We arrived safely in Florence at about noon on the 24th.  Arriving in Florence was a very good choice.  The airport is small and not nearly so busy and intimidating as a big city airport.

When we arrived in Florence our first home exchange partner was there waiting for us.  Paola zipped us out of the airport and off to her apartment in Siena.  Our first view of Italy is of rolling green hills and countryside, rather than a major city.  Our apartment here is comfortable, with two bedrooms and a pleasant view of green hills and countryside out over a valley.  Paola gave us a short drive through Siena to orient us, and we were on our own.  Now the challenge was to stay awake until bedtime.

After unpacking we enjoyed the nice pasta dish Paola had thoughtfully prepared for our lunch.  Then we set out on foot to visit the ancient section and find the tourist information center.  Siena is a hill town, red tile roofs amid green hills, with lots of up and down.  The trek turned out to be longer than we thought, but we finally made our way to the Piazza del Campo, a big semi-circular brick plaza full of hundreds of people, just sitting on the pavement, drinking a beer, eating a snack, playing instruments and singing, chatting with friends, sleeping.  People sit out on the brickwork, just as you would see people sitting on the grass at Golden Gate Park on a Sunday afternoon.

We strolled around the piazza looking at the shops and cafes, and then through the medieval streets, absorbing the sights, sounds and aura of Siena.  An interesting aside—all of the shutters here are painted green.  In France they are all painted blue.  Could this be related to the national colors? 

We caught the bus back to the apartment for a quick drink and comfort stop.  After a rest we headed out for the super market.  By this time it was late afternoon and the market was also 
quite busy, so we picked up things we would need for breakfast and got out of there.  I have picked up the money exchange very quickly and feel comfortable that I understand the general cost of things here.

We went back to the apartment and had a light snack of fruit, bread and cheese and orange juice.  Now we had to get serious about staying awake another two or three hours.  Don watched tv and promptly fell asleep.  I sorted out all of the Italian change friends had given us, to figure out how to get rid of it.  I have a huge, very heavy pile of coins; I thought I was rich!  But all of it together is only worth about $5, so I will try to dump it all at the grocery store next trip.   I kept poking Don to wake him up, and played a game of monopoly, and watched the sunlight fade on the hills.  Finally Don fired up the computer and we read our email and decided that we just couldn’t keep awake any longer.  We made it to 7:30, and that was pretty good.

Now it is 3am and I have had my 7 hours and I can’t sleep anymore for awhile, so I decided to get a head start on the report.  I am reading up on Siena and today we will finish the grocery shopping and tour some Siena points of interest.
 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25

After breakfast we took the bus to town.  There is a big old fortress here and we decided to take a look.  Every tourist bus visiting Siena had just unloaded and the tour was heading the opposite direction.  We had to resist the temptation to join in and follow the leader with her little flag in the air. We swam upstreamthrough three Japanese groups, a German group and two American groups, all hiking the walkway in the opposite direction.

There was a dog show at the fortress, and so dog owners were walking their 
animals all around the fortress ramparts.  The actual contest was being held in the courtyard.  We strolled around the ramparts and took a look at some of the boxers and whippets waiting for their turn in the ring.

Then we went on a walking tour of Siena and ended up at the Duomo. It is very ornate and detailed, much as Notre Dame and other famous churches.
Inside the Duomo I was amazed.   I have seen many churches-Notre Dame,  Mont Ste. Michele, Sacre Coeur, etc.but I must say, I have never seen a church that impressed me as much as the Duomo in Siena.  This church is so ornate, with so much artwork and such an astounding work of art on the floor, I was blown away!   The floor is tiled with mosaics; it took 500 years to complete the plan.  It is beautiful, breathtaking, amazing, indescribable.  You will just have to look it up on the internet and see the floor sometime. There are large mosaic scenes with 8 scenes of Sibyls, 4 scenes of Siena, additional squares of complicated geometric patterns, mosaics of Jesus, the apostles, saints, Mary.  The altar was also very elaborate and dramatic.

I couldn't take in any more after the Duomo, so we went back to our apartment and rested, had a glass of Chianti and ate dinner.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

We returned to the Duomo today to visit the attached museum.  This museum is filled with the originals of some of the tile mosaic floors, original statues, and all kinds of relics.  Even though we were getting burned out on the religious stuff, it was worth it to go to the museum, because you get an even greater sense of the work, craftsmanship, and beauty that is the 
Duomo.  They also have many relics in this museum, including the arm of John the Baptist.

We also visited St. Catherine's church, where her head and finger are displayed.  She is the patron saint of Siena.

Later, we had a nice pizza dinner with Paola and her friend.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

We decided we had had enough of museums and churches, so we took the car out into the country for a little drive.

The Tuscan countryside is pretty and green and bucolic.  We picked a route that had scenic markers and I got to navigate.  This is my usual assignment, and it isn't always easy!  But, we drove a nice route to Castellina in Chianti and on to Radda, where we stopped for a picnic.  Radda is a classic Tuscan hill town.From Radda we got ourselves lost, making a wrong turn and ending up in Greve in Chianti.  From there we headed down the back country roads, to Siena.

SATURDAY, April 28, 2001

Today we went back into the town and visited the museum at the town hall.  There are some interesting murals in the government building.  One mural is of "good government", which includes justice and education, and in always doing right for the citizens.  Another is of "bad government" which is self-serving and only makes decisions which benefit the governors and city council.  Maybe we need a few of these murals in our government offices!     In the afternoon we took another country drive.  We headed to Murlo to see some Etruscan ruins.   Unfortunately the museum was closed for the year, and the ruins looked more like tidy little Etruscan condos.

On the drive home we came upon a bike race, so Don was happy with that.  Giro! Giro!  (Of course you all know that that is the famous Italian bike race that starts in two weeks, right.)

SUNDAY, April 29

Today is the Festival of St. Catherine, the patron saint of Siena.  The town is full of parading bands, dressed in colorful period costume, enthusiastically drumming their way through the streets.  The town dignitaries mounted the dais, and the Cardinal arrived in his limo.  In the piazza companies of soldiers saluted and paraded in front of the dais.  The piazza was lined with groups from each region, dressed in their colorful costumes, waving banners and beating drums.   The mayor gave a speech, the Cardinal presented a small golden chalice which contained some relic (usually when they say relic, they mean some preserved body part) of St. Catherine.  After the speeches the flagmen and drummers marched around the piazza, waving their banners and tossing them in the air.