Off to the Races

The Duomo in the distance

                                                                
Actually, Siena is known for some special horse race, Palio di Siena which was not on our itinerary and we weren't even there at the right time but we did instead see yet another magnificent Duomo. I thought we couldn't surpass Pisa which we saw the day before but this one had two features which I found pretty incredible...lovely mosaic floors and the Piccolomini Library.

The Duomo itself is similar to Pisa as it has striped columns (plus a distinctive black and white bell
tower ) and it has large paintings on the walls as decoration.

Distinctive Columns

However, the mosaics on the floor are the feature I most enjoyed. Evidently they were done over a period of time since construction began in the 1300's.

Fabulous mosaic floors

There is also a large altar piece by Michelangelo and cravings of a 1000 years of Popes watching from overhead. The show stopper was the Pinturicchio frescoes in the Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) Library. Because they have not been exposed to much light, they are as they were when created and are nothing less than stunning. The colors are vibrant, the subject matter interesting and date from the 1400's. We have looked at lots of frescoes but to see these originals was marvelous.

Frescoes in library

        There were other things to see here like a mummified body, Pisano pulpit, Duccio's Rose window, etc. But the she-wolf mosaic floor panel and the frescoes were my favorites. Rider spent most of this visit crawling on the floor and having his photo taken by other tourists. He was perfectly happy and incredibly dirty.

We knew we could only hold on so long with him so our second choice for the day was the Duomo Museum which houses the Cathedral's art. This is strictly no strollers and no elevator so one has to be determined to visit this particular museum. Betsy and I took turns carrying him and we devised a special game for him...he thought he was really getting away with something when we allowed him to climb the numerous wide staircases!  Since it is easy to trick a baby, sometimes we even let him climb up and we took him back down to climb them again. I may not be smarter than a fifth grader but I still am smarter than a nine month old.

The art was lovely but the pay off of the climb was the Panorama dal Facciatone...the panoramic view of Siena. Actually, I know it was wonderful but only because Betsy told me. It was a skinny, very high ledge and I don't do that anymore so I entertained Rider on the steps while she did the view.

Rider pauses before climbing out for a crawl

                                                                                                        

Our entire group had a quick lunch at a sandwich place right outside the museum and then we struck out for the car.

Leisurely, we shopped a little, ate fabulous gelato, got a bit lost
and finally made our way back to the car where Rider fell immediately to sleep for our fateful
drive to locate Beth Warren ( a high school friend of Betsy's ) and her Italian husband,
Andrea, in the Italian countryside between Pisa and Florence.

Betsy was organized in that she had the directions and the address in her iPad. We knew that
the local Siena McDonald's had free WiFi ( we had introduced Rider to his first taste of
Mickey D's at that same one on a previous trip ). What we hadn't counted on is that you have
to have an Italian SIM card to access the wifi. So Betsy now had Beth's phone number and
remembers the name of the town closest to this remote villa where Beth and Andrea live. We briefly considered scrapping the whole planned visit but Rider was asleep and we would be
going vaguely in the right direction should we decide to return to Borgo so we struck out.

About an hour and a half later, we pulled into the COOP supermarket in the largest town
nearby and Betsy tried numerous times to call Beth for specific directions only to hear that the person was unavailable. Then Betsy remembered very faintly the name of the road on which
they live.So, using the GPS, she scoured the names of the roads starting with the first letter
of the name she faintly remembered. Meanwhile, Rider is awake, we've shopped at the market for
essentials (read wine, cheese, bread and bananas) and it's almost six o'clock and we have a
hungry baby. I admit, I was thinking this is very random and we probably should head back
home. However, once again good luck and a young memory prevailed. She recognized the name of
the street and the GPS routed us to the vicinity where we found the interesting place Beth
calls home.

View at Beth's

Rider's ready to go in the house!

                She drove up from work a few moments later and we spent a fun evening with them.

At Beth's

Andrea concocted a delicious pasta dish using his mom's red sauce, we drank a bit of wine and recalled good times in the past and caught up on the news... Betsy and Steve's wedding in Costa Rica, the Rat Pack adventures, new babies born and those to come, weddings of the
friends, Steve's new job in New Orleans. Plus Betsy launched them on a new profession...giving cooking classes in their authentic Tuscan atelier. With Andrea's cooking skills and his beautiful handmade (by him) glassware and Beth's perfect Italian and English, we think they've got a whole new future endeavor!

Rider was long asleep by the time we actually had dinner. Betsy rigged a bed using two overstuffed chairs pushed against the wall on one side and barricaded on the other by two ladder back chairs. He slept soundly for nine hours!

The next morning, Beth was off to work so we left early and vowed to return to see Andrea's glass studio and his shop.


                                                      

Ciao, Beth

 We wanted to get back to the apartment for a little rest before the next big event that evening, the Festa di San Cresci at the neighboring church.

This is definitely a jammed packed schedule! By the way, if you note typos it's because I am simply not adept at editing on the iPad. I recognize the errors but can get the copy to scroll so that I can fix them .