There is more to Tuscany than its rolling hills and amazing food and wine. There is also gelato. I should mention that each town has a town square in which to enjoy food, drink, conversation, and shopping; and these are great places to find gelato. This was Bob’s and my second trip to the area, so I knew that gelato is everywhere – kind of like Starbucks or Wawa here in Florida. But you cannot get every flavor of gelato everywhere, and all gelato is not created equal. As we entered the spacious Piazza del Campo, Siena’s medieval town square, I took a moment to breathe it all in.
Piazza del Campo
Then I did my first scouting for gelato. There it was – mere steps away. I alerted our fellow travelers to the treasure, but it was Bob and I alone who made the short trek to the smooth, creamy, banana-flavored delight. I was ecstatic because it is not easy to find banana, the best flavored gelato, and here it was at our first gelato effort. Success.
I don’t remember who this statue depicted, but the gelato was delicious!
Our friends did not understand the significance of this gelato event and were more absorbed by the ancient architecture and overall cultural experience. I suppose they had full tummies from our lovely lunch at La Taverna di San Giuseppe, which we finished only minutes before entering the square. But as the old adage states, “There’s always room for gelato.”
Walking the streets of Siena reveals beauty at every turn. For instance, laundry hanging from windows above the streets in the states seems wrong, but in Italy, it’s artistic. I suppose not so much for the locals, but for us Americans it’s a photo op. I have to admire their commitment to clean clothes even if it does mean airing your laundry for tourists to capture for posterity. As I was taking this picture, a lady walked past me and looked quizzically at me. I assured her that I do not regularly take pictures of laundry, but somehow here, in Siena, it was beautiful. A slice of life, if you will.
When you think of the hill towns in Tuscany, you may get so caught up in the beauty of them that you don’t stop to think that half of your walking is going to be uphill. And the other half is harder on your knees, but thankfully there is a lot to distract you. The culmination of a trip to Siena occurs when you turn the corner and first behold the duomo (an Italian term for cathedral). It is magnificent, and it beckons you to keep walking up, up, up.
The back of the duomo – pretty impressive for a backdoor
We approached the duomo from the back, which is impressive enough, but instead of entering through the backdoor, which we could have, we walked up many more stairs to behold this magnificent cathedral from the front, which is worth the effort.
Up, up, up we go
This will get your heart rate going for sure, but while you get it back to a resting rate, there is a musician playing in the square and it’s a good time to reflect on the beauty of it all. It is magnificent and worth simply standing for a long while, putting your phone in your pocket, and being thankful you get to be there.
This gothic-style cathedral towers over the surrounding square. Inside of it you are treated to amazing architecture, stained glass windows, and the art of masters such as Donatello and Michealangelo. The construction took place roughly between 1215 and 1263. The gold on the top front of the façade shines differently throughout the day as the sun reflects off it. Inside and out are horizontal stripes prompting me think of Where’s Waldo and making me wish I had worn my black and white striped shirt for a little extra fun. The stripes are actually white and greenish-black marble. Black and white are the colors of Siena.
Words are difficult to find to describe the beautiful sanctuary, so here are some pictures.
This bronze statue of John the Baptist by Donatella was finished in 1457.
I mentioned in my previous post that the eight of us travelers are all of a “certain” age. That means that keeping sure footing is another thing near the top of the list of safety precautions for us. Steps are everywhere and they don’t believe in hand railings or uniformity of the stairs, so it is important to tread with care. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, which I took at great personal risk as then I had to walk down the stairs alone, holding the wall like those before me.
At the end of our tour of the duomo and its surroundings, we were able to sit and have a glass of wine and some panforte, which was among the few offerings available at this cafe since the kitchen was not open – it was only 5:30, after all.
We followed the reverse path back to our cars, stopping briefly in the Piazza del Campo for one more look. Then we were off to the grocery store to make sure we had plenty of wine. Wine is cheap over there – even good wine! We did not buy this gigantic one, which I think is about 1.25 gallons, and was very heavy. After all, every day in Tuscany is legs day. I hadn’t lifted anything heavier than a piece of lasagne all day.
Note the cheap prices!
Our first full day in Siena ended as we photographed the beautiful sunset and headed back to the house for a glass of wine and an early bedtime.