30th May 2015 In Sienna
Beautiful weather
Shorter version:
Lazy long breakfast in the beautiful garden of the hotel with views over the countryside. Then a walk through town, a stop in the Nannini cafe for coffee and cake, a walk through the town to visit the cathedral and the national pinocotecca. A drink in the Campo and then dinner in a lovely osteria. A good R&R day.
Longer version:
Long lazy breakfast in most un-pilgrim like place in a garden with incredible views over the countryside (which is so close to Central Sienna just outside one of the city gates) which was hard to leave…
We went into the centro storico and walked around, as ever marvelling at the architecture and the atmosphere of the city. Went into Nannini’s for a light meal before continuing walk through old Sienna. I left Ross & headed to the late 12th C Duomo which is a sublime building in white and dark green marble.
I bought an entry ticket with an audio guide and once again (was first here in 1973 and last here 18 months ago with several visits between) visited this magnificent edifice. Apart from the impressive marble facade in white and dark green (black?) striped marble, the interior is also in striped marble but the main attraction inside is the floor – with the inlaid marble designs depicting the sybils, scenes from the bible, etc, etc.
You would need to look on the Internet to have more information, but suffice it to say that it is a marvel…then there was the adjacent Piccolomini library with a magnificent ceiling and wall paintings and wonderful illuminated manuscripts.
I spent two hours there before going outside to look for a curious thing, a small 5-letter, 5 line palindrome carved into the side wall of the cathedral which was hard to find. See photo.
Just about to give up, I saw it and it appears to say “the sower looks after his plough” which was thought to be dated from the Knights Templar but as the same text was found in Pompeii it is now thought that it had significance for Christians perhaps as a means of recognising one another…
From the cathedral I went to the national picture gallery nearby and there were mainly religious paintings from the Middle Ages but I found a treasure trove which were many of the cartoons used for the creation of the marble “pictures” in the cathedral pavement.
I met up with Ross again and we went to a superb little osteria for a delicious dinner, crostate with pecorino cheese and fresh Porcini mushrooms, followed by a tagliata of beef with dried tomatoes, artichokes, and Parmesan cheese.
Then back to the hotel in a little mini-bus which drove at speed through the streets just wide enough for a skilled driver to manoeuvre around – if anyone had been walking in these streets I’d hate to imagine what might have happened…
An excellent night’s sleep.
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