An Afternoon in Siena
Letter #49: Exploring Siena, the hottest run of my life, and ANOTHER dinner in Pari.
7/21/23
We woke up late the following morning, around 11:30am. We skipped our Tuscan Hills run and decided to go straight to Siena for the day. It was only a 30 minute drive and our new friends told us how easy it was to park right outside the city walls. Fortressed walls that surround the medieval city enclosed inside…something that is fascinating to Americans, as we do not have these ancient cities with palaces that need fortitude/protection. We used the metered parking app to refill the meter throughout the day—it cost about 15 Euros for 6 hours or so. We were parked right outside Porto Romana, with the sidewalk leading directly to the Duomo di Siena.
The city was beautiful. Clean, small, and walkable. Coming from NYC, we aren’t used to seeing such clean streets, sidewalks, and rain gutters. We wandered down the cobblestone streets with no particular agenda. We ducked into a couple shops before reaching our first “sight”—the Duomo di Siena. I mean…wow. It’s huge, ornate, and almost doesn’t feel real. Everything is so perfectly symmetrical and incredibly detailed. We grabbed a coffee in the large piazza out front, and enjoyed the Duomo’s looming grandeur above us. We explored the outside of the cathedral but didn’t go inside—it was so hot in Siena, I don’t think either of us had the patience for an actual tour.
We headed towards the main piazza around 4pm and stopped for a light lunch at one of the surrounding restaurants that are likely to be a tourist trap. I ordered a Coke Zero (which Aunt Yusra turned me onto while I was in Palestine. It tastes much closer to actual Coca-Cola than Diet Coke does)—I was looking for a light pick-me-up. We ordered a Caesar Salad (which is not actually an Italian dish), and melon with prosciutto.
The piazza was sweltering in the heat, so hardly anyone walked around the center. Luckily, our table was off in the shade. When a couple clouds passed by, providing respite to the square, we watched as some of the younger locals celebrated whatever they were celebrating, sharing open affection and conversing excitedly over a bottle of champagne.
I had flagged a vintage shop a few blocks away, so we headed in that direction, stopping by a piercing ship so Hil could change out an ear piercing. The vintage shop, Aloe & Wolf, was insane—one of the best we’d been to in the world. We kept saying how Leslie would lose her mind if she were here. The owner had such eclectic, weird taste. Hil and I both found many pieces we would’ve loved to take home. I, of course, wouldn’t allow myself to blow the cash on some of these amazing pieces—I’ll have to wait until I can replenish my bank account before giving into the vintage. But I still settled on a faux pearl and gold necklace to wear with my Yusra necklace for a sort of Lady Gaga vibe.
After we left that shop, we stopped at a small store with airy linen and cotton fabrics in billowy shapes. The owner was there and designs each piece herself—they’re all manufactured in small scale in Italy. I settled on a discounted flowy dress with wide sleeves that wasn’t a style I would typically wear. I tried it on 3 times before I decided to buy it. And I’m so glad I did—I’ve been wearing it almost every day since! It’s the perfect comfy outfit to wear for an evening out, and looks great with flat sandals.
Instead of staying in Siena for dinner, Hil and I decided to stop at a market to pick up a couple ingredients to have dinner at home. They were closing up as we rushed to grab our food—salame, prosciutto, more cheese, more tomatoes, and basil. We checked out, walked only about 7 minutes to our parked car, and headed home. It was about 8:30pm and we were exhausted.
Hil was so sweet—she said because I did the driving, I could relax and she’d make a nice meal for us. We turned on our Italian radio station again and I jumped in the shower. It’s so hot here that it’s definitely been a 2-3 shower a day type place. I poured us a glass of wine and Hil and I settled in for our meat and cheese plate, a beautifully arranged salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, basil, parsely, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar. We keep eating the same ingredients over and over in slightly different combinations, and I’m still not over it. As I’m writing this, I’ve been in Italy over 2 weeks already and I’m still eating that salad every day. We dipped our pane in Viola’s pesce and berry jam. It was the perfect little buddy dinner for us to have at home after a day of walking about the city.
I didn’t sleep well that night, for some reason I wasn’t sleeping soundly any of the nights even though the bed was comfy and the town completely silent. But Hil and I woke up for a run anyway that Tuesday morning. We went a total of 4 miles—the first 2 downhill, the last 2 uphill.
It felt impossible.
We were mostly in the blazing sun, and the hike back up…well, I wasn’t sure I’d make it. We kept stopping in little spots of shade to catch our breaths. Hilary was doing much better than I was. The combination of the heat, the sun, and the uphill climb plus lack of sleep caught up to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about water, juice, Coca-Cola—literally ANYTHING cold. I downed an entire 1.5 litre of water when we finally made it back to the room. I wasn’t sure I could survive that run again—well, maybe after a good night of sleep. 😅 The cool thing is we passed a huge forest that had signs up that it was a truffle reserve, private property. You can find truffle products offered on most menus and the specialty Italian specialty shops in Tuscany offered many varieties. Hil bought some to take home to her parents.
