Treasures of Siena, Plus More Biking

Well, after a brief (and rather uncalled for) hiatus, I'm back on Blogspot and ready to talk Italy!

I'll work on catching up with adventures from the past month, but let's start with this past weekend. The group and I went on a lovely bike tour through the southern portion of the province of Siena. After a brutal wakeup at 6:30 am on Saturday morning, we were on the bus by 7:50 and on our way to the little town of Rosia, 30 minutes from Siena. Rosia is small and rural, with less of the medieval-castle feel that characterizes Siena, and was our starting-off point. Led by a small, nimble old man/biking master (wearing very tight bike pants), we rode down a small highway (terrifying, thanks to the little Fiats and Piaggio trucks zipping by) and made it to a smaller, safer dirt road through scenic farmland. This was new territory; it's hard to get up close and personal with the heart of the Tuscan landscape if you stick to the more well-known cities, and public transportation runs infrequently to these spots. But here are the rolling fields of rusty earth and meadows filled with yellow flowers, here are the farmhouses and roads lined with red poppies. We made a detour (sadly, uphill) to the hamlet of Torri. I couldn't believe this could be considered a town. It was maybe one twelfth the size of Siena, just a couple of streets leading up to the main attraction, the Cloister and Abbey of Santa Mustiola. This structure was intriguing, it's a square building with a big inner courtyard, with each level supported by Sienese-style black and white striped columns. Its tiny balcony overlooked a sweeping valley outside the medieval walls of the miniature town. Then it was back to the road, where we eventually made it to a pretty picnic spot by a stream (possibly in the little town Stigliano?). When we got back to Rosia, we had covered a solid 28 km, which through visually enticing, did not please my butt very much. Words of advice: think twice before biking for three hours straight if you're not an avid biker.

Spent a leisurely Sunday back in Siena. After navigating through the swarms of tourists that now crowd the Campo, and getting my giant slice of pizza after waiting for MORE tourists to shout their orders, in English, at the harried server, I made my way out of the frenzy to quieter territory beyond the Piazza. Here, I made a pleasant discovery: Siena's Sunday antique market! The Piazza del Mercato, located directly behind the Palazzo Pubblico, was full of life and brimming with goodies. Usually quiet and uninhabited, vendors were everywhere selling everything from old books to vintage Gucci bags to ancient skeleton keys. Delightful! I had such fun browsing the tables and making some purchases for friends and family back home (in addition to scoring an adorable fish necklace handmade by a woman from Prato!). I continued on to the Orto di Pecci, a quiet pasture off the beaten path. A little family restaurant is hidden back here, along with a pen containing a sweet miniature donkey, a turkey, a bunch of goats, and some chickens. Locals come down to play soccer, picnic, and possibly explore the medieval kitchen garden that has been there for hundreds of years. Perfect place for reading and working on my tan. I got thrown out at 4 (who closes a garden/park at 4 pm??), so after a consolatory gelato, I made my way to San Domenico, one of the massive churches of Siena. San Domenico was Dominican central back in the 1300s, where the Catholic order preached their views on the importance of knowledge and education (they contrasted with the simplistic values of the Franciscan order). The best part is that this is the location of Santa Caterina's vision of her marriage to Christ, so one end has been converted into a chapel dedicated to her in the spot where she supposedly had her vision. Also, you can see the relics of her right thumb and head (yes! her head!!) displayed prominently in glass cases. Santa Caterina lived in Siena until her death in 1380, and was respected as the first woman doctor/theologian of the Church. Pretty great stuff.

Leaning Towers, Bicycles and Carnivale

This past weekend, I had a gorgeous time traveling to Pisa for a photo shoot with that famous tower. Pisa is only an hour or so away from Siena by train, and was a really pretty little town. People say that there's nothing to do in Pisa besides go to the tower, but I would have liked to wander the streets a little longer to see for myself. The bridge over the Arno River had some really pretty views, and there were plenty of pretty mountains in the distance. The area surrounding the Tower was extremely touristy, there was an entire block of souvenir tents with little model towers and t-shirts, etc.! Seeing the leaning tower was pretty amazing, though, in all honesty. And it was right next to the beautiful Duomo of Pisa and the Baptistery.

