From Siena

8 gennaio

I am sitting in the kitchen at the beautiful table, with the armadio full of dishes in front of me, and the other full of pots and pans behind me… most of the furniture and pictures and fixtures and lights and mirrors in this house are either old or antique… there is a woven fabric framed wall hanging, about 8 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide in the living room that is from the 18th century… all mixed with a modern kitchen and a balcony with a view of Siena and beyond… you must experience this to understand how well appointed this apartment is.

Trudy and I spent the morning cleaning up some cupboards in the kitchen—after a season of students living here, and with the last couple weeks of construction in one of the bathrooms (tile cutting in the living room!!?!) we decided to pitch in and earn our keep by cleaning up some of the kitchen… then I started a soup from some beans I soaked last night. I made a minestrone, and the dark green kale/cabbage that I bought was unlike any I’d seen, so prepared it like I would kale, and it added a nice touch to the soup. Tonight we will have a cena (dinner) at the house as we have the last couple nights—it’s great to cook in after so many restaurants! Pino will come for cena, and if the other roommate Catherine is here and wants dinner we will invite her. I will make some simple bruschetta with tomatoes and olive oil, and we will eat the soup with some wine, and for dessert some vin santo with cantucci, and basta! There is a supermarket in the middle of the old town where you can get anything you want, and then there are the meat, cheese, vegetable, salami markets within the town, as well as several small markets, some very close to the apartment.

We have shopped a little and bought a few things at the sales—many of the stores have their last-season clothes on 20-50% off sales, so we have bought some tshirts, and tanks, and sweaters… now tomorrow we will pack up our boxes of things that we bought in Florence and some that we have been wearing but don’t need any longer, and we will each ship a box home.

The travel plans have been fluid, and although I keep thinking and planning to go to Puglia, and to Bari where my grandfather’s parents were born, and where he was raised, it is not to be on this trip. We will stay in Siena another day, and on Saturday will leave for Naples and stay in Sorrento… more later… ciao tutti!

About Montalcino

7 gennaio

I am in my favorite place in all of Siena—the apartment in P. S. Francesco where I lived the summer I came to language school… Trudy and I arrived here yesterday after spending 3 days (2 nights) in Montalcino and it is just wonderful to have a house and a warm bedroom with down quilts, and a heater that is so warm that it must be turned down at night, and a full kitchen, and a big kitchen table to sit and eat and visit with friends, and all the cooking and serving equipment you could ask for, and a tv that has all the fun Italian channels, plus one BBC … perfetto!

On Sunday morning we left Florence by bus, spent the afternoon in Siena with Pino, had some pizza, and took the bus to Montalcino. We arrived there in the dark, which was ok, since we would return to Siena in the light so that we could see the magnificent country side on the way back… anyways, Montalcino was really beautiful, but the pictures don’t do it justice—the light is flat and gray with this cold weather. It is a perfectly situated town perched on a hill with about 300 degrees of view down to the valleys below, and just a little bit of a hill to the southwest… it is in the Val d’Orcia and is completely surrounded by rolling, cultivated farmlands, dotted by homes and farm buildings on the hilltops… the rows of vines and olives and crops are in patches that have been cultivated for centuries to take advantage of each individual micro-climate that each slope and hillside, and ravine offers to the crops being grown… We are so used to the beauty of “wilderness” and of “natural” (not crafted or managed by our hands) in the US, and in Italy it is the beautiful, rugged, rocky land that has been sculpted by our hands to bring the most delicious wines and olive oil and vegetables and livestock that is the most beautiful thing here. The landscape has captivated people for as long as it has been cultivated, I think, and you can see some of the most beautiful photographs—tens of thousands, I suppose, but none can do justice like seeing it with your eyes, each field and stone house from a unique perspective that no one else has ever seen… The thought of leaving, and of not being able to pick out a house and a farm, and to move in and to live in this beauty… well, those are the thoughts I had riding on that bus coming back to Siena from Montalcino…

