Dia Diciannove … San Gimignano and Siena

The huge Piazza del Campo in Siena.

After a great breakfast we leave for San Gimignano, which is only about 20 kilometers away. Driving through more lush hills we spot farmhouses, a castle, and archeological sites on hills throughout the region. There are olive groves, grapevines stretched on rows of wire, fields of wheat, and wild poppies. It is magnificent. We manage to stay on the lovely side roads and arrive in San Gimignano – another hilltop town – just seconds after our parking Angel clears another space for us.

This town seems happy and prosperous with more going on than in Volterra. We wander about a bit, gawking at the now-more-familiar antiquities and street scenes. Around one corner we come across a street market with goods, rather than produce and find a terrific lightweight coat for Dennis. My man’s got Italian style! Albeit in blue, but blue with a bit of an attitude ;-).

We purchase a couple of other souvenirs we’ve been looking for, tour the rest of the sights and head out to the car. The four elderly Italian gentlemen who were there when we parked are still there, and have a couple of new additions helping them watch the world go by.

The drive to Siena is through country that is very much the same, but it is clear coming into the city that it is much larger. Funny, none of the maps we have show these cities as different sizes. Their dots are all the same, the font for the names are the same, but clearly the towns aren’t. It’s like they got together and agreed that nobody’s could be bigger than anybody else’s – which I suspect is how the whole country gets along now. Of course, in the old days, bigger always won (or got to write the revisionist history)!

So, we realize that finding a place to stay could be easy, because there will likely be lots, but finding a place to stay that is near anything may be trickier and we are just here for one night. So we find the old walled centre and keep the walls in sight while scanning for accommodation signs – somewhat easy; and available parking – almost impossible! At one point, Dennis double parks while I run into Hotel Villa Elda to check for space. When I hear the price of the last room they have to offer I tell them that is more than I want to spend, so they drop the price. Cool. It is a lovely room off the garden, like a private little oasis. We grab it.  (In fact that’s where I am sitting now as I write this – with a glass of vino bianco frizzante.)

This room is a ten-minute walk from the old city of Siena and even the views walking over are sublime. I take my usual photos of the things that catch my attention, and since I have recently noticed the cross of the Knights Templar with equal length sides, but the ends of the cross pieces are wider than the middle intersection point, I am now seeing them in a variety of different places. I can see why following these symbols could become intoxicating, because I wonder about the stories behind the sites where I see them. Hopefully the pictures will show the fascinating aspects of the city.

We love the large central Piazza del Campo that is so different from other towns. It is sloped both towards the centre and down toward the church to create a natural runoff collection point. The “square” is also an interesting form made of nine spear headed shapes all coming together along their edges and points, making a fan shape, each one having a slightly different brick colour. These areas represent the Council of Nine that governed the city in medieval times. The plaza is famous because twice a year, bareback horse races take place around the plaza in an event called The Palio. There is much pageantry with flag throwing competitions, lots of betting and participants are outfitted in medieval costume. The Palio has been going on since 1283 and pits the 17 parishes of Siena one against the other until all but one has been eliminated. The guy who wins it – I am assuming it is all guys – gets a banner to prove he is number one.

It is thrilling to be here and it would be cool if they left the flags up all year long, but then I guess that would be like leaving the Christmas lights up. We imagine the flags of the 17 competitors based on all the “scarves” that the souvenir vendors are selling.

After eating unamazing food, we amble back to our great room and sit in the garden, drinking wine and writing to you all.

Tomorrow we head for Arezzo and two days in the country. Ciao!