Seeing Siena (and annointing St. Rudel)

After waking up in our first and only modern world hotel (and enjoying the exercise room and full buffet breakfast) we drove just an hour away but fully back into the medieval world to Siena where all buildings (including our hotel in the center of the city) date from at least the12th Century.  We stayed at the B&B Duomo - not to be confused with the very fancy Hotel Duomo.  Hotel Duomo's check in is on the ground floor, and I thought we were in for quite a treat when we got there, only to be told that our check in was on the first floor - in more of hostel looking situation.  But, Fabio couldn't have been nicer sharing his ideas on places to eat and things to see and the apartment we had reserved was across the street and quite nice.  

First order of business after figuring out where we could leave the car was getting some lunch.  Fabio had recommneded a place that was just closing up, but we past another on the way and decided to try that.  It was a good choice as the back opened up onto a great patio with wonderful views.  Afterwards,  very hot (I don't know if I've mentioned just how hot it has been!) and full from pasta we decided to make a small stop in our apartment...we turned on the Olympics and all got comfortable in the big bed for the next hour.

Now, it was time to either really see Siena or miss it entirely. So, we got up and  walked to the Duomo, whose white and green stripes stick out in a mostly monotone city.  I've been trying to think of what color that is, and Rick Steves put his finger on it - "burnt sienna".  We skipped the interior of the Duomo opting instead to go to the Duomo Museum, which was built to house the cathedral's art.  Fabio told us that there are two things that can be climbed in Siena, the City Tower and the Wall of the Duomo - we followed his advice and chose the later.  After checking out the art (which included more images of a breast-feeding Jesus than we had seen to date), we climbed the two sets of spiral stairs to the Panorama del Faccioatone and were rewarded with stunning views of Siena.  Even Julia and I made it to the very top this time!

From the Duomo we headed towards Il Campo, Siena's main square.  Along the way, we walked by the Museum of Torture.  Much like last year at Warwick Castle, Jim and Rachel went in while Julia and I walked about.  We met 30 minutes later (Rachel and Jim only slightly freaked out by what they had seen) on Il Campo and sprawled out on the amphitheater enjoying the fact that Siena was the first city in Europe to ban cars from its central square.  We also imagined the Palio horseraces which will take place right in the square later this summer - we felt sad to be missing the spectacle, but also grateful not to be part of the mob that will stand for hours smashed together in the square for a one-minute horse race.

We wanted to have dinner at a Fabio recommended place for pizza and great views of the city, and headed off to follow the map.  In a city this winding and hilly, the map makes getting around appear much easier than it actually is.  As usual, it was during this "lost" time as the sun was starting to set that the city got really interesting and even more beautiful.  Trying to get to the Church of San Domenico, we stumbled across the Fontebranda, the original source of water for the city dating from 1081.  It feeds 25 km of tunnels that for centuries have brought water into the homes of Siena.  

We walked up past the convent and turned the corner to find as promised a restaurant with beautiful views of the city, and pretty great pizza.

Motivated by Fabio's recommendation of a gelato place, we walked across town to  Copacabana, where I even managed to embarrass myself.    After checking out the flavors, I was curious about what they were.  So, in my best Italian I asked "Che e St. Rudel" - everyone looked at me and said "Strudel!" at the same time.  I won't soon live that one down...We have even renamed Rachel's favorite chocolate chip "St. Racciatella" - and documented a miracle when Rachel's gelato fell from her cone but did not hit her shirt.