Another church built on top of an older one, a theme that we have heard before and will hear again before we are done in Italy! Very different from the cathedral was the simpler Basilica of San Dominico, whose patron saint is Saint Catherine. Her mummified head and one of her thumbs (yes, her thumb!) are displayed in reliquaries here, making me wonder where the rest of her is displayed! The House of Saint Catherine, where she lived, found us surrounded by a fairly large group of nuns. We had seen large groups of nuns lined up to go into the cathedral, taking pictures and shopping, too. Did you know a group of nuns is called a "murmur"? We ended our day with, of course, more gelato!
HELPFUL HINT: Take a photo each evening of the tour group schedule for the next day. That will allow you to know what time and location to meet your group and often we were able to go out early in the morning to explore, before the crowds are out, and still do all the tour activities.