Back to Montalcino—we arrived in the dark with no map of the town (it’s tiny!) but with the phone number of the agent who we rented from… with some words on the phone, and with directions from a cute little old wine shop owner, we easily made our way up a street, took the first left, passed through two piazza, and found Camere del Bacco on our left. The woman was there in a couple minutes, and we went up two flights of stairs—the first floor holding a convenient and cute kitchen, to our room on the second floor with a window facing out to the street. I asked the agent for suggestions for dinner and she gave me two—one was Bacchanal, and when we left we went to Bacchus, which turns out to be right before Bacchanal, but in the end we had a delightful experience and a wonderful dinner… We first stopped in a café wine shop (EVERY shop in Montalcino, from the tailor, to the the cafes, to the souvenir shops, are wine shops!) and went into the back room, the brick ceilinged “cantina” and looked over the wine list and ordered two glasses of 2001 Brunello (can’t remember the winery off hand) and enjoyed those glasses immensely, accompanied by the plate of bruschetta that was brought to our table gratis—just a large slice of freshly toasted bread, rubbed with garlic, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a little salt, and a little chopped tomato… mmmm….. it really can’t get much better than that…

So then we went to Bacchus for dinner. The restaurant is two small rooms, the first with just a large deli case with mom and dad and son Alessandro standing behind it, and another room with about 6 tables, and the walls lined with Brunello di Montalcino, and Rosso di Montalcino, and probably a few Chiantis… the wines were available by the bottle, at the shelf price, with a 1Euro each charge to drink it at the table… sign us up! We first chose a Talenti 2003 for 33 Euro, and then ordered—tagliatelle with cinghale (wild boar sauce) and Trudy had some ravioli… Alessandro brought two big Brunello glasses, and one small wine glass, and a decanter, and a glass funnel and the wine… he opened the wine, then poured a small amount into one of the large glasses, swirled to coat the entire inside, then poured that wine into the other large glass, swirled again, then poured that wine into the small glass and gave it to me to taste… interesting, and the first time I had ever seen this done… at first I thought he was rinsing the glasses, and would toss that wine, but no—it was to taste… so I did and it was good:) He then poured us a bit in our glasses, and poured the rest in the funnel in the top of the decanter, which served to aerate the wine as it went into the decanter. Most delicious dinner and the Brunello was outstanding.

We spent Monday walking, starting with cappuccini and coronetti (I think I mistakenly called them brioche earlier, but in Italy the croissants are called coronets) which come either plain, or filled with chocolate, cream, or marmalade… usually when I ask for the chocolate ones they are “already finished,” so settle for plain or cream). Then we walked, starting with the fort at the upper end of the city. To enter and pay the 4 euro to walk up the stairs and to walk around the entire wall, you entered into a wonderful enoteca to pay, then going upstairs there were a series of large rooms with an art show… then up a series of stairs and ladders to walk along the top of the wall, and to climb to the top of the towers at each corner. Wonder views all around, to the town below, the newer outskirts with more modern buildings, then off into the horizon in every direction to rolling hills of farms… Back in town we went into some shops, and found a wonderful jewelry shop—the owner was working in the shop, and she is a Japanese woman, and she spends most months in Montalcino, and a couple in Japan, and one in Canada, and does her buying abroad… her husband is also Japanese but works in international marketing—I think for Italian wines, which she said he is “passionate” about.

We went into a wonderful trattoria and had a plate of pecorino with honey—slices of pecorino and pears, with a little dish of honey in the middle… then ordered two bowls of Ribollata (did I mention that it was still cold outside???) and had a couple of glasses of Rosso di Montalcino and I finished with a café… all in all, a lovely way to spend two hours… then back to the room to relax and write a bit and read. In the room the internet never really came up as being available on my computer, but it magically worked perfectly the two days we were there.

We finished the day with some more walking, and a light dinner at a restaurant in a hotel… it was the only time in Italy that I can remember the waiter being a little pushy about eating more than a pasta plate and wine… he kept asking if we wanted more, bringing the menu by, and we finally relented by sharing a semifredo of chocolate with orange… it was as beautiful as it was delicious.

The next day was Bafana and we planned to leave on the 12:30 bus to Siena. Most stores, and our travel agency, were closed, but the bars and wine shops and some of the tourist shops were open. I went out earlier than Trudy, found tickets for the bus on my second try at a Tobbachi (many important things, including bus tickets, postage stamps, lottery tickets, cards to charge cellular phones, and regular phone cards are sold at the tobacco shops… but take note—most of them close during the ~13:00-15:00 afternoon lunch break.

