22-29 April 2024

We left the cousins in the Veneto and cruised south to Siena. Robert visited Siena with Bonnie for the first time in 1995 PB (Pre Blog). This time, we headed for an apartment Bonnie found close to the city center where we are staying for a month. Here we hope to get a better grasp on Italian life, although we are surrounded by more tourists than we expected. But at this time of year many of the tourists are Italian. From this base in the middle of Tuscany we plan to take day trips to explore the region.

On the way . . . Autogrill of course

Lodging

After temporarily parking our car in a paid spot as close as possible to the center of Siena, we shlepped our luggage on a drizzly ten-minute walk in search of our apartment. After we settled briefly, we headed back out to move the car a little farther away to a large free parking lot in the shadow of a Medici fort. The city center is a ZTL (zone of traffic limited) but the city provides extensive parking at the edges of town for cars and tour buses. And unlike Rome, the city is blessed with an abundant supply of taxis. We plan to use one when we depart with our luggage.

Robert calls the apartment the grandmother’s suite because small touches of decor seem quaint (outdated). But the apartment is spacious with an updated kitchen and an oh-so-valuable washing machine. We are on the primo piano (first floor above ground level), so there is only one steep set of worn stone steps to climb. Quite manageable.

Our building lies only a block off the main shopping and strolling street, but this block has a much quieter, local feel. Robert shops at the bakery two doors down. The local cafe offers caffe corretto for two euros. Quite reasonable. Conad, the main supermarket, is only a ten-minute walk, just outside the limited traffic zone.

One unique aspect of each city is how and when they pick up garbage/recycling. (Very exciting for us to figure out.) Every city seems to have its own way to sort (what do we do with glass?) and its own schedule for pickup. In Siena, the pickup is every day, including Sundays. You just leave the small secured bags, color-coded by type of refuse, on the street. CHRIS: Apparently they do not have the rat problem you experienced in New York.

Robert quickly supplemented the kitchen supplies. (Most people probably stay in the apartment only a few days and don’t cook much.) One month for us required a few additions—chef’s knife, dish towels, frying pan bigger than four inches, cutting board, and larger clothes drying rack. Washing machines here are small, so Robert runs a load every few days. Bonnie is baffled by the controls, like most Americans here. And there are no clothes dryers so we have racks set up in the living room. Works fine.

Colazione

Only a few blocks from the apartment is the cafe Nannini which is LARGE. It caters to tourists and Italians alike. As in other cafes, patrons come and go in waves. The staff are always busy as the flows of customers are intense. They do find periods of calm where they relax a bit and joke with each other. A cornetto con crema and two cafe lattes cost around ten dollars. Robert arrives about 8:15 while Bonnie is asleep and leaves two or two and a half hours later after working on the blog and some sketches. The WiFi fluctuates in usefulness.

Observations, Wandering, and Eating the First Few Days

Siena is a dense city. Its population is 54,000, which includes 16,000 university students. There is a liceo, high school, that empties out for lunch and we see students grabbing a bite to eat and a chance to smoke.

As in other medieval Italian towns, warfare constantly threatened, so families who had the means built towers or even fortresses to protect themselves. The city encased itself in protective walls, and then built out within the confines of that protection. Buildings here are typically three to five stories high. Each story is much taller than what we are use to at home. Streets are narrow and winding, with traffic currently limited to residents and taxis that cautiously work their way through the crowds. It is hard to know if old buildings in the center are occupied by residents or not. We do not see many lighted rooms in the upper floors at night. We do know there is one supermarket. Several other groceries offer pared-down service selling more grab-and-go items.

A walking tour guide we met confirmed that Siena is especially crowded with tourists this year. We pass groups of more than thirty people connected to a guide with electronic audio devices. And it is not unusual to pass three groups in a row strung out along the main street

We found this little osteria (below) close to our apartment. It has been around, according to Yelp, for years. The menu changes daily. Simple food at reasonable prices. Seems to cater mostly to Italians.

Thank goodness for Uno per Due (one for two). We have found restaurants happy to let us split a primo or secondo plate. We often split a primo of pasta so we can enjoy it without overdoing it. Half a portion is more than enough.

Many osterias have a dessert they attribute to Nonna (grandmother). As we left, Robert told the manager jokingly to compliment Nonna on her torta. The manager responded by saying he had no idea who Nonna was, but he appreciated the compliment.

Another lunch. We often choose a lunch spot fairly quickly based on the menu and reasonable prices. We are rarely disappointed and we frequently find the patrons are Italians, both locals and tourists. This trattoria is about two blocks from our apartment.

Mercato

This vast market is set up every Wednesday around a park beyond the city center. If you need a shirt, shoes, scarf, plants, underwear, dress, puffy jacket, bra, table cloth, kitchenware, sewing supplies, or a few vegetables, this is the place to go. The stalls occupy every square centimeter on streets that lead to the fortress. You see women sorting swiftly through piles of clothes priced at three euros. They seem to be practiced and have honed their skills. Bonnie was impressed.

Il Duomo

More Strolling

University Botanical Garden

Basilica di San Francesco

Sanctuary of the House of Saint Catherine

Church at the Sanctuary of Santa Caterina

More Strolling

Our Local Osteria . . . Again

They said they could seat us for dinner at 7:30, but we HAD to be done by 8:30. No problem. We completed the challenge with two minutes to spare.

Lunch before heading into the basilica.

Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico

More Strolling

Next—Bonnie’s History of Siena!