An hour and a half later, we were on a train to Lucca, a lovely little oval-shaped walled medieval town that was originally founded by Etruscans. We rented bicycles and went for a leisurely ride around the walls - it was such a sunny, beautiful day which made Lucca seem especially idyllic, and the Alps were visible far, far in the distance. Families, joggers, and elderly people were all enjoying the outdoors and walking along the path lined with trees and little alcoves where you could sit by the ancient walls. It was truly one of the best days I've had in Italy. Later, we browsed some of the shops and a little craft market that was set up in a piazza. Also saw the Roman amphitheater, which had been built over by Renaissance townspeople and now only retains the shape of an amphitheater. It's a circle of pretty colorful Renaissance houses that contain cafes and apartments. For dinner, we found a great family-owned restaurant called Da Leo - cheap, amazing food! We had a delicious meal, and I tried the torta di verdure for dessert, a Luccan specialty (it's a surprisingly sweet vegetable cake topped with pine nuts). Our hostel, Ostello San Frediano, was clean and spacious, and fit all eight of us in our own dorm room.

Unfortunately, the next morning we woke up to rain, but continued on to the Duomo. Next we climbed the Torre Guinigi, a beautiful old tower originally belonging to the Guinigi Family. Even though I'm terrified of heights, I climbed all the way up (wind was whipping through the open windows, and the top staircase was wet because of the rain!) and was rewarded with a grand view and also a rooftop garden! It's one of the more bizarre things I've seen here - full-size trees were planted atop this huge tower! After inching my way down the hundreds of steps, gripping the railings and walls all the way, we visited the Basilica di San Giovanni. This site was once occupied by Roman baths, since Lucca used to be a major Roman colony, and the best part was, we got to descend beneath the church and walk through the excavated site, which contained ruins of the bathhouse, the medieval church remains, and a number of old tombs. It was amazing!! Roman mosaics were still intact, and there was ancient graffiti on the walls.

We left Lucca and finished our weekend in Viareggio, an Italian resort town that hosts a huge Carnivale celebration every year. This parade was craziness; the crowd got right in the street along with the massive, wild floats that were a couple stories high, filled with costumed dancers, and blasted music as they meandered by. Tons of people were dressed up - we saw everything from weird colorful monsters to cowgirls wearing tiny shorts in the freezing, damp weather. A lot of the floats had political connotations, but it was still fun for us Statiunitensi to watch and dance in the streets along with all the characters. And I saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time! When we finally got back on the train to Siena, I was exhausted but thoroughly satisfied. Italians do everything right: fantastic landmarks, beautiful landscapes and towns, delicious food, and a great party. Perfect weekend.

Roma

After a weekend of staying in Siena to host my friend Giacomo, who came to visit me from the northern Italian town of Alpignano, near Torino, I took a weekend trip to Rome two weeks ago! I immediately fell in love with the city, it's so much bigger than my little Siena and has such an excitingly ancient vibe. Last semester, I took a wonderful class about the art and archaeology of Ancient Rome, and I had such a grand time walking through and touching the ruins of the buildings I learned so much about but had only seen in PowerPoint presentations. I loved how ruins are just juxtaposed against medieval and modern buildings! I must admit, I walked up to so many crumbling archways and walls and ran my hands over the pocked facade because I was so in awe. Romans touched and built those same structures with their own hands two thousand years ago, and it was an extraordinary experience to see the remains of their magnificent empire. I arrived Friday the 18th and spent the evening walking around and locating my hostel - a friend and I stayed at a bed and breakfast called Mamma Mia, which was clean, secure, and affordable, but a bit out of the way.. I would recommend looking at a map of where your hostel is located before choosing, just because the buses and metro stopped running before midnight and it was a long walk back after going out at night. It's also terrible to be standing in the middle of a dark piazza at 2 am trying to figure out which of the four surrounding roads leads you the right way!

The next day I got to explore the Colosseum - going inside blew my mind, it's such an epic structure and it was really cool seeing the series of tunnels where the gladiators waited beneath what would have been the stadium's floor. I waited in line for about 40 minutes before finally getting my ticket, but a friend later told me that since the ticket includes admission to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill/Forum area, you can go to the Forum first and save a lot of time since the line over there tends to be much shorter. Next time I'll know :) After the Colosseum, I spend a lot of time wandering the gorgeous ruins of the Palatine Hill, where there were tons of ancient palace ruins as well as a sunny park area (I wanted so badly to lie there in the sun!), then headed over to the Forum. This was super exciting to me, the archaeology nerd, and I ran around snapping photos of the Basilica Aemilia and the Temple of Saturn. It's unfortunate it's become such a touristy area (says I, the tourist) because it feels as if it should be a peaceful, quiet place to contemplate the ancientness of the location. However, it was still fantastic, albeit less charming than I had originally hoped thanks to the creepy gladiator actors that perused the streets outside asking to a)take a picture with you for only 5 euro, and b)meet up for evening drinks. I got out of there, fast.

