This was a full day! We began the day going to Siena. Siena is a no car town, so you park outside of the walled city and walk in. Kudos to Melissa for seeing the sign for the escalator. There were 5 lengths of the escalator to get to the top of the city. We would have needed a half hour to catch our collective breaths if we had hiked that hill. (Tony was disappointed he couldn't walk the hill, but he handled it like a trooper, and, as the title suggests, there were two more hill towns to go!)
Siena is a town of post card photos. There is charm everywhere. The Duomo is a beautiful marble building that sits high on marble steps, adding to its significant presence. The real money shot is the entrance to Piazza Pubblico, a huge round bowl of a piazza with an imposing tower. What I have learned from planning this trip is that photos really do not capture how Siena sucks you in. This piazza makes you want to stop and just people watch. It feels like you have no where else you should or want to be. It is alluring, but you have no way of knowing that by these pictures or any pictures on the internet.
Late one night at home, dreaming of this trip, I had stumbled upon a travel video from Siena where these two American tourists found a little sandwich shop called Gino Cacino did Angelo. Thankfully the video showed a bougainvillea-covered doorway. Google was sending us in another direction. We found it and ordered a cornucopia of meats ad cheeses, crostini, and of course, sandwiches. We were happy to have Bill and Melissa there to broaden our culinary experimentation. Those panini were amazing. Perfect bread. Perfectly oozy. I could go back for more. We then enjoyed gelato in the Piazza Pubblico and people watched. It was quite charming.
A word about gelato... Since arriving in Italy, our gelato consumption has been sparse. I know you have been concerned about that, especially since we were in a training in London. I would like you to rest assured that we are getting back on our regimen and may even have double up days before we leave Italy.
We hit a couple of shops, took a few pictures, and extracted our car via 3000 point turns from the parking garage. We were off to our next hill town, Cortona. Bill and Melissa were heading there for a few days before flying out of Rome. A good portion of the drive was considering whether the Golf was a small enough car to navigate Cortona streets. We decided it was too big and parked outside the town walls and walk Bill and Melissa up the hill. The first narrow left turn up a steep hill confirmed our decision. Tony was thrilled, he got his hill walk, carrying luggage no less. He genuinely looked at me and said, "This is great!" with an ear to ear grin. The rest of us trudged uphill until their beautiful hotel was upon us. It was a former monetary that had been pristinely updated.
After the checked in, we walked down to the square for wine tasting at Molini's wine shop. Bill and Melissa were familiar with the proprietor, Marco, from other visits. We enjoyed a couple of reds and did
a little wandering. Like Siena, this town's charm pulls you in. It feels like a village where you can get lost. Or where every one knows everyone. The buildings had these great little architectural details. We were sad to go, but wanted to be closer to home when the sun went down. We bid arrivederci to Bill and Melissa and headed home.
Keen observers will note they were promised three hill towns with this post, yet only two have been delivered. We made a game time decision to stop at Casole d'Elsa, a little village about 15 minutes from our hotel. We had our eye on an Osteria that had live jazz. After hiking up the hill, we learned that restaurant didn't have their eyes on us; they were closed? We found a cozy place for dinner, which was important because it was really cold outside. We enjoyed a nice dinner. Tony got a farro and bean soup and pici (a fat spaghetti) with ragu. I got a tubular noodle I had never heard of with roasted onions and gorgonzola cream and sausage and beans for my second course. We had warm bellies and braced ourselves for the chilly walk back to the car.
In addition to being a charming hill town with arched passageways and cobblestone streets, it is an art community. There were a number of installations throughout the town, some interesting, like these heads made out of glass or these painted umbrellas. There were traditional sculptures and paintings dotting the piazzas and walkways. The most memorable installation (to me at least) was the collection of, what appeared to be, zombie people. This one where they're all facing away with their torn clothes and then the zombie guy who appears to be relieving himself in a hallway. I had to look up the name of the town to write this post because I have been calling it Zombie Town.
We got out before the zombie apocalypse and made it safely home.
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