Siena

Beautiful Siena is only 45 minutes from where we are living in Italy. We took advantage of a sunny day to head to this jewel of a city. We visited the Duomo, a spectacular testament to the determination of the Sienese to build an impressive church to rival Florence, their arch enemy of the time. It was begun in 1200 and has work within by many of the most famous of artists of the times--Michelangelo, Donatello, Dell Quercia, Bernini, Pisano. Everywhere you look, from the blue and white striped columns, to the star studded indigo ceilings, the marble floors, and high altar and Piccolomini Library, it is awe inspiring. Described as a virtual treasure box, it is.





The first thing we did is make a beeline for the best pasticceria (Nannini - La Conca d'Oro, www.grupponannini.it) to purchase Panforte. Siena is really the only reliable source of this wonderful confection. Here they have many different flavors; we indulged in a slice each of dark panforte (which has candied melon instead of citron, cocoa and chillies, and white or and Margharita (in honor of the Queen of Italy who attended the Palio in Siena in 1879). As legends go, I always heard that panforte was made popular during the Crusades as a dense and satisfying type of power bar that sustained crusaders on their long rides, hence pan forte or strong bread. I've read other versions of its origin but I'm sticking with this one. We also bought Ricciarelli, almond cookies but really little ovals of heavenly flavor, Sienese candied fruit cookies called Cavalucci and Copate, delicate discs of nougat. To wash it all down: Vin Santo, nectar of the gods. Note: I have recipes for all of these tasty treats in a book I purchased here, Tuscan Desserts Pastries, Cakes and Sweets. If anyone is interested, let me know. I can put the recipes in a future blog.

Siena is unique in that the tiny city, covering just 2.5 square kilometres, has 17 distinct neighborhoods or contrade. These are self-governing entities that survived from the classical times and the Middle Ages to today are thriving as a kind of social and dining club, neighbourhood improvement association, religious confraternity and mutual assistance fund. More importantly, these contrade become rivals in the famous Palio. The Palio is a yearly horse race that takes place in the Campo, a large square in the center of the city. The contest dates back to at least 1283, the earliest record of the race. Each of the 17 contrade are represented by an animal. The one below is the district of the snail which is represented throughout the neighborhood. You can see these totems throughout the city.
Jack, a regular Houdini, gets rewarded for his wayward ways and hasty escapes by accompanying us on all of our excursions. On our park walk in Siena, Jack got lots of attention from two little girls who, when I looked over at the group, were talking away to a confused Tom.


We stopped for lunch at a great spot in the Terzo di Citta section of Siena, I Maestri. We sat next to a couple from London whose children had given them a week in Italy for their Christmas present. We quickly struck up a friendship as is often the case when you meet other visitors (who also speak English). The owner of the restaurant was proud of his faire and hovered over us when he presented each plate to see if we liked it. We did. Tom had a wonderful plate of Pici (earlier blog), bistecca (steak) and fried carciofi (artichokes), I had chicken cacciatora that was superb. In these enormous glasses we drank a bottle of red wine. The large bottle was a prop that the proprietor (behind me) insisted in including in the photo suggested that we drank a very big bottle in our very big glasses.