We made the mistake of going to this awful American 50s diner-esque restaurant for lunch because I was craving a burger (to be fair, I've had only Italian food for the past 5 weeks! I know, what a travesty, right?). Sadly, it turned out to be one of the worst meals of all time, with nasty bright yellow fries, greasy buns, and a tiny piece of meat. Sad times. Luckily, Rome redeemed itself when we ran into a fantastic gelateria near the Pantheon - hundreds of flavors and cute Roman Holiday decor. Viewed the outside of the Pantheon and wandered around pretty Piazza Navona, then went "home" to change for dinner. We took the bus to Trastevere on the other side of the Tiber and ate at the delightful Osteria Pucci, where I had a bowl of pasta with ricotta, zucchini, and bacon. We searched for a good club, since Trastevere is apparently the place to be as far as nightlife goes, but weren't successful - no good discotecas in sight! Across the river we found some American student bars that were ok, but the true nightlife of Rome remains a mystery to me.

The next morning we got up to see the Vatican - unfortunately, it was Sunday so mass was going on inside and I couldn't see the Sistine Chapel, etc, but it was pretty cool to see the outside of it. A screen was projecting the words from the mass (in Italian, of course). After having some amazing pizza for lunch, and exhausted after lugging our bags across the city, my friend and I got on a bus and decided to just relax on it and let it take us to wherever it was going. We got off at the Circus Maximus, a bizarre sight - just a massive dirt oval edged with ruins. It was the largest chariot-racing stadium of Rome back in the day. I hated leaving Rome after just two days, I feel like it would take several weeks to adequately explore! Didn't mind too much though, I do love my scenic bus rides.

Exploration

What a week (and a half)! I've spent a lot of time adjusting to my surroundings, which means something new each day. Last week I went several CET outings, the first being a cooking class at Fonte Giusta, an amazing restaurant in Siena in the Camollia section. I got to see the kitchen from which all the gorgeous ravioli and cinghiale and pane, etc. are born, and the owner of the restaurant was enthusiastic about having us get our hands dirty and mix ingredients with our fingers to create batches of almond biscotti, homemade pasta, and eggplant/spinach/ricotta-filled tortellini. He didn't speak a word of English. Unfortunately, this meant that I am not much closer to achieving my goal of becoming a master Italian chef by the time I return home, but I did get to see some pretty cool stuff. Eggs yolks here are vibrant shades of red-orange, and I learned how to fold up a square of pasta around some filling into a fancy napkin-shaped tortellini. Afterwards, the real chefs topped our wobbly creations with fantastic sauces and kept the food coming until I thought I was literally going to explode. We got a doggie-bag of biscotti to bring home, too!

Another highlight was a visit to the Onda Contrada museum near San Francesco, several blocks behind the Piazza del Campo. A unique little church houses the memorabilia of this contrada's Palio wins, and serves as a neighborhood stronghold for baptisms and other blessings. The space within Siena's walls is divided into 17 contradas, or neighborhoods, and people are very, very loyal to their communities. If you are born in one contrada, you remain a member of it for life even if you move to a different one. This makes for strong internal bonds among the people of the city, but also makes it difficult for outsiders to truly integrate. The Onda (Wave) contrada museum and crypt were full of ornate religious decorations, tons of hand-painted silk banners, and historical Palio costumes. These banners are the prize for winning the famed Palio, or contrada horse race, that takes place in the Piazza del Campo every July.

Saturday I left Siena to take a day-trip to Arezzo, where they were having their monthly antique market. This occurs the first weekend of each month, and was so much more widespread than I expected: tables and furniture covered every street of the city. After browsing, I also saw the inside of the Duomo, the famous frescoes of San Francesco, and Giorgio Vasari's house. Vasari is a major figure in Arezzo, he's known for writing a comprehensive book about the lives and works of the famous artists of his day (and before), and this year marks the 500th anniversary of his birth. (Arezzo is also Roberto Benigni's hometown!) It was remarkable to see the difference in style between the two cities, Arezzo was much airier and open than Siena. However, I find myself loving the ancient stone palazzi of Siena and the feeling of medieval history that radiates from every brick of every towering building.

The rest of the weekend, I wandered the streets of Siena intending to visit all 17 contradas, but I only made it to the end of my own (L'Aquila - Eagle) before I came across a pretty park behind San Agostino near Porta Tufi that overlooks the Tuscan countryside. I ended up spending the entire afternoon lying in the grass bathed in sunshine and reading a book. Perfetto.

