Farewell Siena

Classes in Siena included two cooking classes and an opportunity to make our own pizzas in a pizzeria. For our final cooking meal, we brought the tables and chairs out onto the rooftop patio between the kitchen and dining room and ate outside as the sunset over Siena and Tuscany.

Here we are at the table, and also a photo of the sunset that night.

 

 Travels across Tuscany: Volterra, San Gimignano, Trequanda, Pienza 

Cooking on Tuesday

The food plot thickens.

Today after language class, we had COOKING CLASS.   So here's what we made (and then subsequently ate)

Bruscetta with ricotta and pears (surprisingly good!)
Focaccia with olives and tomatoes. from scratch.
Spinach ravioli in a sage sauce. from scratch
Tuscan chicken with roasted potatoes.
Panna Cotta. with strawberries

Between us, Donald and i helped make everything in one way or another.
AND, we learned that when you have leftover filling from the ravioli, you make it into little balls, and then, oh my, you bake them and you have malfatti.

So the sun is shining, it's warm, but it has rained almost every day we have been here. We are waiting on the rain today-- there are dark clouds, but we haven't seen any rain yet. Starting tomorrow, though, it should turn hot. Ah, vacation. All we have to worry about is the weather.

Monday in Siena

Siena is much less crowded today, but there are still a lot of visitors.  More than one person has told us that the local bank failed and they don't know what will happen now.

There werre thunderstorms again today. We are happy it isn't terribly hot.

We are up in the morning, breakfast at the hotel. Then, a half hour walk to the school, which is on the other side of town. Siena is built on three hills, so that means, up and down then up and down then up. (Reverse at end of day). We had two hours in language class - the photo without Donald in it is the view from my seat in class. I thought this was great -- if my attention flags, there's something interesting to looka at. 

Then, we three hours on our own. We got food and drink and wandered around the streets (up and down, and up and down). The streets are narrow and traffic is minimal -- every now and then a car crawls through the pedestrians. Donal is standing where one of the city streets looks out to San Domenico, the home church of Santa Caterina (We know her as St Catherine of Siena, which happens to be the name of the parish in Martinez).

We met a staff person from the school, who took us on a tour of the Siena Duoma. See next posting for photos.

Siena's Duomo

The Duomo is built from white and black marble, in decorative stripes. The outside is stunning, the the inside is just as astonishing. There are paintings and frewscos and sculptures, but what caught my attention was the striped pillars supporting the ceiling arches.

Did I mention the floor? It is paved with scenes from the Bible.

Interesting note: in the 1330s, building began to enlarge the existing church to make it the largest duomo in in Christiandom, even larger than the Florence Duomo. The existing church would have been just the nave for the huge cathedral. However, in 1348, the plague struck, and Siena lost three-quarters of its population. Work on the larger cathedral stopped, so now there are a few walls and columns that are open to the outside.

Tomorrow, we have dinner with a contrada. Look up Siena Contrada for a preview.

Saturday in Firenze, part 1

On our walk today, we found a view of both the David and the Duomo...(and a big R)
Note: the knife shop has disappeared for the present.

Saturday, part 3

Santa Maria Novella, about three blocks in one direction.
The Duomo, about three blocks in the other direction.

Ssturday, part 2

Ssturday I did the laundry at the laundromat we found about 2 blocks away.

Two Walks Around Firenze

Donald and I walked down toward the Arno, then out to Santa Croce, toward our old neighborhood. Certain areas are very usy with tourists -- the Ponte Vecchio was jammed with people - but the side streets are quiet. We did a lot of window shopping. We especially enjoy the houseware stores, where olive oil containers and expresso makers are commonly displayed in the windows. Rather than large stores like we are accustomed to, stores are generally long and narrow, with one specific type of product. There are plumbing shops, shops with only brass door hardware (including a huge variety of doorbell plates), stationery (remember stationery stores?), jewelry of course, frames, etc.

When the shops close, they pull down metal door covers, so you cannot recognize them. In the morning, we looked in the window of a shop with pocket knives (yes, a pocket knife shop). In the afternoon - poof! - it had disappeared. We guessed that they must have closed up for a few hours.