Bafana marks the end of the holiday season in Italy. On the eve of the holiday (5 January) children put up stockings, and a spirit who seems to be part witch on a broom, and part Mrs. Claus brings goodies for the children, but is also used as a tool to bribe children, as they are told that Bafana can see through keyholes, so they know when children are being naughty… like our Santa Claus, who “knows when you are sleeping, knows when you’re awake, knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake…). I imagine most cultures and religions have something similar to attempt to make children mind for at least part of the year.

The town was coming out to the central plaza, Piazza Popolo, and the fire department was doing some exercises in the plaza—they had a rope running from the top of the clock tower and tied off on the back of a jeep… They were rappelling down the tower, but no one was holding the other end of the belay rope… then they took that second rappelling rope and tied it off to the jeep as well. A couple of them were getting set up in rapelling harnesses, and were climbing up the tower as we had to leave… we grabbed some pizza “porta via” (to go) at a little bakery right by the jeep, and wanted to watch to see what the next move was going to be, but had to go catch the bus. I figure they were going to do a decent along those two ropes, but we didn’t get to stay to find out. The piazza was full of people and families watching—very festive and fun to watch!

Pictures from Firenze...

Pictures from Firenze...

Before dinner at an Osteria near the apartment, by S. Ambrogio

... and after we devoured the bistecca Fiorentina!

A spot for a cappucino....

Shopping partners!

Firenze lights up its streets for the holiday...

Montalcino-5 gennaio

Two Smarts at once!

Looking upstream toward the Ponte Vecchio

Jessica's new purse---it looks better in person! This is at the outdoor market near P. Signoria... the fellow minding the stall was a cute Brazilian who has been in Florence for 4 years, working for the owner of this and 3 other stalls... they must do a good business with these carts--these and the ones in S. Lorenzo were all hoppin' busy during this holiday week...

5 gennaio (Jan 5-Montalcino)

It's Monday about 4:30 pm (8:30 am Phx, 7:30 am Tahoe), and Trudy and I have had a wonderful day walking around this little hill town, and walking around the perimiter of the town, looking at the valleys and mountains surrounding it... We had a wonderful light lunch with pecorino cheese with honey, and bowls of Ribollita soup--an area specialty, and some wine--Rosso di Montalcino--lighter and younger than the Brunellos...Tomorrow we will go back to Siena for a couple of days and then decide where to go from there--maybe still Puglia, or possibly stay on the Mediterranean side--Napoli, Sorrento??? Anyway, we have a blank slate after Siena, so will decide in the next few days... Yesterday morning we left Firenze at about noon. The train from Firenze to Montalcino is not near direct, so we took the bus to Siena, then to Montalcino.

But first, a little about the last couple of days in Firenze... on my last post, I talked a bit about new years eve, and posted a couple of pictures. The 31st was the day I went to Pisa to meet Trudy at the airport. Trudy took the obligatory shower after her flight from the US and I went to the supermarket to stock up... later we got ready for dinner at Trattoria Garga, and walked across Firenze to the restaurant. People were out across the city, strolling, talking, going in and out of the bars, and the piazze were full of locals and tourists. We stopped at the lovely bar at the corner of P. Signoria where the staff all wear crisp blue jackets, ties, startched white shirts (even for morning cappuccino!), made our way through the crowd and had glasses of prosecco.

Garga was wonderful--the staff was jovial and inviting, and our waiter was engaging and helpful, talking and explaining the dishes in english... We ordered a bottle of red wine, and proceeded to make our way through only two courses... I had a pasta dish with a citrus/cream sauce--like a lovely citrus fetticcini--very delicate but deeply delicious--Trudy had a risotto that she enjoyed immensely. For the second course Trudy had a veal with creamy avacado sauce--molto bene! I had a roasted lamb that I was a bit dissapointed with, but it in no way diminshed my enjoyment and admiration for the wonderful food and service at the restaurant. On the way out Signora Garga was at the front of the restaurant, and I told her how much we enjoyed our evening and our dinner, and told her that I had first read about the experience of new year's eve at the restaurant in the Saveur article, and she was very gracious, and said that they appreciate the comments, and that no matter how many times they year the compliments, they never get old. We said grazie, e buona sera, e auguri, and had kisses all around, and went out into the cold, windy streets, winding our way back to our apartment...

