Siena

Oh, a three day weekend.  I was so excited when I heard it was Labor Day this weekend even though I am not home to celebrate.   To those that are taking a weekend away, throwing a BBQ or just hanging out at home, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Happy Labor Day my friends!!!

What's staying in Tuscany without some visits to a few hill towns?  I love planning a little adventure for the weekends.  I was up and out the door by 4:30 am to catch the train to Florence to catch the bus to Siena.  As it turns out, riding your bike at 4:30am is the easy part, it's coming home at 11:30pm that is troublesome....for other people near me. For some reason, I couldn't steer that bike to save my life and almost ran over just about any person that walked by me. There was no joy in their voices when they screamed at the drunken looking, but oh so sober, bike rider.  I was almost the girl you knew who got beat up for running people over in a seemingly innocuous little bike in the middle of the night.  

Some Italians take their horse racing seriously.  I met a new friend with tickets to Siena's centuries old Palio horse race a couple of weekends ago.  Seeing a horse race is one of the things that can instantly brings tears to my eyes so I declined.  I've had Siena on the brain ever since and this weekend Siena was calm, quiet and almost tranquil, a huge change from 2 weeks ago. 

I'm starting to develop a crush on all Italian street performers.  You can hear them playing their violins and cellos in the Uffizi courtyard at dusk, or find one on many a street corner strumming out some classic Italian folk music.

Boar is very popular in this region.  A classmate was telling me that she asked to be surprised at a restaurant only to find out after the fact that she'd eaten boar's head--not the kind at the Target deli counter.   They successfully surprised her.  I haven't quite embraced the sausage phenomenon here in Italy but it's very popular amongst locals and visitors.  I've been told that the mortadella, salamis and sausages are out of this world. 

I do not know why the sky sometimes smiles down with big blue everywhere but I'll take it.   Florence and Siena had an itty bitty rivalry to see who could build the more impressive cathedral.  Siena held her own don't you think?

I think the reason I like wandering so much is because when you stumble on a little surprise view like this, you feel like you've won the lottery.  

Siena is split into districts that date back to the middle ages (which is partially what drives the frenzy around the Palio horse race within Siena). Each district has its own church, baptistry and museum.   They fly their flags throughout each district and refer to themselves by district association.  One woman explained that while she was an owl  like her husband, her two sons had been born snails.  I would have been born a she wolf I'm sure. Yes, someone did ask the question, and no, each district does not select tributes annually (unless you count the horses). 

Siena has the oldest surviving bank in the world, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which was founded in 1472.  Even more fascinating than the bank itself are the heads of some of Siena's most illustrious past citizens peering down and watching you while you look at the bank.

Siena--not a bad place to spend a day.  I'll share that motto with the she wolf district if they want to use it. 

Montecatini Alto

You probably won't find Montecatini Alto in a guide book or all over Pinterest.  This little town was a find through searches for small local activities and discussions with those in class who have been in town longer than I have.

Montecatini Alto is the hilltop town that sits right above Montecatini Terme.  It's medieval, relatively untouristed, quiet--everything I am looking for on a lazy Sunday.  Even more awesome is that instead of driving up, you can take the 19th century funicolare for some phenomenal views on the ride up.  

While you can drive up to Montecatini Alto if you have a car, I'd recommend taking the funicolare anyway. It's only 7€ for a round trip ticket (andato e ritorno), runs every half hour during Mar-Nov and the views are pretty phenomenal along the way.  It's a pretty quick 5-8 minute ride up so if your legs can handle it, stand in the front or back for the best views. 

Montecatini Terme below.  I'm beginning to see a pattern with my need to see everything from up high.

Montecatini Alto is the type of town in which you just spend your time wandering aimlessly about.  If you like museums and activities, this might not be your speed.  If you need a day of quiet tranquility, roaming empty streets and alleys, viewing (and accidentally roaming into) olive and fruit groves and sitting in a cafe with a glass of wine, then Montecatini Alto is just the place.  There were times when I didn't run into anyone else for ages while wandering around this town.