Today's miracle was that I found the scarf shop. Our first visit, which was six years ago? (Can't remember exactly when), I passed this marvelous little scarf shop, and bought myself a silk scarf with fruit on it. I love it and wear it quite a bit. It's a dark scarf, though, so more a fall or winter item. So when we returned four years ago (?) I looked for the scarf shop again and couldn't find it, though Iooked for a week. Then, yesterday, there it was, right where I thought it was. I told my story to the shopkeeper, and she said maybe she had closed the shop for the week. She says they close on Sundays. So I say maybe I come back on Saturday to pick up a scarf. Oh, she says, she will be closed. Saturday? I ask. Well, she says, there is a family wedding, so they will close the shop. Of course, I think. So I bought myself a scarf, and she gave me her card so that I can find her next time I come to Florence.

On another topic, Donald and Iare comparing various house red wines. So far, the very best was at our first dinner at Restorante Marione. A can of coke was 3 Euro, and a half liter of house red was 5 Euro, so we opted for the wine, and oh my goodness, it was delicious. We have tried this ploy three times now, and the house wind is usually palatable, but that first half carafe was fabulous. Perhaps the jet lag helped, but Ithink it was a minor influence.

We know that there is a gelato place around the corner from our hotel, which helps us avoid stopping for gelato at the shops that pop up every two blocks or so.

Thunder began in the afternoon and though the sky was lue aove us, we could see dark clouds across the river. Soon rain began to fall in big drops. It was about 78 degrees F, and raining.

In the late afternoon yesterday, Donald took a nap while I went out to explore. I headed toward the Duomo and wandered the surrounding neighorhoods. The "most famous artists shop in the word" is still there, on Via della Studio. I looked at the window display, disappointed that Nora had not sent me with an order.

I listened in on some tour guides' explanations of the local neighorhoods, but then, I heard the sound of an organ, and followed it to a small church, the Chiesa di S. Maria de'Ricci. A poster out front announced a daily concert of the organ, as a benefit for the church. Leave a donation if you like to help with restoration. It is a small church, with maybe ten rows of pews, and maybe four or five other people were there. I sat and listened to a familiar Bach piece, then left to find Dante's church, which is around the corner. Again, there are maybe ten rows of pews, and only natural lighting from one rose window. There are four or five of us sitting in the quiet. This is where Dante met the love of his life, Beatrice. It is not easy to find, being on a side street off of a side street, and there are no signs. By the front left pew, there is a large basket, filled with letters from girls wishing for love. (Marcie has written a nice piece about this. If she sends me the link I'll include it here...)

Ah, Firenze

We have arrived and we still like it here. This is the view from the front door of our hotel. Coincidentally, this is a church that I stumbled upon on our first trip here, which I think was five years ago. It doesn't have a name posted in any of the usual places, and I could never find it again. When our taxi drove up, and I saw it, ah! There it is! I thought, at last I find the church again.

Italy III, the saga continues

Soon, we leave for Italy. We have never been there in the summer. We have two major destinations: Florence and Siena. I'll make my best effort to post for our friends and family occasionally. Arrivederci!

Jordan: The road-side spice market

Karak Castle

Another castle in Jordan. Karak Castle was built by the crusaders on the top of the highest hill in the area, overlooking valleys on all sides. This is a view is of one of the outbuildings. You can see the modern city beyond.

Many, many arches -- the one to the right in this photo leads to the dining halls and kitchens.









And look!  real, live arrow slits! These were on all sides of the castle, for protection of course.

The Desert Castles: Amra

Amra is a 7th Century hunting lodge on the road from Amman to Iraq. It sits close to the crossroads that also lead out to Saudi Arabia. This little gem had steam baths (!), and the walls and ceilings are frescoed with pictures of local plants and animals.

Throughout the trip, I was amused by signage. Here are some English language signs that caught my eye.

"Keep Left" is obvious, but I was initially perplexed by the "No Trumpets" sign. Ah! It's really "No honking horn"!!

Litter is a problem in India, and there were a variety of signs discouraging litter.

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This sign is on the door of the Kerala Police cars

Actually, I think this was for House Boats, not House Bots. But even so, a no parking zone for boats? 

Refer back to "driving in India" post.

Flower Bowls

These bowls of flowers are found in courtyards, in restaurant and hotel entrances.

