Siena Day 1

It's a beautiful day in Siena! Starting off quite cool this morning, 38° or 41° depending on which phone we look at, but warming up to the high 60s this afternoon. This is also the first time in my life I've woken up to pigeons cooing. At least it's a...calm...sound.

First things first, we wanted to get over to Piazza del Campo, the center, before it gets crowded with tourists. Siena is another town bringing back memories from our trip in '02. It's probably the largest Piazza we've been to so far, at least it sure feels that way. Although considering the palio is done here twice a year, it makes the space seem small to have such a popular race. We got here early enough it was pretty much devoid of people so was very nice to just soak it all in.

While here, dad and I reenact a photo from the last trip at the entrance to the steps of Torre del Mangia. Kinda sorta, not really. We may have been posing differently. And I was a little shorter back then.

Leaving the campo, we meander the streets looking at the various shops that still aren't open yet. Italians don't seem to be early birds. Most non-food shops don't open until on or after 10:00am. Late for us early birds! For such narrow streets, cars pass by very frequently. Maybe it's the time of morning, but it's car after car. And boy the zip right around people standing on the side. They're obviously very used to it, both the pedestrians and the drivers.

After the bit of walking it's time for a mid-morning snack! Mom saw a coffee bar - Pasticceria Nannini - and wanted to check it out. Very popular place! She picked out a creme-filled donut for herself and chocolate cornetto for me. Unfortunately for me neither of us knew it was chocolate creme-filled and not just plain ol' chocolate on the inside. Oh well! The two cappuccinos were tasty. This coffee bar is also conveniently close to the apartment.

After meandering the streets a little more, we head back to the apartment for a siesta and search for a lunch spot. We decide on Osteria la Chiacchera, which is a whopping four minutes walk away. I just don't know how we'll make it.

This is the first time I've eaten at a restaurant on a slope worthy of San Francisco. Makes for an interesting dining experience. We actually pick a seat outside today. Usually we avoid outdoor seating because of all the smokers and also crowds of people, but the side street was pleasantly quiet and no one else outside. Except as I say "quiet" the picture shows a group of tourists at the bottom of the hill. Yep. As we're eating, big groups of people go up and down the hill. Mostly kids. Must be some kind of school break here.

As an appetizer, we ordered a mixed bruschetta plate which included toppings of tomatoes, a pepper mix (very tasty), mayo and parsley, and chicken liver.

Main courses were pici caci o pepe (pici pasta with cheese and pepper), tagliatelle with pork, and roasted vegetables. The pici is a traditional pasta of the region and was delicious. The tagliatelle was also very good. The roasted vegetables were served cold, which we weren't expecting, and I don't think were overly seasoned, if at all, but offset the richness of the pasta.

Just a few steps down from the restaurant and there's an incredible view. Wow.

Bellies full, we walk up an alley in the building. Everyone that came into this street popped out from that alley so it must lead somewhere. And boy does it!

This is Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico. We continued to walk towards it and it's a massive structure. It's impressive what they built back then. Truly.

And then the view of the city and the Duomo di Siena. Breathtaking.

Leaving the view behind, we continue walking past the basilica until we reach a wall. A very tall wall. Turns out this is the Fortezza Medicea.

This is a popular tour group route (back to their buses) and we figure they must know where they're going so we follow the tour group to find the entrance to the wall. We basically walk a full circuit of the wall before finding the entrance. Pretty funny. But find it, we do, and we venture inside what is now a public park! A group of guys are playing cricket on the open area and steps lead up to the higher part of the wall where you get a view of the city. Inside the structure is nothing spectacular but just the size of the structure itself is impressive. And of course you have almost a 360 view of the city if you walk the perimeter of the wall.

Now time to head back toward the apartment and gelato! Can't miss our post-lunch gelato. And...it's back to Grom. Mom likes her affogato al caffe too much. And ironically, this shop doesn't have affogato al caffe, only a hot chocolate version. Hilarious. So she gets a small cup of coffee gelato to make her own affogato at home and I get mango and basically their version of what reminds me of tutti fruiti - it was lemon and blueberry, with chunks of cherry, so tasted like a lemon blueberry muffin. It's alright, I'm not a huge lemony dessert lover but the mango was chef's kiss.

Dinner tonight is a conglomeration of many deli dishes from a cocktail bar - Gastronomia Morbidi Cocktail Bar. I don't even remotely know the names of any of these dishes but I'm general terms, we have: lentils, beans in olive oil, tomatoes with breadcrumbs, eggplant with breadcrumbs and mozzarella, carmelized onions, and trout salad. All in all, extremely delicious. But each dish itself was very rich with flavor so eating all together was a bit much towards the end. Nevertheless, we polished our plates!

This ends our first day in Siena. Looking forward to more tomorrow!

Ciao!