S unday, we forgot about the time change and woke up an hour after we had thought. Siena is once again nine hours ahead of California. We were thankful to sleep in, but quickly got ready and headed out for Pisa. After a two hour drive, we arrived to rain as we hit the streets. We were starving, and since it was Sunday, most places were closed. A little wandering led us to a small Osteria filled with Italians, so we decided to dine.

we should have eaten here instead

The Gnocci al roquefort was good. For our segundis, I ordered the Chingiale (wild boar) and Todd ordered Tonna (tuna). The second courses came. My Chingiale was sparse, and overwhelmed by olives. There must have been at least thirty olives to each bite of meat! I couldn’t eat it, and turned to Todd’s tuna. He let me have a bite, and I convinced him to trade me the very over cooked tuna for my plate of olives. I gobbled town the tuna telling myself, it will all be over soon, and Todd did his best to force down the chingiale dish. The kicker: an Italian man next to us ordered the same Chingiale dish I did, execept he was served big pieces of wild boar and only a few olives. We had been shorted!

on to the tower.

After “lunch” we strolled toward the piazza that has the famed tower. It was actually very cool to see something that large and solid be so oddly shaped. It kind of has a banana curve. We examined the tower and visited the Duomo (cathedral) and the circular bapistry and the old cemetery. We strolled with the tourists for a while and then hit the road for home.

We made it just in time to go over to our friend Alessandra’s house for a wonderul home cooked Italian spread. It definitely made up for the cruddy lunch.

O ur weekend started out with a journey to volterra on saturday. there, we enjoyed seeing the ruins of the roman amphitheater, and walking along the windy brick laden roads.

during our walk, we saw a nice fort-like structure, which seemed to be part of the cities wall. we headed in that direction, and through a nice park where we could see ourselves having a picnic had it been a nice day. when we reached the end of the park, we stood at the base of the fort, but there was no way in. our trip to the castle had me wondering if we should do some climbing, but instead we followed the base of the fort around to the other side. there has to be an entrance somewhere, right?

it turns out that this “fort” was the state prison. no doubt there is a way in – getting out might be the real challenge.

for an upcoming chow story about tuscan food, becky, alessandra and i embarked on a food finding mission at city center.

from left to right: good, great, gone.

C how asked me to go on a food finding expedition for florentine (call it tuscan) fare. among the food on the list is an assortment of deserts, pastas, and meats. how could i say no.

alessandra, becky and i went to antica trattoria papei, a smallish restaurant in siena known for their meat. when the bistecca arrived, we knew we made the right choice.

the first day we were in italy, i asked our landlord to recommend a place for lunch. you know, a small dish of pasta, a panini, or maybe a salad. he replied, “well there’s a bar across the street from the mcdonalds, but it serves italian sandwiches, not american sandwiches, like mcdonalds.”

there’s a lot wrong with what andreas said, but who’s to argue. it’s been years since i’ve been to mcdonalds, so i figured what better time to go than when you’re running on empty and in another country. filet of fish, fries and a coke – sure i’ll take a large. done and delicious, thanks ronald.

the side door of the castle, which we wouldn’t see until crawling through a briar patch

T the same group of trekkers that we joined for our tour of Giardino dei Tarocchi invited on another “walk”. Ready for a little exercise, and a little tour, we accepted, and began our day early with a drive through the beautiful rolling Tuscan hills. We passed old villages that time forgot and about an hour or so later arrived at our destination.

The second we got out of the car, I realized I didn’t dress warm enough… but that problem was quickly solved by “walking”. I use the term loosely because, man, it was a HIKE. Along the way to the top of the mountain, we stopped at a couple of marble quarries, where once upon a time, they mined the rose colored marble for the floors Siena’s Duomo.

After we arrived at the top of the mountain, we enjoyed the views for a brief moment. I sat down on a rock, and noticed beside me a million lady bugs, all nestled in the cracks of the rocks. i’ve never seen so many! Our guide pointed out that we still had some hiking to do, and the Castle, our destination was another mountain away.

We walked back down and around the ridge, when we lost the trail. We ended up having to crawl (yes I said it CRAWL) up an animal path back to the main road. It was very entertaining… it would have been down right funny if the little bushes weren’t covered in mean prickly thorns!

Finally, we arrived at the abandonded Castle and had a nice picnic lunch, complete with some “Saint’s Wine” that our Italian friend’s father made. The castle is now abandoned but once housed the powerful Bishop who oversaw the silver mines don’t think we didn’t go there too. down below.

We had our picnic and wine then all laid around in the sun for a quick siesta. Re-energized, we began our quick “walk” up ANOTHER mountain to find the silver mines. By the time we had arrived it was late afternoon (we started climbing the first mountain about 9.30am) and the wind was whipping around something fierce. It didn’t stop us… no siree! We all got out our flashlights and headed into an old abandoned cave-like mine. It was very cool.

By 5pm we were all tuckered out and ready for the trip back home. Needless to say, Todd and I were in bed by 9.30!

After a relaxing Saturday, we were ready for an adventure, so on Sunday we headed out to an old walled city called Perugia. Perugia is located in Umbria, a small province East of Tuscany. The outskirts of Perugia are industrial, developed, and not very appealing, but once you reach the city center, it almost looks like the place time forgot. I say almost, because amidst the wonderful ancient arches, worn cobbled streets, and beautiful buildings are shops. Lots and lots of shops.

We had read that there was a park with old Roman ruins, but we walked around and around and could not find it. Finally, we found a cave like entrance on the side of a hill, and decided to just go inside and check it out.

As luck would have it, this was the “park”! We had stumbled up an old underground street system! It was amazing, arches and iron fixtures jetting out of the wall to hold torches. The streets wound around and around. In ancient times, they provided protection from war, as the people of Perugia could carry on with life, underground! We imagined the streets bustling with shops and people as we rounded the corner…

It turns out that Perugia was hosting the Umbrian Wine Festival in the very underground streets that we stumbled upon. We each paid 10, and tasted wines from all over Umbria. We had a perfect chance to practice our Italian and the wine makers got to practice their English :)

It was a very lucky and happy find.

T here are tons of torn up posters lining the walls of siena. the artist in me is drawn to the chaotic mix of color and type, and i love words in different languages. it’s the fonts. seeing these posters in italy strikes an accord with the film buff and cyclist in me too. while walking the tuscan streets, formed from dirt and cobbled marble, it’s hard to ignore images from “Ladri di biciclette.”

the film tells the story of a man who has been unemployed for months, and is finally given a job pasting up posters. the only catch is that he needs a bicycle to get from wall to wall, so his proud wife pawns the linens off of their own bed to purchase a bike. translated, the title “the bicycle thief” gives away what happens next. the poor man loses his new bicycle during the first day of work. without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity.

pasting up posters, and readying the ride

a tale of pride, enduring hardship and overcoming loss, this film is one of my favorites, and not just because of a bicycle. pick it up from your local video spot, netflix it, and share with a friend. note: it’s subtitled, but will not disappoint.

flowers in hand, mimosas given to ladies everywhere

We went out to dinner with our neighbors on Thursday night and all of the women at our table had these little yellow flowers with them. As soon as I joined the group and took my seat, the waiter rushed over and gave me some the flowers. One of the women told me that today was a holiday, although, none of us realized it because we still had to go to work.

Festa della Donna is a women’s day celebration. Authorities don’t agree how or why, but the custom started in Italy, some sources say in Rome in 1946, of men giving their wives, mothers, daughters, and other women friends sprigs of bright yellow Mimosa flowers on March 8. – It was a very nice surprise.