For part of our time in Siena, we had a rental car and lots of visitors. So, we ventured out.
Gary, Laura & I took a drive one day to Lake Trasimeno, a large lake in Umbria.
The lake was the site of one of Hannibal’s defeats of the Roman army in the 200s B.C. He did not march on to Rome however and the Romans lived to fight and defeat him another day at Carthage.
The season was over at the lake — it was early November. The ferry to the islands was running only once or twice each day, so we did not get the chance to do that. However, we found a restaurant open next to the lake and a lunch of lake trout and carp while we watched fishing boats. I think it would be lovely to return in nicer weather and travel to one of the islands on the lake or enjoy the beaches.
Another day we drove to Ortebello, a town on a narrow strip of land in a lagoon on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Most of the town was closed for the season so we drove on across the isthmus to Porto San Stefano, a fishing village and sailing port where we watched the boats and yachts moored in the harbor while we had lunch. When we left there, we drove to Grosseto along the sea route to Rome. Grosseto was heavily bombarded during the Allied invasion in World War II because the Germans had built an air pilot training base nearby. There were many civilian casualties and we saw a monument to those in the town square. The town has a massive ancient wall; the new town has grown up around it and is not very attractive. However, we parked our car and entered the old section through one of the ancient gates and were charmed. The duomo, or cathedral was peaceful and had a lovely rose window. The streets had twinkling lights strung and flags flying. Many of the shops had tables and chairs outside where the proprietors sat, or passers-by could sit for a rest. We strolled the streets, enjoyed a gelato and then drove back to Siena through country roads and Tuscan hills.
Nearly every town here has banned traffic in the city centers or old parts of the cities. Siena was the first to do so, in the 1960s. Only residents with a permits and taxis are allowed and even they may be barred from certain streets. It is understandable; if you have ever walked the narrow twisting streets of Siena or many of the other small towns you would realize what a madhouse there would be if vehicles had free access.
I remember visiting Verona in 1972 and when a city bus turned down certain streets, it honked its horn and the pedestrians ducked into shops because the bus only fit on the street with its wheels on the sidewalks. And these were miniature buses. There are large parking lots outside of the towns where you park your car and either take a bus, cab, series of escalators, or hike to the old city centers.
When Stephen and his girlfriend Alyssa arrived for their visit, we went to Assisi for a day. (Gary stayed home; he had been there and did not want to walk the steep hills.) It was my third visit to Assisi and I always find this birthplace of St. Francis inspiring. The Giotto frescoes in the basilica are breathtaking in their beauty and their simplicity mirrors the life of St. Francis. We prayed in the chapel with St. Francis’s tomb. We strolled the streets, had a delicious and leisurely lunch. Our Sienese landlady had referred us to a friend who owns a printing and stationery shop in town. We went there and the person working there was expecting us and directed us to the workshop where they do the printing. There we were shown how the gold is impressed on the stationery, how they made the designs and printed or stamped the cards and paper, how they bound books. Laura managed to interpret much of the entire Italian lesson for us and did a wonderful job. We finally broke away after an hour as it was getting late and we had a two-and-one-half hour drive back to Siena where Francesca and her husband were preparing a dinner of bistecca Fiorentina for us at our apartment.
Another day we drove to Volterra, another town originally settled by the ancient Etruscans. The cathedral was closed — it is closed for the entire year for renovation. But the pasticerria’s were wonderful and we stocked up.
Gary, Stephen, Alyssa and I also visited several other beach towns on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Cecina and Follonica, on another day. We walked on the beaches, stuck our hands and feet in the water (very warm even in November), and enjoyed gelato, seafood lunches and drives through the lovely Tuscan countryside.
I returned twice to Florence, both for day visits. Stephen, Alyssa and I drove on a rainy Sunday, parked in a suburban lot and then took a tram into the city center. We walked throughout many of my favorite neighborhoods and shopped and had a delicious lunch at Osteria dei Benci near Santa Croce. (I seem to talk about our meals quite a bit; they are certainly one of the joys of being in Italy. I shudder to think how much weight I have gained.)
I love the feel of Florence and just walking through its streets and looking at its buildings, which are lovely in the rain or sun. I returned last week, riding the train in with my niece Casey and her husband Travis as they left us here for their stay in Florence. I had made an appointment for a trim and touch-up on my hair. I discovered when I arrived that I had left my wallet with my credit cards and ATM card in Siena. Fortunately, I carry my cash in a different wallet, but realized I would not have enough case for a color touch-up and a train ticket back to Siena. So, I settled for a trim and a blow-dry. Alessandro gave me the formulas for the color though, so I could touch it up when I get home.
I did spend an hour or so before catching my train walking through the streets again, taking my last look at the duomo and Palazzo Vecchio for this trip. My heart softened just walking through the streets of Florence and even now I am eager to return.
(When I returned to Siena, I could not find my other wallet. Eventually, I emptied my entire purse and there it was at the very bottom — Gary says I am losing it and I could have had that color touch-up after all.)
We also visited San Gimignano twice, once on the day we left Florence. We ate a restaurant that had large picture windows overlooking the valley San Gimignano is an ancient town that once had more than 79 towers, each built by a prominent family trying to outdo the others. When I was there in 1972 there were several towers which could be climbed, and we climbed up and down many of them. At present there is only one tower which is open for climbing, but I am no longer 19.
We returned one day with Casey and Travis after our great afternoon of wine-tasting nearby. We ate gelato at the home of the 2009 world champion gelato-maker and again wandered the streets of this old town, tasting cheeses, salami and other goodies.
Our favorite outing was a three-day road trip Gary & I took to Ravenna near the Adriatic Sea, south of Venice. Ravenna was ruled for a time by the Byzantine Empire and its churches, from that period (approximately 5th through 8th centuries) are decorated with Byzantine mosaics. The city has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, and we saw them all. We loved Ravenna — although it was cold when we were there, we wandered the streets, encountered friendly people. We found a delightful bar for an afternoon wine and aperitivo and a great restaurant to which we returned twice. We stayed in a hotel which was once a palace and still has a chapel which functions as a church in it. We were sorry to leave.
We drove south to a small fishing town — Cesenatico — and strolled along the canal leading to the sea. We enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch and debated staying there for the night. However, rain was forecast for that night and the next day and we decided we did not want to drive back to Siena in the rain. So, we set our GPS to avoid toll roads and highways and enjoyed a leisurely drive through the country back to Siena, arriving home in time for dinner and just ahead of the rain.
