Week Three

Monday

I may be one of the only people that would go on an hour and a half pilgrimage in the name of gelato and wine. That was what today was all about. I took a bus to San Gimignano, home of what is said to be the best gelato around. I won’t deny the claim. The Gelateria di Piazza has the most unique flavors I have ever heard of. In my bowl I tried three flavors: Champelmo (grapefruit and sparkling wine), Crema di Santa Fina (pine nuts and saffron), and Amedei Chocolate. My sister got Rosemary Baby (raspberry and rosemary), Venere Nera (blackberry and lavender), and Hazelnut. Every flavor was the delicious but my top two were Crema di Santa Fina and the Hazelnut. I planned on going back for more before we left town but I had a headache so I couldn’t hang.

The other notable item that comes from San Gimignano is a white wine varietal called Vernaccia. I was pleased to find that it was dry with hint of acidic fruit. Just my type of summer patio wine. My sister and I each bought two bottles! Reminds me of my favorite Italian white varietal Insolia. We will see if this one truly lives up to the taste I think it will. If so I hope it is easier to find in the US.

As you can see the view from the city wasn't too bad either!

Tuesday

The headache I had Monday intensified and kept me home most of the day. Nothing very exciting to say about that. I did however go out for a glass of wine in the afternoon and got shit on by a bird for the first time in my life. Someone said it is good luck. Not sure I could agree with that.

Wednesday

Today we decided it was time for another beach day. We really had no education on what beaches were best so we just got on the linea a mare and made it happen. There were four stops in all so we figured we probably shouldn’t do the first and definitely not the last. The first stop passed and it looked pretty good. Stop two was the train station, not a choice. Third stop it was. The beach was nice but it was pretty resorty so most of the best spots were taken up by resort chairs and umbrellas. All in all a nice day though. I had sun, sand and the sea so I was a happy girl. On the way back we determined that the first stop was definitely the way to go. We could see a great spot that even had sand volleyball and all that.

Thursday

Today was uneventful during the day. Got a run in, baked some cookies, and then I just got bored. In the late afternoon we decided there wasn’t anything better to do than open a bottle of wine and then we got the bright idea to go to the one and only Mexican restaurant. As before stated I have been warned that it is not good, but I needed even the worst Mexican food to get through one more week to the real deal. We ordered very carefully and it was satisfying, even though it was not delicious.

Post dinner we decided to finally stop into the bar on the way home that it always busy. We never pass to anything but a full crowd. This proved to be one of the best ideas we had in awhile. Before we had drinks in our hands we met Americans! Now let me clarify; I am not a closed minded person who only wants to befriend people like me. I would love to have been able to make friends with the locals, but due to a lack of communication I had to settle for my own people. As we got to talking with our new found friends we found out that two of the guys are roommates with my sister’s boyfriend, proving that it is such a small world. I am not sure the girls liked us stealing their attention much, but there were a few nice girls and all of the guys were friendly.

Friday

A crazy rain and hail storm kept us in during the day. On the upside it was beautiful and I got some good pictures from my vantage point.

Our new friends invited us to eat dinner at their place, but we politely declined and just went to hang out after. We decided a pre-Palio party night was a must. So we headed out for our longest night out yet. We started early and stayed out until past four. This is the night were I became completely aware that I was the second oldest one in the group and almost everyone else was between the ages of twenty and twenty-two. I just don’t have it like that anymore. I mean I made it, but I paid the next day. It wasn’t even so much about the amount of alcohol, but the amount of time I was awake. Geez I feel old!

Saturday

Saturday was the day of the Palio. The Palio is a traditional horse race in Siena that happens twice a year in the summer. There is a horse track built in the main piazza for the event and most people are in the center with a limited amount of tickets sold for seats around the outer perimeter. The different neighborhoods are represents by contradas whose horses race in the Palio. There is a lottery each Palio to decide which contradas get to race (ten each time). During the day of the race the horses are blessed in the church and each contradas color guard parade around the town with real hair wigs and all. It feels like you are still in a medieval time. Everything seemed good and fine until we were in the center of the track and the gates were closed until the end of the race. I became acutely aware of the large amount of people in a relatively small space. There was not space to move and I couldn’t see anything. I tried to get to the less crowded middle but people would not let me through. I have never felt so anxious in my life. At the end of it all the horse from the Oca or goose contrada was the winner and I happened to have taken a picture of him as he was being brought back to his contrada after being blessed that morning.