Classtime

Today was the first day of classes here at CET Siena. We're starting with an intensive three weeks of Italian - three hours a day, five days a week. Eventually we switch to three hours a day, two days a week. Hopefully I'll be much more comfortable with speaking after this!! My Italian pen pal from the Torino area is coming to visit in a couple weeks, so I promised I'd try to communicate in Italian :) Also went to another one of my classes entitled "Sienese Art and Architecture" which seems like it will be really interesting. I'm a history fanatic, so I was in heaven learning about the origins of the city today and also finding out that my apartment on the Via del Poggio is right in the most ancient area of the city, dating back to the 5th century BC. I sleep in the same spot an Etruscan did 2500 years ago! This is the area surrounding the Duomo, next to the Piazza del Campo if any of you are familiar with Siena's layout. Anyway, I get to spend the next few months walking around and observing ancient and medieval structures, so I'm excited. After class, I stopped by Conad, the chain grocery store here, then wandered around for a while. I stopped by the Medici Fortezza, which has quickly become one of my favorite spots. A popular place for runners, I strolled around admiring the many views of Siena and beyond. This was the last of the important buildings constructed in Siena by the Medici family in the mid 1500s. Almost everything else in the city dates to the centuries before the Fortezza went up. From here, you can gaze into spaces within the city gates, and outside. Mountains sheathed with fog loom in the distance, and pretty villas sit atop the hills all around. After walking the steep city streets a little more, and buying some office supplies (a word of warning - if studying abroad, make sure you bring notebooks, Scotch tape, pens, etc. with you! It costs a mint here! I paid the equivalent of about $6.50 for one role of tape, ugh), I bought a nocciola (hazelnut) gelato for the quick hike back to Via del Poggio. Hazelnut. If you ever get the chance, please try this. I literally died and went to heaven.

Firenze

Yesterday our whole group traveled to Florence, known as Firenze in Italian. I adore the 1.5 hour bus ride north from Siena, the public buses are comfy and relaxing and take you through the countryside. I have not seen a stranger landscape than Tuscany in my life, and never one so breathtakingly beautiful. Everything is truly golden, even yesterday on a rainy day, and the architecture in Tuscany mimics the colors of the land, everything a thousand shades of golden, pink, and green. I love how you'll just be driving along on the level, winding road, but you look out the window and the countryside around you will suddenly swoop into epic hills and valleys lined with the ever-mysterious looking cypress trees. Once we got to the city, we attended a lecture about the history and culture of Italy, and mingled with students that attend the Florence branch of the CET study abroad program. Then we wandered the streets (it was sadly chilly and cloudy!) past the iconic Duomo and visited the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses THE David statue along with some medieval/Renaissance paintings, 18th century statues and busts, and whatever was on the second floor which was closed. David was extraordinary to see is person, it is so large and grand. His hands and feet seem massive! I also tried my first Italian pizza, topped with prosciutto (of course!) and a caffe latte, which was served nicely in a glass. I think I prefer it to cappuccino, which I've been buying multiple times a day. Glad to be back in Siena, because while Florence was fantastic there were a ton of tourists. Siena feels much cozier and authentically Italian.

Prosciutto

Day 3, and it keeps getting better. I've now met everyone in the CET Siena 2011 spring program, and they're all amazing! We've been going through orientation meetings and touring the city. I've also begun my true love affair with Italian food. I mean, I knew I loved Italian food - I like my spaghetti as much as the next girl - but this is no Olive Garden, guys. Yesterday, after our morning meeting, we took a walk beyond the bus station and explored the Fortezza and adjacent park. The Fortezza is a beautiful place to walk or jog, and has a great view of the city. It feels like springtime even though it's still January - it's been sunny and there still seems to be lots of green in the park. After wandering, we ate at a little greenhouse-esque restaurant close to the supermarket, where we got delicious pasta, panini, and salad for 4 to 5 Euro each. Later, after taking a much-needed nap, we had dinner with our entire group plus the Italian roommates (we live in apartments throughout the city, each with a few CET students along with Italian roommates). The food at this restaurant was INCREDIBLE. Plate after plate of salami and prosciutto came, fresh bread, big pitchers of the red house wine, bruschetta, then three pasta dishes. The third pasta dish was pici (a thick, fresh spaghetti-like pasta) with wild boar sauce. Heaven. Dessert was a plate of three tiramisu samples. To me, food is one of the great delights in life, and Siena is not disappointing so far whatsoever. After checking out the nightlife at a little bar and then finally returning (via the massive double hill to get to the apartment! ahh!) and blessedly passing out, we got up today for our rounds of paperwork and registration with the city to be allowed to live here for the semester. I am pleased to say that my breakfast was my first Italian gelato. I chose pera, or pear, and it was truly like eating a real pear in ice cream form. Squisito! Lunch was a simple panino with thick slices of fresh tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, and lettuce sandwiched between crusty slices of warm bread. Prosciutto is swiftly becoming one of my new favorite foods, definitely going to keep the fridge continuously stocked with it for these few months, plus probably back in the states, too.