Month: April 2018

Another short train ride and we landed in Siena.  I wisely chose the Hotel Italia for accommodations as it is at the top of the gazillion escalators we had to take to get out of the train station and very close to the gates of the old city.  It also has lovely rooms and a killer continental breakfast.  They even have a pancake machine!

We dropped our bags in the room and then headed to the old town.

It was the final day of the Christmas market in the square and the joint was jumping!

We did some general reconnaissance and then ended up at a small wine bar, Vineria Tirabuscio.   They had fantastic local wines and beers in a small, funky setting.  We were, as always, starting unfashionably early, but that gave us a chance to chat with the proprietors.

We headed back to the hotel and scouted dinner spots.  I prevailed with a pizza selection–La Pizzeria Tia Loca.  So good!  Again, we were a tad on the early side–first customers of the night–but by the time we paid our bill the joint was jumping.

The next morning, off to the Duomo–see, I knew we’d find another one!

I love the blue ceilings painted with stars.  Note to self for when Mike and I build a shack in the woods–vaulted, custom- painted ceilings. I must have a star stencil somewhere…

The church was supposed to be expanded in 1339–this wall (Facciatone) at the back of the next photo was intended as one of the new walls meant to surround the existing church with more church.  Ridiculous. Anyway, the Plague put an end to that idea.

We paid for the full Siena historical experience, and that included going up into the rafters of the Duomo for the Gate of Heaven tour.  Here is an angel on high.

Next was the Piccolomini Library, also part of the Cathedral.  There aren’t a lot of books there, but the frescoes are insane. Probably not the most reverent word to use, but hey, I’m long since doomed to the eternal fire.

Mike took a moment between tours to relax and get a little vitamin D.  That’s my purple purse, not his.

All rested up, we continued by ascending the staircase inside the Facciatone for a stellar view of the town and  countryside.  It was so impressive we decided to indulge in a selfie.

On the way down we hit the Museo dell’Opera.  It has works of art and architectural fragments that come from the Duomo.  There are some, uh, interesting artifacts.

Back over to the main building, we visited the Crypt, home to medieval frescoes that were just revealed to the public in 2003.

And finally down to the Baptistery.

Next stop–lunch!  We walked back to the Piazza del Campo and decided to skip the tripAdvisor search and take a risk on a restaurant right on the square (er, round?).  We ended up with a nice panini and bruschetta, no regrets.

The Piazza del Campo is actually shaped like a shell, and is home to the Palio di Siena, a truly mad horserace that takes place twice in the summer.

The Fonte Gaia was constructed in 1342 and had water delivered via underground pipes from a source 25km away.  The original decrepit marble panels were replaced during a restoration in 1858.

Our final museum of the day was Santa Maria della Scala, just across the plaza from the Duomo. It was one of the first hospitals in Europe and is now home to lots of art and relics, including the original marble pieces from the Fonte Gaia, and one of the nails from the Cross. Reading about it just now I see that they also have part of the Virgin Mary’s girdle, but sadly we didn’t see that.

After our big museum day we couldn’t resist returning to Vineria Tirabuscio for drinks again.  This time Mike did the whiskey flight paired with chocolate.  Or was it a rum flight?  Whatever, he was happy.

When we got back to the hotel Mike was content to eat nibblies he had stashed in the hotel and enjoy the cable TV, so I ventured out solo and had potstickers at Ravioli Wang.

The next morning we said ciao to Siena and set out on the bus to Montepulciano.

A long time ago, Kathy went to Italy with her cousin Paddy.  They were “chaperoned” by a priest who shall remain nameless and, as it turned out, the priest’s girlfriend.  Needless to say, it was a bizarre trip–lots of alcohol-fueled revelations and drama.  I’ll spare you the whole sad tale, but Florence was one of our stops. Though we attempted to see David, there was a huge line outside the museum, and when a large group of German tourists shoved their way in front of us, we got discouraged and abandoned the effort. It always nagged at me (I had read The Agony and the Ecstasy as part of my trip prep), so when Mike and I found ourselves wandering through Tuscany, I lobbied for a stop in Florence.  Mike was easily convinced.