Trudy and I spent the next couple days shopping, eating, having wine, stopping in for cappucino... On new years day we walked a lot, and went across the Arno, and Trudy indulged me in my request to attend the vespers and mass at San Miniato abbey... the church has 3 or 4 different altars and we went to the one at the farthest back of the church, and soon the priests and monks came in and took their places behind the altar, and began their songs and chants... a beautiful sound that I have loved since I was very young and we visited my uncle Bobby--Brother Dominic, at the monistery in California where he lived for many years... we sat on cold marble steps at the back of the chapel, where there were about 10-15 pews (very small) which were filled with tourists, and locals, with the older women in their fur coats and fur hats--and listened throughout the 1 hour + mass... we did leave after 1 hour and 15 minutes when they started communion... it was a wonderful experience for me, and Trudy enjoyed it as well... So far on this trip I have attended the english mass at Florence's Duomo (only about 1/2 hour!) and have lit candles in 3 or 4 churches for my mother and for Rose (who is like my grandmother--and lives in the Bay Area), and have visited many churches, both to look at the splendor of the art, and to sit and be silent, and to pray in my way for those who I love as well as those for whom I wish the best, no matter our relationship...

Me at San Miniato, overlooking Florence.

Ok, Florence... Trudy and I walked our feet off, shopping, eating (ok, you already got this routine!) and taking in the best of the city. I had already visited all of the museums and churches that I came to see, and could have visited them all again, and will do so on my next trip and my next... We did some shopping at the outdoor San Lorenzo market, as well as at the wonderful indoor/outdoor market at S. Ambrogio near our apartment. Here are pics of inside and out:

Here is an electric car--which is bigger, the car or the motorcycle???

Every bit of Florence was fantastic, but by Sunday (4 gennaio) I was ready to move on to smaller towns with more countryside... next... Siena and Montalcino...

ciao, tutti!

Buon Anno!

Trudy and me on New Year's Eve at Trattoria Garga in Florence!

It's Friday morning, and I have a lot to write about, but will probably not get to everything today... On Wednesday I took the train to Pisa, which has an eay airport connection-the airport is just a few minutes from the downtown train station, and there is a 5 minute train connection... anyway, I got to the airport, ducked into the bathroom, had a quick cappuccino at the bar, and in less than 5 minutes of standing at the arrival gate, Trudy showed up! Unlike my late flight, hers got in about 20 minutes early. It was great to see her, and we took the train to Pisa, then got a train to Florence about 20 minutes later.

We walked from the station to the apartment, rolling Trudy's suitcase. We walked through the San Lorenzo market so she could get a taste of the shopping to come... back at the apartment she took a shower and I ran over to the local supermarket--since it was new years eve, most of the stores were closing early, and we needed the basics... coffee, wine, cantucci, cheese, olives, bread, milk, pears, mandarins... we had a nice light lunch with some wine, and then went out to walk around a bit before going out to dinner.

Our hosts, Mariaclaudia, Gianluca, and 3 year old Giacomo, were getting ready for a new years party, and they invited us to come after dinner for a new years toast with them and their friends... we got ready to go to dinner and walked to Trattoria Garga... I think I wrote about this already in this blog--it is the restaurant that I have been wanting to go to new years eve dinner since reading that fabulous article... so we walked through our neighborhood, and along the Arno for the beautiful views upstream and downstream from the various bridges... just magical tonight with pretty clear skies and lights outligning the domes and towers, and glittering onto the arno... fantastic.

It's 1:00 and we haven't left the apartment yet--Mariaclaudia came over for coffee and we talked for the last couple hours, so I will finish the new years eve post later... ciao tutti, e buon anno, e auguri!

E martedi in Firenze

It's Tuesday--I woke this morning to a crystal blue sky--halleluiah! A day without a fleece, AND a raincoat, AND hat and gloves is just fine by me! I had a quick caffe e latte at the hotel, just to wake up but not for pleasure, checked out and left my backpack--which has somehow grown, and I have only bought two books and a small bottle of contact lens soulution--maybe it's just sloppy packing... I stopped for a quick cappucino and was at the door of the Ufizzi for those with reservations at 9:15-- the tickets give you a 15 minute window, but I swear nobody ever actually looks at the ticket. But, at every museum and church that I have visited, at some point early in the visit, at one of the many turns and entrances to rooms and hallways, someone does stop you to tear off the stub, leaving you with the remainder of the ticket. All of the tickets are the same, so I now have about 8 stubs--one way to somehow remember all of the wonderful places--the unbelievable art--that I have seen.

