Siena & Montalcino!

me & Erica.  miss you!

Ciao!!!!!!!  I hope you are enjoying Sunday, mine is finishing up over here.  Today was a big rainstorm so I did very little, Sunday is for relaxing anyway.  I watched that Romeo & Juliet movie with Claire Danes & Leo because I had been thinking of it.  It's still a good movie!  This evening I have been cooking, making a nice carrot cake & eating it all myself.  You know how I do...  Interestingly, in baking over here I really enjoy having to do things a bit more by hand.  Such as, smashing whole cloves with a mortar & pestle, grating nutmeg seeds with a tiny grater, cracking walnuts grown here by hand, etc.  I am "home" alone & just chilling out with the blog.  I also made a Wes Anderson inspired playlist to listen to, wish I could share it with you, it's awesome!  Is it possible to share a playlist?  Or better yet, I wonder if I can fix it so that when you open my blog it will play some sweet songs for you?

Anyway, yesterday was my birthday, AAH!!!  35 years old seems like far too large a number!  Especially when I am still living like I am in my 20s, some of us never seem to grow up :).  I took myself on an outing to the enchanting town of Lucca & then met a friend in Livorno for a pizza.  It was a great day!  And then something funny happened.  My pal dropped me off & split directly because I am WAY out in the country in the middle of nowhere & he wanted to get home.  So, I was left in the rain & dark by myself & I couldn't get into the damn house!  My key wasn't working, it was too weak.  Finally, I thought the key was turning but actually it was busting!  The key totally busted off in the lock!  I was bamboozled about what to do next.  

The grandparents live about 50 minutes away & it was about 10:30 pm, I didn't feel like disturbing them.   So, after some brainstorming & thinking about sleeping in the garage with the kitty cats...  I hatched a plan to use a ladder to climb to the roof & then again to climb up to my bathroom window that I had fortunately left open a bit.  It was a success!  I was so relieved, then again relieved when I found I could open the door with the key in it from the inside.  Phew!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to extract that small key bit out of the door, even using multiple tools & methods.  I am thinking if I only had a large magnet....   At any rate, when my hosts return from Vienna I will tell them a good story & we will have a laugh at my mishap. 

I am planning to take some buses to Volterra tomorrow, even though it is supposed to rain.  You may recognize the name Volterra if you are a "Twilight" fan.  I am ashamed to admit that I am one (but the movies sure suck, even so... the last one is coming out & I am sure to see it. :).  Anyway, the head vampire posse, the Volturi, are headquartered in Volterra and even though that part in the movie was actually filmed in the town of Montepulciano, the Twi-hards still flock to Volterra.  So, I will channel Bella Swan during my visit tomorrow, maybe to see Edward sparkling in the piazza.  It is supposed to rain tomorrow, perfect vampire weather :)  ha.

Eek!  I'm leaving Italy on the 22nd, it's really coming down to the wire!  

Enough of my stories, enjoy these pics, a bit dated now. 

Montalcino caffe.  I have started getting a "caffe americano" sometimes because it is so much bigger than a tiny espresso.  so gluttonous with my coffee.

Erica was going home to the USA & stocking up on Italian stuff like placemats & olive wood cutting boards.

the awesome family that we stayed with.  those kids, so cute.

It is chestnut season!  YUM!

le castagne

here's my ferrari!

i am obsessed with the mystical St. Catherine of Siena who had some mystical marriage to Christ when she was in a state of religious bliss.  Here is.....  her head!

Ah, Siena!  really one of my favorite Italian towns

Which leads me to want to make a list of my top Italian towns/cities in no particular order:

-Rome

-Siena

-Lucca

-Lecce

-Ostuni

-Amalfi

-Siracusa

-Assisi

-Florence

-Gallipoli

-Padova
-Matera
and of course, Venice!

and there you go.  Go to these places, people, just go there.

perfect pizza in the campo in Siena

perfect fashion, tight tapered jeans, pumps, loafers...  oh Italy.

LOVE the campo!  it was such a nice sunny day

not a bad day!

the Campo!

mountains of gelato!

this is my favorite Duomo in Italy!  

channeling my inner italian 

ah, this stuff is awesome!!!!!!  Panforte.  on the left is fig & walnut, on the right chocolate, orange & almond.  super heavy & super good!

some self gratuitous yoga posing, Erica insisted :)

we went to a chestnut festival with the fam, it was awesome!  Great people watching & all this yummy chestnut foods.  They use chestnut flour to make pasta, deserts, sauces...  etc!

pretty tuscan sunset with olives 

ah, rural times...

we had gone on a walk with the CUTE dog, Gaia

One weekend there was a great festival called a sagra in Montalcino honoring the start of the boar hunting season.  (yeah, they've got wild boars here) It involved a parade with people dressed in medieval garb as well as some archery contests.  All the neighborhoods compete & here you see the flags of the different neighborhoods (contradas).  It was COLD & WINDY that day but we still managed to eat some traditional foods (i am obsessed with roasted chestnuts) & drink some tasty vino.  

carabinieri!

everyone is bundled up

the parade

i thought everyone was pissed off because it was cold but, turns out they are trained to have that impassive expression. very medieval.

contrada flags

it's Kaki season again (persimmon), my favorite!!!!!!!!!!  i have been picking them every chance i get.  

chestnuts!  we roasted them over the fire one night, a treat!

citrus season already coming on

tuscan countryside.  we had gone out to lunch for the best ravioli in the world

here we are with our "boss"

and then we left, i'll miss you montalcino!

back to Siena for a night & a farewell dinner with Erica

or a farewell nutella pizza??  what do you think?  (we didn't get it.  too much nutella gives me an instant headache but, sometimes it is worth it)

Erica & Carlotta.  that evening i saw Erica off on her way back down to Puglia, arrivederci!!!

the view from the terrace at my cute hotel

I couldn't resist going to that awesome duomo one more time.  Man, I am such a sucker for a good duomo.  Unfortunately it was raining like hell that day, all the umbrellas were out & you were still getiing soaked.  So, I stayed in the duomo a good long time.  

and all those steps are hella slippery

this duomo!  those stripes!  so memorable!

and the floor is full of these masterful mosaics

this one is depicting the biblical flight to egypt, lots of dead babies , yikes!

famous Pisano pulpit

and that awesome dome!!

and this fantastic St. Jerome sculpture by Bernini

the Piccolomini library, too gorgeous!

that lower sculpture is a Michelangelo, one of the apostles

i braved going up & out onto the roof even though the weather was hellish

don't slip, ladies!

and then i hung out in this baptistry for a while to shelter from the rain, enjoying the peace, taking a small nap.  

By the way, I'm so happy Obama won the election & for all the other positive voting results!!!!  If it had gone the other way I might have stayed over here.  Take care & have a great week!

xoxo :)