After a short trip from Venice, we got off the train and tromped through the underground mall in search of an exit.  I spied a pair of motorcycle boots I liked–too expensive, bien sur.  Hmm, file those away for future reference…

Once we were outside and oriented, we walked to our hotel, the budget-friendly Hotel Savonarola. Nothing fancy, but clean, central, free WiFi and breakfast–it ticked all the boxes. It was still quite early in the day, so we dumped our bags and hit the streets.

We stopped at a little sandwich joint for lunch and the owner made nice with Mike–friendly folks around these parts!

After lunch we continued on toward the Galleria dell’Accademia.

And before I knew it, there he was…

So happy I finally got to see him!

The rest of the museum was okay, but David is clearly the star.  The painting below made us both laugh because the write-up discusses the legendary beauty of this woman.  It must be an inside joke because her eyes and nipples are equally askew. Or maybe it’s the strange symmetry that makes her beautiful?

The Duomo was crazy busy, so we contented ourselves with admiring the outside.  No shortage of Duomos around here, we’ll catch the next one.

The Christmas decorations were impressive, and the streets were packed! No off-season in Florence.

We walked across the river and had a drink.  Mike was keen to stay at the bar for dinner–they were offering apericena, a cheap buffet–but I held out for real food.  I did not regret my stubborness. We skipped TripAdvisor and just searched the streets for a place that looked tasty.  Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco (The White Boar) kindly squeezed us in, and man, it was good! I had the strozzapreti a burro (spinach and ricotta dumplings in a delicate butter sauce).  Very simple, but sooo tasty.  I’m going to have to work on my Italian cooking skills when I get back to life with a proper kitchen.

The next day we started our tourist activities with a visit to the Mosaic Museum.  This was an unexpected treat.  I’ve seen mosaic tables and stuff, but this was a whole other level.  The paintings that were done as a template for the mosaics were almost indistinguishable from the mosaics themselves.  Crazy stuff.

After that we walked across the river

and climbed the stairs

to the Piazzale Michelangelo, one of the best views in Florence.

There is a copy of David there, bien sur, er, certo.

On the way back down we spied multiple graffiti examples of the artist Blub, Italy’s Banksy, I gather.  He recreates classics with the addition of snorkel masks.

We continued on and grabbed a drink while we planned our evening.

We were both interested in trying a movie, anything to erase Justice League from our minds.

Our research uncovered a lovely repertory theatre, the Odeon Firenze.  They play movies in their original language, and that night’s offering was The Mountain Between Us.  Well. Given our stated objective of replacing Justice League in our recent movie memory, it succeeded in spades, because… this is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen.  It is a Hallmark movie with A-listers.  It is the most unbelievable piece of merda to hit the big screen.  Now, you might think that the amazing acting of Kate Winslet and Idris Elba would elevate this dreck.  You would be wrong.  So very wrong.  Where did they lose me?  Let me count the ways:  maybe it was in the very beginning when they charter a plane together because the HAVE to get back to New York: she is getting married the next day and he has brain surgery to perform.  Or maybe it was was when Beau Bridges had a stroke during the flight causing them to crash in the Rockies.  Beau doesn’t make it, but Kate, Idris, and Beau’s adorable golden retriever all survive handily.  Maybe it was when Kate bullied Idris into going to look for help in the middle of the freaking mountains during which he almost slid off a precipice and she almost got eaten by a mountain lion back at the plane.  Maybe it was when she bullied him again into abandoning the plane, only to fall into a frozen lake, get dragged out and into a conveniently located cabin, fall into a coma, and then once recovered have sex!!! Now that I’ve spent half of this blog post railing about this movie, you can probably tell that Mike and I hated this movie so much that we are happy we saw it, because we got hours and hours of entertainment dissecting how ludicrous it was!

After the movie we spied this adorable single person SMART car,

and I tried to recreate a photo that Paddy took of me in front of the Duomo, except that I am 27 years older and the weather is much much colder.

We wrapped up the evening with some tasty Asian food at FirenZEN Noodle Bar.  There was lots more discussion of how STUPID that freaking movie was!!!!!

Next stop, Siena. Oh, and I went back and bought those motorcycle boots!  Happy wife, happy life, eh?