Wednesday
September 17, 2008 – Sienna
I had a
somewhat disturbed night with my cough etc, but still got an impressive number
of hours in and we both felt fine this morning. The breakfast was, as we
expected, various breads, cold meats and cheese as well as sweet pastries,
cereal and fruit. Just as we like it. Although our original ‘plan’ was to go
for a drive into the surrounding countryside, nerves were a little raw for that
so it was definitely good news when, in response to Rab’s enquiry about a
market we were told it was indeed Market Day.
Since the
markets were on the other side of town, we caught a #3 bus across there. Rab
loves these markets although it really beasts me why this is. Most of the goods
are things she would never buy and what little there is of value she already
has. But as I say, she loves them and was in her element doing what Matt refers
to as mastodon shopping: looking, feeling, looking closely, replacing,
looking….but never buying.
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| Lunch is up! |
Of course,
with some subtle guidance from me, we landed up in the area of the markets
where my interest usually lies – the food stalls. We had a couple of slices of
pork, cut off the carcass of a pig that
had been stuffed and roasted whole, served up on a fresh bread roll. Delicious,
especially when accompanied by a cold blood orange drink. We hadn’t come across
this drink before, but found it different and very much to our taste.
We had a
small problem getting home because although we simply caught another #3 bus
again where we had got off the bus when we got to the markets, we didn’t
realise that it was on its ‘out’ leg, a trip that took over an hour. So our
expected 25 minute return trip took almost three times as long. But we saw a
bit of the countryside and suburbs of Sienna, so all was not lost.
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| The fruit was excellent |
After a bit
of a rest (and a snooze for me) we headed back into town for a stroll down the
main shopping street – the Strada Citta. This again was quite literally, right
up Rab’s street. Lovely shops with a tremendous range of beautiful goods, from
the greengrocer where we bought delicious grapes and slices of preserved
ginger, to the gelataria where Rab had a caramel cream ice cream. (She has raved about that for years now and
has never been quite able to find its equal.) As we ate our ice creams, the
church bells were ringing above us and the crowds of people passing by were
just so different from our normality. Wonderful to be in Italy.
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| Palace in Sienna |
Behind the
main piazza, Rab, to her joy, found a handbag shop (there seem to be dozens of these in every Italian town) which had
an incredible stock of bags of every shape and
size, many of which were decorated with antique style maps. She had
bought one of these bags in Zimbabwe
about 20 years ago and had been looking for a replacement for years – and here
they were, like Aladdin’s Cave. Some time later she finally made her choice and
was so happy. We celebrated
with a meal at the same restaurant as last night, although this time I followed
Rab’s lead and had the excellent vongole.
And so to
bed for another good night’s sleep – just a bit of disturbance for me, but
nothing too serious.
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