Italia: Day 13
This, our first and only day with absolutely nothing on the schedule, we made a return visit to Siena.
It's a medium sized town by Italian standards and is popular for shopping. Italy, you understand, has no big-box stores like WalMart or Circuit City. Even the grocery stores and gasoline stations are tiny. And, they do have small shops for everything.
I made one of my two take-home purchases in Siena, a calligraphy of the Jewish House Blessing with painted designs and gold leafing. As we were walking down the street towards our car parked on the outskirts if town, we say a small handwritten sign in the window that said "Tired of walking? Come in and visit our alterier." So we did. It was the calligrapher's workshop, classical music playing in the background, where he hand makes invitations, certificates and posters, all beautiful stuff. No digital anything here, it was like stepping back a century in time. And, it was the shop I will most remember in our Italian sojourn.
Siena is a town with a sense if humor and fun. Here's the signage at the entrance to a meat shop. The Italians do love their eyeglasses ... and pigs.
And, here is one of those street mimes that hold their poise without a trace of movement until someone drops a coin into their hat.
This one stepped from his pedestal, posed motionless and silently with the CFO, and kissed her hand with great flourish before return to his stance.
The cathedral in town is quite impressive. But, bigger is apparently always better when it comes to cathedrals and so it was that an expansion project was underway when the Bubonic Plague stuck Europe. With a faction of the people surviving, work stopped and what remains today is this unfinished facade.
If you buy a ticket to the adjoining museum, you can climb to the top through a spiral staircase of stone just wide enough for your shoulders. Your reward is a spectacular view of the city and the Siennese countryside.
All I could think was that I was standing atop a very tall, unfinished stone wall with no visible means of support, hoping that the Great Italian Earthquake of 2007 would hold of until I was on terra firma again.
The quake was a non-event, and we returned safely to Montestigliano for the evening, having tempted fate once again.
It's a medium sized town by Italian standards and is popular for shopping. Italy, you understand, has no big-box stores like WalMart or Circuit City. Even the grocery stores and gasoline stations are tiny. And, they do have small shops for everything.
I made one of my two take-home purchases in Siena, a calligraphy of the Jewish House Blessing with painted designs and gold leafing. As we were walking down the street towards our car parked on the outskirts if town, we say a small handwritten sign in the window that said "Tired of walking? Come in and visit our alterier." So we did. It was the calligrapher's workshop, classical music playing in the background, where he hand makes invitations, certificates and posters, all beautiful stuff. No digital anything here, it was like stepping back a century in time. And, it was the shop I will most remember in our Italian sojourn.
Siena is a town with a sense if humor and fun. Here's the signage at the entrance to a meat shop. The Italians do love their eyeglasses ... and pigs.
And, here is one of those street mimes that hold their poise without a trace of movement until someone drops a coin into their hat.
This one stepped from his pedestal, posed motionless and silently with the CFO, and kissed her hand with great flourish before return to his stance.
The cathedral in town is quite impressive. But, bigger is apparently always better when it comes to cathedrals and so it was that an expansion project was underway when the Bubonic Plague stuck Europe. With a faction of the people surviving, work stopped and what remains today is this unfinished facade.
If you buy a ticket to the adjoining museum, you can climb to the top through a spiral staircase of stone just wide enough for your shoulders. Your reward is a spectacular view of the city and the Siennese countryside.
All I could think was that I was standing atop a very tall, unfinished stone wall with no visible means of support, hoping that the Great Italian Earthquake of 2007 would hold of until I was on terra firma again.
The quake was a non-event, and we returned safely to Montestigliano for the evening, having tempted fate once again.
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