Siena

"Oooh Siena, I love Siena!" - This is what we heard everytime we mentioned we were coming here for two nights. We can both understand why. It has small town charm, a big city feel, and an electric vibe throughtout the Campo, where students and residents lay out and enjoy gelato as the night falls. Sure, our ride in was a little trecherous with the huge hail, but once we got in...wow.

This morning we made it to Mass at San Domenico. The Mass was in the crypt because the main portion of the church is visited by lots of tourists. We'll get to that in a moment. But Mass was interesting. It actually seemed more informal than in the states. Little kids running around, many people not kneeling (possibly because of the WOOD kneelers without padding), and a nun teaching the multitude of alter boys and girls how to bring up the sacrements. That, and the entire mass was in Italian, so we couldn't understand much, but knew what was going on.

But upstairs in the main Basilica of San Domenica, there was a very interesting relic. The amazingly well preserved Head and Thumb of St. Catherine of Siena. Well, from the church we walked around the soccer stadium through an outdoor market. We didn't get anything, but it was packed. Il Campo was next. We had eaten dinner there the night before, but didn't get the chance to really experience it. We headed straight to the city tower, where there was a sign for some sort of Photography Exposition by a Paul Fusco. Way to go Paulie!

Anyway, we climbed the 400 or so steps to the top of the tower for an amazing view over Siena and out over Tuscany. We also got the crap scared out of us when the clock rang for 1 o'clock. Thankfully, our walk up and down made us hungry, so we wandered to Antonio's - the equivilent of our Best Cheesesteak place in philly. Everyone goes for some of the best Salami around. They were packed, and entertaining. Salami, with Fresh Pecorino Cheese. Delisioso! We ate it on the Campo.

The Duomo was the last major site on our list. Unfortunately, they were restoring the dome itself, but everything was open inside. It contained Statues by Donatello, Bernini and Michelangelo, and it is the beginning of the parade for the famous Palio race. After the Duomo we took a short siesta, then had some Espresso and wandered down to the Basilica of St. Francis and then some window shopping and browsing through the streets. All in all a great day.



We capped it off with a fun dinner full in a small restaurant filled with Americans and Canadians who all bought Rick Steve's book. It was tiny, and the kitchen was open to the small restaurant (8 tables). The fresh made pasta was out on a table, and there was no menu. In very, very broken english, a Tony Danza look-alike (in his Who's the Boss days) asked what kind of Primi (pasta) we wanted. I hat the fettucine (about an inch thick) and lisa the Ravioli. Our Secundis were fabulous as well, I had an amazing lamb, and Lisa a very succulent chicken. We're 95% sure it was chicken, and not pigeon. We finished the meal off with a bowl of fresh Fragoli (strawberries). The older man patted me on the back a few times when my allergies acted up and I started sneezing. It was fabulous.

Tomorrow we're heading out early, getting a big breakfast, and driving through Chianti Country, with a detour to San Gimignano, and then on to Florence.

Ciao!