Sunday, November 2, 2008

Italy - Day 3 (Siena & Chianti)

By day three, our jetlag was gone. We woke up at a normal time of 7:00AM and had breakfast at the hotel. The standard breakfast in Italian hotels is fairly minimum: cappuccino, orange juice, pastry, yogurt, and fruit. My favorite thing (besides the fresh-out-of-the-oven croissants) was the yogurt and granola. The hotels throughout the rest of out trip all offered yogurt, but none were as good.After breakfast, we strolled around town a little, observing life in Siena. And after 3 days in Italy, we learned a couple of things:
(1) All old Italian ladies look alike, and...(2) Italian guys really do carry purses.Eventually, our morning walk led us to the Siena Duomo. Unfortunately, it didn't open until 10:30am. To fill the time, we entered the Duomo Musuem. The art was mediocre, especially compared to what we'd see in Florence and Rome, but the views from the museum's "Panorama del Facciatone" made it well worth it.
Duomo, as seen from the Panorama del Facciatone....City Tower and Il Campo, as seen from the Panorama del Facciatone....
The Siena Duomo.
I love how relaxed the rules were in this cathedral. Some cathedrals don't allow cameras, some allow cameras but no tripods. This place allowed everything.We had lunch at Osteria La Chiacchera, a small restaurant in a hilly alleyway (notice the angled table and stool supports). The restaurant had 4 outdoor tables, each seating 4 people. When we arrived 3 tables were completely open, while the 4th was occupied by one couple. Naturally, we expected to be seated at one of the open tables. Instead, the hostess sat us with the other couple. We saw the same thing happen to two other couples who arrived separately. It must be a cultural difference...Italians like things close and cozy. The meal was excellent, and better valued than most of the meals on our trip. After lunch, we went on a 5-hour tour of the Chianti region. Here's a map showing our route. The tour started in Siena (point-A) and headed north into the Chianti region. The first stop (not shown on the map) was a hilltop vantage point in Chianti. From there we were able to look back at Siena.... The second stop (point-B) was in the small town of Radda-in-Chianti. There Brooke and I had, what was to be our afternoon ritual, coffee in a bar. At Italian bars, the price of food and drinks often depends on whether you sit or stand. An espresso might cost 1 euro when standing at the bar, 2 euros when sitting inside, and 3 euros if sitting outside. The third stop was the even smaller town of Vertine (point-C). The tour guide said the town had only 30 residents. Our fourth and final stop was a winery, Castello d'Albola. We got a quick tour of the cellars and a tasting of about 2 chardonnays, 3 chiantis, olive oil, and grappa. Brooke and I had never tried grappa before. In case you don't know what it is...it's a distilled liquor made from the left over parts of the grape from wine production (skins, seeds, stems). From this one experience, we've concluded that grappa is crappa. We made it back just after sunset, plenty of time for us to say good bye to Siena with an evening stroll....

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