I began this trip, like those before, sure that I would write a decipherable diary of the places, the restaurants, the museums, the shops, but once again there is too much to do, and by the time I sit to write (like now) I just can't muster up the time to go back to my ticket stubs, my guide books, and my maps to chronicle my journey... Also, I have not bought a guide book to the art of Florence, which would have been a really good idea... I have ripped out the Florence pages of my Rick Steves' 2005 Italy gide, and also the pages of the 2009 Lonely Planet book that I bought for this trip (I would have used my 2005 Steves but he doesn't cover southern Italy) and have paged through them to be sure I don't miss the highlights... then I have gone through every room and every gallery of each of the places I've visited, reading what every english translations they offer. Some, like the Uffizi today, have a short statement in Italian and in English for just about every piece, but a lot of the info describes the piece's journey to the Ufizzi...

So, it was just me and about a hundred Asian tour groups in the Ufizzi--they have a strategy where each group of about 20 completely surrounds the piece, barring the way to read the inscription or to get up close--pretty irritating until I put on my iPod with a bit of Italian pop, a bit of Pavarotti, and tried to pretend that they weren't there... it worked pretty well... I loved the amazing golden guilded and framed altar pieces from the early--12th to 14th centuries... then the Lippis and the Botticellis--so soft and spiritual. I love Michalengelo's Holy Family--the painting in the round guilded frame with the crazy heads sculpted into it--for a man known for his sculpture, he sure could paint... you see the same attention to the body, with depth and muscles, as you see in his sculptures. I don't know very much about renaissance art, but I have read a little about Michalengelo and this period and am fascinated... I saw his sculptures the last few days in other museums, and of couse the David... There is so much to know about art--to imagine the many thousands of works of art that exist and the magnificent restorations, and the people who have studied and chronicled this art... there are piles and piles of books in all of the shops--from highly specialized to general--it's impossible to imagine how captivated people have been over the millenia by all of this genius and talent and spirit and belief... of everything I have seen, I'd say about 70% is Jesus and Mary--either haloed Mary with baby Jesus, or Jesus' crucifiction... and the other 30% is murder and massacre--either of the general populace or of particular saints...

After the Ufizzi I still had an hour or so, so stopped for another capuccino and a brioche, and walked along the Arno... I took a picture coming off the Ponte Vecchio so you could see how busy this place is... but luckily you can go just a couple streets away and it's lovely and pleasant and free of tourists--this is what it looked like this morning, and a pic of the polizia, who walk around with these white patent leather bags with who-knows-what in them:

I had to take some pics of this room and its adorable kitchen/cupboard:

Ciao for now... it's almost 17:00 and I am off to explore my neighborhood... and Mariaclaudia has recommended a restaurant near Santa Croce, so I will walk a bit, then go early as she suggested (19:00) and then on the way home stop to buy some milk for my caffe latte in the morning. ciao tutti!

The Oltrarno

These are the pics from across the Arno--the Oltrarno:

These are from the Ponte alle Grazie where I crossed over to the Oltrarno--the one on the left looking upstream, and the ones on the right looking downstream toward the Ponte Vecchio.

This is Santa Croce church and piazza:

Today I walked to the Santa Croce area, and saw the church and sat on a bench in the square for a bit, then walked along the Arno for a ways... it is so picturesque--such a broad river, lined by high banks and by buildings all along... and the series of bridges set apart, and all different. Today, with the clouds lifted, I could see the hills and mountains with snow ringing the city, and it was a spectacular site. I walked across the arno, and followed the signs (how not like Italy to have a way guided so well with directional signs) to Piazzele Michalangelo with the bronze (I think) statue of the maestro:

then up many more stairs to a church/abbey--all with magnificent views of the city! The church was surrounded by ornategraves and families' mausoleums--I took some pictures, but then paid the beggar at the door of the church, plus paid a few euro to light some candles for my relatives, so perhaps that will compensate for taking the pictures?

It was a relaxing day after dashing from museum to museum over the last couple of days. I am getting to know my neighborhood, and stopped in a little bar--had a proscuitto and formaggio pannino and a Moretti beer, then was lulled by one of the hundreds of gelato shops for a little cioccolato/tiramisu cup of gelato!

I am going to the Ufizzi tomorrow at 9:00 and have to have my luggage packed since I won't be back before check out time--I'll leave my things at the desk, spend a few hours at the Ufizzi, then go to the new apartment that Trudy has rented--it's near the Academia, about a 10 minute walk from here.ciao, tutti!