After our scorching run, we decided to have another leisurely day at Viola’s pool at Podere La Lapole. We made a light breakfast at home and drove down to the farm. I sunbathed, swam, and read my Kindle. Hil sat in the shade and painted a beautiful landscape of the Tuscan hills in front of us. We grabbed a couple beers from Viola’s shop and I watched Hil paint while I journaled. There was another cute little German family staying at the farm for two weeks, so we shared the pool. Cappuccino and Narina came by to say a brief hello and then trotted off, back up to the farm house.
I had been pretty relaxed for the past several months so I was still thoroughly enjoying this lazy day by the pool, under the Tuscan sun (which, of course, is one of the best rom-coms ever). But Hil has a very demanding job and just bought her first house with her partner, Andrei, so I could tell she REALLY enjoyed this rest. It warmed my heart seeing my best friend relax and nap. Her favorite thing to do the entire time was to “get a good stare going”. We’d be sitting in silence and she’d stare off into the distance, I’m assuming just letting her mind empty as much as possible, undoing the stress of work from the previous months. It was like David Puddy staring at the back of the plane seat on the flight home from his month-long European vacation with Elaine. Hil and I are close enough, almost TOO comfortable with each other, and have traveled extensively together, so we were more than happy to sit in silence and stare at nothing in particular. 😅
I was so tired from the poor sleep the evening before and our rigorous morning run that we kept it very low-key that day. We headed back to the apartment by 5:30pm. We showered and headed over to the bar for dinner again—our third meal there that week. We texted Jenna ahead of time to see if she wanted to have a pre-dinner drink since the kitchen didn’t open until 7:30pm. She and Roberto both joined us and we chatted for an hour or so, sharing about our day in Siena. Jenna said she’d leave us to our dinner—she’d already eaten—and Roberto said “odopo”, meaning he’d come back again later.
I absolutely had to have the pici pasta again from the first night, so we ordered that and a pollo dish (that wasn’t too memorable, TBH). We had some wine and later welcomed Roberto back when our meal was finished. He invited an older couple, Giovanna and Angelo (like a baby angel, was how he explained his name), to sit with us. Viola had given us a couple recommendations for places to visit so we were trying to make plans for the following day. Viola had mentioned a restaurant in the town of Monte Acuto. She said it was the only one in that town, that you can’t miss it. So when we told our friends we planned to have dinner there on Wednesday (the bar would be closed in Pari), we received VERY mixed messages about whether or not there was in fact a restaurant in Monte Acuto. Jenna and Roberto affirmed that restaurant had closed. Giovanna and Angelo insisted Carmela had reopened her restaurant in Monte Acuto recently. Roberto suggested it was better to visit Mariela’s restaurant in Casale di Pari. We were cracking up and thoroughly confused—it was like playing “who’s on first”. Either way, Hil and I had booked the farm tour at Tenuta di Paganico that Viola had recommended for a 9am start time on Wednesday.
I had also asked if we could have a wine tour and tasting at the farm. Unfortunately, they did not have a cantina on site, but the director, Valentina, gave us the name of another vineyard that could offer a tour—Sapori di Monte Antico, Begnardi Vini. I reached out over WhatsApp text and scheduled a tour for 6pm. So half our plans were made for the following day, and the jury was still out over where we’d have dinner.
I was trying to get to bed early that night since I was so toast, but we couldn’t avoid our entertaining new friends. Pretty soon Roberto brought out another bottle of limoncello and Filippo had joined the table as well.
Roberto refused to let us buy him a drink. He said that whenever he makes it to NYC, we can buy the drinks. But as long as we are in Pari, he will be buying the drinks. We were invited to join the “foreigners’ dinner” that’s held on Wednesdays in the garden on the other side of the street from our apartment. Near the well…? We were still confused about the exact location. But Jenna explained that it’s really just the guys getting together to have snacks and drinks, it’s not really a “neighborhood” party. They call it a “foreigners’ dinner” because a lot of the guys in attendance are from different regions of Italy. 😂 Hil and I kept our RSVP as TBD.
We bowed out of the bar patio around 10:30pm and headed off to bed. We woke up at 7:30am for the farm tour. We skipped showers as we figured we’d get sweaty during the day, then shower and dress up for the vineyard that evening.
What I’m Reading RN…
I just finished reading Solito, A Memoir by Javier Zamora. I flew through it, my heart pounding at times, following the story of this young Salvadoran boy crossing the US-Mexico border to be reunited with his parents in California. It allowed me insight into the realities of the often harrowing experience of migrants traveling north to the US in pursuit of opportunity. I highly recommend it—was one of my favorite reads of this year.
“Javier Zamora’s adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a “coyote” hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks.”
Hey! Would you like to connect over creativity, self-growth, and problem-solving? Or just to have a virtual glass of wine or mocktail? Please book a time on my Calendly for us to chat! I can’t wait to see you. XOXO.
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So much fun!
Siena looks so cute and the food ! Ugh.. the heat would kill me lol. What beautiful pics.. I am so enjoying this journey with you . Looking forward to your next blog.
Kez : )