Siena and San Gimignano

Today we're back on the bus, headed for Siena. We've been looking forward to this trip, as Siena is a town frozen in time. Devastated by the Plague, the city fathers were unable to continue their ambitious long-range plans, which was pretty awful for Siena, but gives our group of pilgrims an opportunity to see more of the medieval art and architecture which Florence replaced with the beautiful creations of the Renaissance, for the most part.

We walk along a section of Siena's city wall. It looks as old as any structure we've encountered. It seems to undulate. Constructed of plain bricks, it may be impregnable - and certainly is on track to last another 900 years, at least.

We move into the city itself and walk to the Piazza Pubblica, which is sometimes called the most beautiful piazza in Italy - many feel it might be the most beautiful in the world. The piazza slopes in a gentle bowl shape down to the Palazzo Pubblica, which served Siena as its primary muncipal building. Around the edges of the rim of the bowl are ristorantes and trattorias and a gelato shop that bills itself as having the best ice cream in the world. One of our group was compelled to sample the gelato. She agreed that it was pretty good, but isn't sure that it holds the world record!

This piazza is home to a famous horse race, the Palio, in which an enormous crowd gathers in the bottom of the bowl and the horses race around the rim. We understand that it's an extremely dangerous race for the horses, and many of them are seriously injured running on the ancient bricks. At other times, the people of Siena treat the piazza much the way Floridians approach the beaches. They sit and sun and chat and simply pass the time.

Inside the Palazzo Pubblica we view the frescoes that depict Good Government and Bad Government. These were quite revolutionary in their day as they are based on the idea that man can have direct input into the quality of his life simply by operating in a peaceful, communal way. Even though the Sienese were devout Christians, they accepted the idea that they could control their lives in a way that communities had never attempted before. The frescoes are remarkable.

For lunch we grab a slice of pizza and a bottle of water and eat and drink as we continue exploring the town. We visit the Duomo, which is famous for its patterned floors, its striped columns and its frescoed ceilings. And on the way back to our bus, we stop in at the Basilica of St. Catherine. The patron saint of Italy, St. Catherine is credited with returning the papacy to Rome from Avignon. Her basilica contains her head, inside a box. Inside another box is one of her fingers. I intend to spend some time on line when I get home - this definitely calls for more research! Since she has been dead since the 14th century, the appearance of her face, complete with rosy skin and beautiful eyes, seems pretty incredible. The finger, on the other hand, is dried and wizened. It's definitely a finger, though, complete with fingernail.

Back on our bus, we head for the beautiful mountain town of San Gimignano. San Gimignano once boasted over 70 towers, built successively higher by competing wealthy families. Fourteen of these are still standing, and the view from the base of the mountain is amazing. As we climb the very, very steep streets we catch glimpses of some of the towers. In the main piazza we turn slowly and count - seven towers visible.

This is a wonderful shopping town. We find a pink shirt for our granddaughter; a lovely framed piece of local art for ourselves, one which depicts the towers of San Gimignano; and finally buy a bottle of the lovely fruity white wine for which the region is famous. It's made with the vernaccia grape. We are finally beginning a little shopping and are thoroughly enjoying this wonderful mountain day.

As we ride back to Florence, admiring the skill of our intrepid driver, Marco, the conversation ebbs and flows around us. We hear discussions about what we've seen, what kinds of OLLI classes we'd like to see as a result of our experiences here, what museums we still must visit before we leave next week, what gifts we've bought for whom. Packages of chocolate biscotti, bags of sweet licorice, small packs of cookies, candied peanuts make their way up and down the aisle. We share what we have bought. We are pilgrims, and friends.

Back in Firenze, we ask Pierpaulo, the concierge, to make a reservation at a restaurant that he loves. Eight of us venture out; we have decided that we will order bistecca this evening. The giant T-bone steaks were recommended highly by our Italian language teacher, Fabrizio. Mike and I split a spinach pie for antipasto, then split the single steak. The bone is enormous - think Fred Flintstone and dinosaur steak. The spinach is divine, very similar to a spinach souffle. The steak has a flavor we've never tasted and is delicious. Along with a couple of pitchers of house Chianti and some fizzy water, we have a feast. Oh, and the Tuscan bread, which is unsalted and has become an acquired taste.

After a couple of hours talking and laughing with these lovely friends, we stroll back to the hotel. We resist the temptation to stop for gelato, but come back and uncork the wine we bought today. And here we sit, in the friendly bar at our hotel, chatting and sipping. I work on the blog and Mike checks the email for messages from the offspring; others plan their weekend trip to Rome, and our friendly hotelier watches over us all. Outside the open window (did I mention there are NO bugs?) we can hear the traffic passing. The breeze is lovely. Tomorrow we visit the Bargello, probably return to the Ufizzi, and maybe visit the church of San Marco to view the cell of Savonarola. We'll have another wonderful breakfast, a quick lunch sandwich, and another fabulous dinner. We wish we had another week.