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.