The best part about Montecatini Terme and Alto is that they are just a short 30ish minute train ride from Lucca or Florence so easily an afternoon trip or just a quick break from the crowds of Florence if you happen to need it. Montecatini Terme is on the Florence --> Viareggio line(and perhaps others).   If you haven't taken the train in Italy, just a hint that it always helps to know the first and last station to know which train to look for on the departure and/or arrival boards. The Trenitalia app or station ticket kiosks tell you the train number as well if you think to look, but I found that those numbers can't always be counted on.  Trains are pretty easy now between using  the app and kiosks at the train stations--just make sure you have your EMV chip credit card in hand.  Mine's just chip and sig which had me convinced I would be left stranded at train stations all over Italy but it's worked at all the train kiosks thus far.  

Small side note--there have been some brief moments when I've wondered if maybe I don't miss the pace of working a little bit.   It's a little masochistic yes, but I can't help feeling completely unproductive at times with all this bizarre me-time.  Then someone asked me at dinner why the US hasn't fully converted over to EMV chip yet and all thoughts about being ready to get back into the workforce flew right out of my head.  Quickly and thoroughly.  

Montecatini has two trains stations that are just minutes apart.  While Montecatini Terme is the main station, Montecatini Centro is more central to the Montecatini spas and funicolare.  It's pretty easy wandering through the beautiful spa town of Montecatine Terme (another post dear ones) to get the to the funicolare.  It's a nice surprise to find an easily accessible quiet little hill town in Italy.

Why on earth would I even consider going back to work when I now drink wine at all hours of the day apparently?

Cooking at a Fattoria

I've received a few e-mails asking where the food posts are.  Too be honest, food hasn't really been as big of a thing as one might think.  Aside from the addiction ritual of stopping in for 2-3 caffe macchiatos every day, food is a spur of the moment decision to be made only when actual hunger pains strike.  

First of course,  there's the daily shopping and storage issue.  The second half of that is that a lot of recipes require a full pantry of ingredients I am not interested in purchasing and then purging.  Eating out and takeout has been the norm and many other meals have consisted of picking up fresh pasta and a bit of sauce (at a small mom and pop shop that sells nothing else) to throw together at the house, grabbing a panini or pizza on the go, or more frequently, eating caprese salads.  I am the queen of caprese salads and most likely,  have eaten my weight in tomatoes already.  

When in Italy though, one must learn to make pasta right?  It's on my list of goals.  I've made pasta at home, but I really needed an Italian to show and guide me through the steps, the texture of the dough and the right steps for rolling it out--just in case Food Network is lying. 

I'm studying italian at Lucca Italian School and they have optional activities 3-4 times a week after classes.  This week's cooking demo was at a vineyard, Fattoria Sardi Giustiniani, just a bit outside of the city center.  We spent the afternoon touring, cooking and eating our wholly Tuscan meal.  

The only people more lucky than the owners of a Fattoria are those two rockstars living on a cliff above the waters in Cinque Terre.  

On the menu: Eggplant stacks, vegetable lasagna, chicken cacciatore and biscotti made with vin santo. 

Really, it starts out all about the wine.

Our  teacher Eva walked us through the essentials of making pasta...apparently it's about using two types of flour: all purpose and semolina.

On a side note, Eva spoke only Italian.  We had a translator there but I understood quite a bit of what she was saying. It helps that Italians use a lot of motions with their words.

I've always been pretty afraid of adding too much flour or working the dough too much--turns out pasta dough is pretty tough stuff.  

The kitchen smells were unbelievable.  Instead of browning the chicken in straight olive oil, we browned it in hot oil that had huge handfuls of rosemary, sage and garlic in it.  Why have I never thought of this genius technique?

The chicken was seriously crazy delicious. Since the recipes were from a class, I won't share them but definitely looking forward to mixing this one up when I get home. 

Quite the life to spend the days lazing about on an empty wine barrel in the warm Italian sun. 

The light was perfect and beautiful at sunset but so fleeting as light usually is.  By the time I wiped all of those fingerprints off the glass, I'd lost the sunbeam.  :(  I'll have to drink more wine and keep trying.