Siena

Along the way to Siena we made a brief stop at the hilltop fortified city of Monteriggioni. The city was started around 1120ad but the church, Chesapeake di Santa Maria, wasn’t built until the 13th century. The wall is complete all around the city but is being restored in many places.  The homes would back up to the wall with enough space between the wall and the house for a garden, olive trees and a place for the animals.

As we stepped into the Il Campo in the middle of Siena I was in awe!  It’s a clam shell shaped Piazza that once was a field outside the city wall which encircled the cathedral.  In the 1200’s the campo expanded, became a market place and the central meeting point for neighboring districts.  Still today, they have a competition between the districts in the form of a horse race called The Palio di Siena.  Ten districts race horses with jockeys around the outer edge of the Campo in a no-holds-barred race.  The jockeys push and shove, fall off and the horse keeps going and can be declared a winner even if it has no rider.

Near the center of the Campo is the Fountain of Joy. It reminds the people that life in Siena is good. The Duomo of Saint Mary was built during the 13th century but because of the lines we did not go inside.  We enjoyed walking the side streets and getting away from the crowds.  Many streets were lined with colorful street lights.

As we strayed from the center of Siena we found the Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico.  It was a rather plain church except for the vivid stain glassed windows over the alter.  The front doors were copper, three dimensional scenes from Jesus’ life.  But the best part was the view of the Duomo from the back side.  One can truly sense the massive size of this church.

The evening was the highlight of the day though.  A chef and his assistant prepared a huge dinner for us at the Villa which included three enormous T-bone steaks cooked to perfection over wood coals.  They not only prepared the meal but they served us, wined us, dined us and then cleaned it all up before they left.  We also celebrated Pam-Pam’s birthday with candles and song.