May 17 & 18, 2017 – Siena, Italy
On the morning of May 17th we are sad because we must say “arriverderci” Positano. I am also sad because I am thinking about having to carry all of our luggage backdown 3 flights of stairs to the hotel lobby. Trent has injured his shoulder and he wont be able to carry any of the luggage down the stairs – mysteriously convenient – now that I write about it. Anyhow, I struggle with the first 2 bags down the stairs. On the way down, I encounter our friendly maid who brought our breakfasts each morning. She is headed up the stairs taking them 2 at a time. She takes one of the suitcases from me – the heavier of the 2 and she bounces down the stairs, apparently unaffected by the weight of the suitcase. She then says she will go get the rest of them. She is a tiny little thing but no doubt she must climb those steps no less than 100 times a day. I make my way back up the stairs to help with the luggage but she and a previously unseen helper are making their way down the stairs with the bulk of our other luggage. I’m thrilled that I did not have to carry it all myself, but at the same time I’m wondering where they were when we had to schlep it up the stairs.
No matter, I now head back to the parking garage where our car is. It is a nice stroll of about ½ mile to the garage and it is another beautiful day in Positano. I retrieve our car and now make my way back up the hill where our hotel is and I’m hoping that the “sidewalk” a small 18" sliver walk way on the right side of the road will be uncrowned with tourist so that I can park our car without causing yet another international incident. As I make my way to the hotel, i am relieved to see that there is space on the sidewalk just near the front door of the hotel. I go in and begin retrieving the bags. I know that I have to put “Moby” in the back of the car first. I set the bag down so that I can organize things and when I look up, I notice that “Moby” has begun to roll down the street of Positano. I immediately think about the anchor we saw down at the port and realize that we needed it to prevent just such an incident. I realize that if “Moby” picks up any momentum at all it would begin to knock the tourists out of the way like bowling pins. Fortunately, Carolyn had come out of the hotel with some of the smaller bags and she was able to catch “Moby” before it could do any damage.
Having fit the pieces of the puzzle back together into the back of our car, we are off and on our way to Siena. The drive should be about 4-½ hours with much of it taken up by the narrow winding roads exiting the Amalfi. We take our time heading to Siena, stopping several times along the way. We arrive in Siena and check into our hotel – Hotel Garden around 4:00 PM. Hotel Garden sits just outside of the old walled part of Siena. It is about ¾ mile walk to the gate and then about 1 mile walk to the Campo.
Once we got settled into our Hotel we decide we headed out to visit some of Elisa’s relatives in nearby Colle Val d’Elsa. We visit with Mauro and Marissa who entertain us. Mauro is retired from his job where he ran a factory that made lead crystal glass. But he is still full of life and he is preparing his karaoke equipment and auditioning singers who will be participating in a show that he will be emceeing. Mauro entertains us with a number of songs – all in Italian and we have a great time. We say our farewells, hugs and kisses on both cheeks and head back to the hotel.
Once we get back to the hotel we head into Siena for dinner. We walk about 2 miles toward the Campo and find Trattoria Fonte Dei Giusto. It has a 4 star rating and the menus looks very good. We are not disappointed. Siena is surprisingly uncrowded. It would seem that all the tourist have decided to head into Rome and Positano. We are not complaining, because we are able to quickly get a table. There are 2 other groups in the restaurant, a large table of tourists from Germany and another group of locals – the latter always being a good sign at a restaurant in Italy. We have another light lunch of antipasto – bruschetta, a Pasta – Trent had the Gnocchi con Fungi. The rich mushroom sauce was heartily populated with fresh porcini mushrooms and it was by far his favorite pasta thus far on the trip – we always seem to say that until we have the next dish. I had the Pasta con Cinghiale (wild boar). It too is fantastic. Carolyn and Elisa have a wonderful beef stew served with polenta, I have the roads pork and Trenton has a stew made with Cinghiale served with polenta. It was easy to see why Trattoria Fonte dei Giusto has earned it 4+ star rating.
We head back to the hotel and have a good nights sleep.
It is now May 18 and we will spend the morning touring Siena and we will also visit some more of Elisa’s many relatives that reside in Tuscany.
We park our car near the walled part of Siena that will afford us a relatively short, but steeply uphill walk to both the Campo and the Cathedral. Once again, we are amazed by the sparseness of the crowds. You can see how in the photos how we seemed to have the city to ourselves. The Cathedral was amazing. I never tire of looking at the beautiful mosaics that line the floor. We roam around the Campo and by noon we park ourselves at one of the many cafes and have an appertivo or 2 – just like Rick Steves. Now it is about 1:00 and we start to head back to our car so that we can a visit relatives in nearby Corrie Val d’Elsa. As we are making our way to the car we pass a Chinese restaurant and decide let’s do something different. We enter and see the hostess who invites us in. We dine on spring rolls, fried rice, beef with oyster sauce, shrimp with vegetables and is is delicious. The hostess tells us that Siena has many Chinese visitors and their little restaurant that they started 24 years ago is doing a booming business. The food is very good and our lunch for 4 is less that 40 Euros. Quite a treat.
After visiting with Enzo, Mirella, their son Frederico and his wife Susanna, whom we haven’t seen in some time. We have a great time recollecting the past. Once again we say our farewells, hugs and kisses on both cheeks. After than we are headed toward the Tuscan coast – into the small town of Venturina.
We check into Aprico Poggio – a small hotel built out of an ancient farm house. It is beautiful here. The farm house has been converted into four 2 room apartments, each with kitchen and bath. The bedroom is large and inviting and the sitting room is equally spacious. It is not yet the high season for the region and we have the entire place to ourselves.
After we check in, we visit with some of Elisa’s family, her cousin Gianni and Rosella and their son Riccardo. We can’t forget their French Bulldog Jago – who is the boss of the house. Later that evening we also visit Elisa’s Uncle Giuseppe and Aunt Vivianna. It’s a quick visit because we must now head out to dinner – we always seem to be eating.
Dinner at Hotel Otello was wonderful. The Tuscan fried artichokes are to die for. We had several different types of pasta – some with meat sauce, some with artichokes and some with cozze – clams. For our “secondas” Elisa and I both had the veal. As we left the hotel we notice all of the many photographs that line the walls of the hotel. It is a photo-history that show the people and events that the hotel has experienced. The photos date back to the 1920’s. We are shown some photos of the 70’s and 80’s and are surprised to see some people we know back in the US. Here they are enjoying Hotel Otello just like we were on this evening.
With dinner finished we retire back to Aprico Poggio for a good nights sleep.
Ciao Rex
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