Houseboating in Kerala

Houseboating the backwaters of Kerala is absolute bliss.  We floated between banks of palm trees looking out over rice fields that reached to the horizons. Rice growers build their houses on the banks of the river, and seem to paint their houses the brightest of colors.

We bought freshwater shrimp across the way and our houseboat chef prepared them for us for dinner... mmm.mmm...

Full disclosure is required though: It was 97 degrees and about 65% humidity. Very hot and sticky, but just fine for a lazy day "rolling down the river".

Flower market of Madurai

Madurai is known for its flowers, and our visit to the flower market early in the morning was amazing. A full city block was lined on both sides with vendors selling blossoms from bags on the floor. There were millions of marigolds, gardenias, jasmine flowers, roses and tons of other stuff. These are not cut flowers as we know them, but just the flowers themselves, which are purchased to make necklaces (which I call leis), and also flower bowls (see a future posting about flower bowls).  The scene was hectic, with motorcycles zooming off with huge bales of flowers tied on their backs. The flowers are brought in from surrounding flower farms each day. 

Most interesting is that the men string the flowers (see photo above) When we asked what the strung flower necklaces are used for - and some of them are six feel long! - we were told they are used at weddings, funerals, and for politicians and statues. Then we recalled seeing the statues with flower necklaces. 

Bananas!

Have I mentioned that the bananas are WONDERFUL??  There are many varieties, they are all perfect ripeness, and have incredible flavor. 

Driving in India

None of us in the US of A would be able to drive in India without special instruction. It requires the usual combination of brake, accelerator and steering wheel. However, in India, the horn is very, very important. Also the headlights, I think, but I will explain about that later.

To begin, if there are lines on the roadway (and "if" is a very important word here), they are merely suggestions, and appear to be completely ignored for the most part.

They drive on the left, so that is a bit harrowing to begin with for the right-side-of-the-road drivers that we are.

There are pedestrians, bicycles, motorscooters, and motorcycles everywhere. Also motor-rickshaws. This is the case in the city as well as out on country roads. Everyone drives the speed that pleases them, and merely passes other vehicles when necessary.  to maintain that speed. Now here is the part where the horn is so important. As the vehicle pulls out to pass, the driver honks their horn - beep-beep! and then continues to beep as they pass. beep! beep! beep! beep!  It is not a blaring horn like we have, but more of a roadrunner beep.  If here is oncoming traffic, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the oncoming vehicle,and to beep the horn even more. If the vehicles get too close to each other, then everyone swerves around, sometimes onto the side of the road, and then continue o their way.

So a two-lane road really has three lanes. thhe left lane, the right lane, and then the one that runs down the middle that is continuously being used for passing.

It is harrowing for we American passengers. We are frequently faced with busses and trucks barrelling down the road at us. But somehow, for the most part, everyone ggets around without crashing into each other.

Lunch in Puducherry

I forgot to mention that we had a banana leaf lunch in Puducherry (see photo). This was a wonderful selection of various small dishes with rice and naan.

So is it Pondicherry or Puducherrry? It seems to depend on whether you are British or Indian. The Indians call it Puducherry.

Pondicherry

Today we travelled from Chennai to Pondicherry, stopping to visit Shore Temple and the surrounding monuments, the most amazing being Arjuna's Penance. This is another UNESCO World Heritage site, and was interesting and amazing. The local people carved all this stuff from existing granite outcroppings -- massive stuff -- in the 7th century AD. Then, there was a war, all sculpture wor stopped, and they never got back to it again.

Shore Temple is especially interesting. They also call it Sea Shore Temple, because (aha!) It is at the sea shore.  This is a tall temple, surrounded by a wall with 108 full-sized sculpture bulls, and it looks out over the ocean However, there are six other temples, all underwater in the sea. The shoreline has changed since the 7th century. However, as the tsunami approached in 2006, the ocean waters receded out half mile or so, and all of the other temples were exposed to the light. To quote the guide, "the people were able to view them for 30 or 40 minutes," then of course, the tsunami wave arrived, and not only washed over the temples in the sea, but inundated the one that is usually on land. No damage, though.

We viewed temples and carvings for several hours.

> The area from Chennai to Pondicherry is flat, near the coast, and very wet. There are mango orchards and rice paddies. The local people build thatch huts. There are also waterways where folk fish from small rafts made from sticks lashed together. They stand and pole themselves around the rivers/lakes.