Vignettes of Siena, Tuscany

Siena, the Tuscan medieval city of brick (where the colours ‘’siena’’ and ‘’burnt siena’’ come from), is slightly an hour away from Perugia, if you take ‘’il pullman’’ (coach).

Kayoko and I decided to spend the weekend there. Upon arrival, we found the hotel we had identified from my Frommer’s guide easily, and checked in pretty quickly.

Piazza del Campo
We headed straight to Il Campo, the heart of Siena. It is reputed to be Italy’s most beautiful piazza. The weather was glorious. We just sat at the outdoor café, ‘’prendere il sole’’ (‘’take the sun’’ – tanning ourselves) and ordered lunch, as we were both hungry by then. I decided to try what the Sienese call pici – pasta made of flour, water and olive oil, rolled in the hands to produce lumpy, thick, chewy spaghetti to which sauce clings.

Kayoko felt she was still not full after her spaghetti and salad, so we got ourselves a gelato each. We needed the fuel! Immediately after lunch we climbed 503 steps up the tower of Il Campo – Torre del Mangia. Dark, narrow, winding, spiral steps – they reminded me of those I used to climb in the castles of England.

Kayoko was in her denim skirt and boots and climbed effortlessly. I was in my scruffy jeans and sneakers, and climbed heavily. Oh well, I was once 25 and in mini skirts and dress shoes too, when I was climbing those English castles!

The stairway was so narrow one had to ‘’give way’’ by waiting or leaning against the wall when someone else was going down or coming up. One lady said encouragingly to me as I wheezed and huffed up, ‘’nearly there!’’. On my way down, a Japanese lady tried to do her bows, courtesies and apologies in the dark, tight space. A French guy tried to urge his family members who were trying to catch up, shouting ‘’on arrive bientot’’ (we will arrive soon!) but I gave him an evil and conspirational smile, and said ‘’pas encore!’’ (not yet!)

We visited Museo Civico (known for masterpieces of Sienese painters Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti) and the beautiful Duomo. The latter is a Gothic cathedral with its outstanding black and white banding. I love its interior and ceilings.

On the way to the Duomo we spotted a nice ‘’tea room’’ offering inexpensive set meals. After gawking at the cathedral we went there for an early dinner.

Then it was a lazy amble up and down the streets and lots of shopping, mostly window shopping, though. We decided to go for a drink at our favourite Piazza del Campo, to see the lights flooding the beautiful place.

Definition of Drinks and Snacks
My idea of ‘’drink’’ obviously differs from Kayoko’s. I ordered Tuscany’s famous chianti classico, but she ordered hot chocolate, and a foccacia to go with it! ‘’Aren’t you having a snack too?’’ she urged. Her idea of snack also differed from mine too!

I could still feel my dinner up my throat but decided to order what I thought would be ‘’light’’ – crostini. When both arrived, the portions were so big (4 big slices of crostini and one big foccacia generously filled with meat) even Kayoko was taken aback.

Before our ‘’feast’’ arrived, an old man caught my eyes, smiled and said ‘’buona sera’’. I instinctively replied the same. But I regretted it as I saw him walking around the piazza and trying to catch my eyes again. ‘’Kayoko, that man is strange, let’s pretend not to see him…’’

‘’Why? Maybe he just wants to find someone to talk to,’’ she replied. Just as soon as she said that, a bunch of guys passed by and started to try and get our attention, mumbling the usual words – ‘’che bella.’’

Kayoko meanwhile downed her cheesy, meaty foccacia and I could only manage 2 pieces of tomato and pate crostini. ‘’You got to help me here – take this with salami – you like salami, right!’’ and gave her the rest of my crostini.

And I thought to myself – hey, when I was 25, I wasn’t so skinny and neither did I have such a good appetite or high metabolic rate!

French-Italian Breakfast
The next morning, after washing and packing up for check out, Kayoko said, ‘’I am hungry’’. So we went for our complimentary cappuccino and croissant at the breakfast room. The last thing you should eat in Tuscany is croissant. (recall the saying ‘’when in Rome…’’, so when in Italy, don’t eat French!) Even those at Delifrance back home taste better. Don’t ask me why this Italian hotel offers croissant for breakfast. What I do know however, is that they have many French guests. Maybe they were there for a taste of home!

After breakfast we went to see the Duomo’s Baptistery, built in the 14th century beneath the cathedral’s choir.

After that we visited Ospedale di Santa Maria dela Scala. It was a hospital from the 800s till the 1990s, and later restructured as a museum and exhibition space. It houses an archaeology museum too – what a labyrinth it was to navigate through the whole place.

I saw Kayoko hurry through the maze, and guessed why. “I am so hungry!’’ she said. It was lunch time.

A True Belt-busting Italian Lunch
She was so hungry she did not fuss about where we should eat. We just dropped into the first restaurant we saw and liked (looking at the menu).

The set menu was a good price – for 15 euro you would get the primo (first dish) of spaghetti and secondo (main course) of either pork or beef with fries and followed by dolci - dessert.

I could not stomach meat or fries or any more spaghetti and ordered a la carte instead – polenta with something the Tuscans use a lot - baccala (dried salted cod fish) for my primo and an egg dish for my secondo.

Kayoko wiped her plate of pasta clean while I struggled to finish my big plate of polenta (which I could not), and contemplated cancelling my secondo. ‘’You always eat little?’’ Kayoko asked. Gosh, even she says this to me!

Kayoko was very happy with the satisfying and full meal. “I really love this restaurant. We should have come here for dinner last night!’’ she smiled. After the heavy lunch we waddled in the streets and I really felt like doing nothing!

We could not do much anyway. Most shops close on Sundays and those that open, do so after in the morning and after a long lunch break, at 3.30 pm at the earliest.

Something Mundane Amidst the Grand
The UPIM department store however was open and so we went in. Kayoko wanted to get shampoo. We spent a considerable amount of time studying the labels. With the help of my mini dictionary, we managed to figure out the different types – for curly hair, for dry hair, for volume, for forfora, etc. ‘’What is forfora?’’ she asked. ‘’Dandruff’’, said my dictionary. ‘’What is dandruff?’’ she asked me. Since I did not have an English-Japanese dictionary with me, I had to use gestures and some roundabout expressions. But the main point is – she understood. Without perfect grammar, but just with basic communications ‘’skills’’.

Starring Contentedly
We sat contentedly on the floor at the Piazza del Campo, starring at the kids running about, and eyeing the vast open space that we could hardly find in the city centre of Tokyo and Singapore. Pigeons flew. Kids chased them. Dovey dovey couples cuddled and kissed. A perfect ambience for Yannick's sudden strings of sms that interrupted the peace. He was in the mood to discuss marriage, over sms, miles apart. And I was in the mood to wind him up, and insisted that no one marries the one he truly loves. We are mad. Kayoko tactfully continued to stare at the kids.

Farewell to Siena
On our way to take the coach back to Perugia, we visited San Francesco, a late Gothic church. We had made a mental note to see it on our return, because when we arrived the day before it was lunch time and thus closed.

We are so glad we made time for this little gem. It may not be as centrally located as the Duomo or as famous, but it seemed less ornate and thus it is elegantly simple. Best of all, it has breathtaking stained glass windows.

We said our goodbye to Siena as we turned our backs on the church and went down the escalators to go to our bus stop. Maybe next time I sit on the Piazza in Siena, it would be with my husband and our own kids, and I would not be arguing about love, marriage and divorce.