Les Flâneurs

Out and about in Siena

[June 1999]

Home to the University of Siena and the oldest bank in the world, Monte dei Paschi, as well as a phenomenal catherdal (Duomo) and the wondrous Piazza del Campo, the city of Siena is about a square mile inside the walls. We walked pretty much every street (via) and alleyway (vicolo), savoring this incredible space and jostling among the locals.

Having fallen head over heels in love with the Piazza del Campo back in 1998 we also spent quite a bit of our free time after class just hanging out (those images will be in in my next post).

Porta Romana, one of several entries inside the walls

a group of flagthrowers from one of the city's 17 contrade

a weaver at her loom

at the open air market near the fortezza

on the steps of San Domenico

in the park by the fortezza

Susie on the piazza of the Duomo

Susie on the fortezza walls

Italy and France 1999

[June 1999]

We returned to Italy in early summer of 1999. This time we also planned to include a few days in Provence as well. In fact, we hoped to spend two weeks in Siena studying Italian at Scuola Dante Alighieri followed by a few days with friends in St. Remy de Provence tasting and touring the Provençal countryside.

Our trip begin in Nice, France where we picked up our rental car. From there we drove to Italy, stopping overnight in Levanto along the Ligurian Coast at the Stella Maris Hotel.

beachfront at Levanto

(We had originally planned to spend a couple of nights at the same hotel on our return trip but since the hotel was less than expected we cancelled that reservation. In the end we stayed at a wonderful small hotel just outside Lucca.)

From Levanto it was an easy drive to Siena where we found our apartment at Le Meridiane, a complex of short- and long-term rentals. Located just outside the walls of the city it was close to a bus stop that would take us right into the historic city center. It was also a fairly easy walk as well.

Siena skyline

our building at Le Meridiane

our apartment, behind and at the lower level but with a great view

We spent two weeks at the school which was located close to the fortezza. We had two wonderful teachers for the two-week program, Chiara and her assistant Chicca ("non cheeka" she would always remind us).

Chiara

the last day of class we gave her flowers

Chicca

It was a small class of some ten or so other students, from as far away as Australia and as close as Switzerland.

both Australian

Swiss

and course at least two Americans

milling around in the school hallway

Next up: Siena strolling!

Siena for my 50th birthday

[late April 1998]

I had the great good fortune to an entire week inside the walls of Siena in celebration of my 50th birthday. OK, Susie and I did take buses to Montalcino and San Gimignano for short day trips. Otherwise we roamed the side-streets and back alleys of this incredible medieval city, hanging out on the Piazza del Campo watching the ebb and flow of humanity, people from around the world savoring the experience of being in Siena.

It was our second trip to Italy and it's quite possible we enjoyed ourselves even more than the first one. A grand time indeed!

We rented an apartment on via Campagna just a stone's throw from the Piazza del Campo and out tiny street had its own grocer and bakery. In the morning I would walk across via di Citta to a bar for coffee and then to the bakery for pastries. Aside from sleeping in way to late most days we both found the experience exhilarating.

It was wonderful and certainly enlightening to simply spend most of our time strolling inside the walls of this spectacular little, so much to experience just by walking, taking one's time and savoring the place, its people, the rhythms of life here.