Siena

9/10 to Poggibonsi and to Siena

After days of beautiful sunshine, we disappointedly registered soft rain through the night  between sleep cycles hoping it wouldn’t threaten the ride.  At 0645 it was still dark with heavy cloud cover but dry so we rolled from our cocoons and set off deep into the Tuscan hills.  Determined efforts up hill were rewarded by zooms down the otherside before the next ascent.  At the 40 minute mark, we realized we wouldn’t make it home much before 0900 and so turned around, instead doing 21 kms in 70 mins.  As always, we sat satisfied to coffee, breakfast and grand conversation (this time about the French origins of the Italian flag) after a warm shower and zinging muscles.  Then the rain came down and carried on all day.

A terrific school and then to Rimor at Poggibonsi for small parts and discussion re second hand sale through their company.

Planning a week or so on the road free camping, we stopped for a big grocery shop at COOP and hungry form the morning exercise and the late hour, we simply bought an enormous slab of warm lasagne form the deli section and sat about the table with forks eating it directly from the pizza box, together with a punnet of sweet cherry tomatoes & a can of chick peas.  Dried fruit for desert and a huge glass of milk and we were on our way to Siena.

Just down from the station was a rest stop where we paid up E20 and took an amazing set of 6 steep, long, undercover escalators all the way to the centro storico beautiful red & white gates.

So Siena is on the map from Etruscan times, then grew with Caesar’s Rome as a textile centre along with Florence and then grew further with pilgrims coming along Via Francigena to the town of Saint Caterina (Italy’s second patron saint) on their way via Roma to the Holy Land.  In the middle ages most of its attractive tower & fortress architecture developed as Florence & Siena feuded until eventually the Medicis swallowed Siena up.

old Siena gates

A long curvy narrow street tightly lined with pretty buildings three stories high, each  introduced with massive gorgeous doors completed with huge ornate knockers, leads into spectacular Piazza del Campo that spills down the hill with a Roman thermal spring fed pool at the top end (Fonte Gaia - the Happy Fountain) and a massive drain at the bottom shaping it like a large sink.  The ground is beautifully paved in 9 segments reflecting the ruling Council of Nine who gave Siena it’s famous beautiful town planning.  The piazza is surrounded by splendid curved buildings, the most beautiful of which is the Museo Civico made from red brick with sculptured white trimmings.  Twice yearly there is a crazy re-enactment of a bare back Medieval horse called Palio di Siena - the D shaped periphery is covered in sand, then centre is packed tight with spectators, and the bareback riders in traditional dress scream around the D with frequent spills.  Photos of the event are available for sale all over, 1 showed about 6 horses in flat gallop, all riderless! 

Museo Civica

With an hour before closing we raced inside to peek at the famous didactic political propaganda fresco by Lorenzetti, depicting good government on one wall and bad on the other. The messages are obviously still relevant stressing elements of peace, magnanimity, justice, security, strength and good temperament.  Other chambers are highly & beautifully frescoed, one themed on the Risorgimento showing brave battles in an attempt to unite Italy, one on the movements of Pope Alex III of the time, one with  frescos of S. Caterina and many displaying religious themes with several large Madonna & Child frescos.  The most beautiful is a whole wall fresco rich with golds by Simone Martini called Maesta.

Next was the wonderful Duomo is gorgeous striped green, white & pink marble sitting in the highest plaza and surrounded with a broad pavement of exquisite terracotta, black & white stippled tiles the patterns on which look like the gorgeous big sea-urchin shells we collected from 80 mile beach in WA 2006.

We couldn’t pass GROM without stopping so we agreed on, what’s becoming a usual gelati for dinner with flavours this time of tiramisu, apple, pear (complete with peel) ricotta & citrus….. Exquisite!

10/10

Unconcerned about our comical performance, we hauled from bed, into the fogged car-park to slog through our 10 BX routine bobbing, squatting, heaving and sweating.  After a ‘wipe wash’ (stinky trailer trash) and the morning schedule, we made for the Old City to just wander, take photos and have lunch of bread & cheese in Piazza del Campo.  Having shown the kids the cafe, we sequestered ourselves away in a small stone alcove therein instructing the younguns to make their way back to the piazza and play for 30 minutes.  We sat largely in blissful silence, nibbled on panforte we didn’t have to share with bottomless Wil and sipped slowly on TWO coffees who’s ‘throth’ hadn’t been skimmed by squids!

Business done (postage of gifts back to Oz & re-registering Ed) we drove off to Umbria where first we hope to learn more about the 12^th century monk, St Francis of Assisi. 

Chugging past incredible old hilltop Assisi (we’ll explore tomorrow), 

our precipitous campsite destination is soothingly deliciously remote amongst olives trees in the bush, parts of which remind us of home. The kids piled out and smashed each other with pillows giggling madly whilst we set up.

Washing away a few days of stink, we sat perfumed & cosy and enjoyed a salad whilst sharing bits about the first Saint to receive stigmata of Christ who was also responsible for the inception of the nativity scene.  Italy’s favourite patron saint, he had a strong focus on nature preaching to birds and urging people to readjust their gaze to the natural world.