A Change Of Pace – Tuscany

It’s time for a change of pace as we pick up our rental car and drive south for about three hours to Ossaia in the heart of Tuscany. We drove through rolling hills and valleys. It seemed that every hill had a little town sitting at its peak, with the mandatory basilica marking the center. They are so small that we couldn’t locate them on our map, but it was tempting to detour and check them out. Ahh, those shiny objects! Since it was very hot and humid, Alex and Erin were focused on hitting the pool. As a point of reference, Ossaia is about 25 km from Cortona, which was the setting for the movie Under the Tuscan Sun.

Tuscany Villa

We’ve rented a villa away from all the noise and crowds of a large city to lounge and savor a ‘country’ setting with a pool, bocce ball, volleyball court, table tennis, and a vegetable garden ready to supply us with produce. More important, it gave us the chance to prepare home-cooked meals – a break from all the restaurant fare. With food always top of mind, first on the agenda was to find a market to provision our kitchen for the next few days. I had always visualized an open market with vendors offering fresh fruits, vegetables, and an interesting array of fresh seafood and meats, cheeses of all types, olive oils, and the all-important Tuscan wines. Oh, and lets not forget a baker selling freshly baked Tuscan bread. Hmm, that would be a NO! Replace that picture with a medium-sized supermarket, with almost everything packaged up. I would not describe the offerings as either broad nor gourmet. The produce looked very tired, but fortunately we had our own garden to provide most of what we needed. It was fun to pick fresh peaches, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. We prepared some wonderful dishes – American style risotto, pasta, and reverted back to the old standard, hamburger, one evening as an alternative to Italian cuisine.

Our pool in Tuscany.

Tuscan enactment of Olympic Water Polo match.

Our first outing was to Cortona. This charming little town, set on top of a hill, is encased by a protective stone wall. The narrow, steep, cobblestone streets, laced throughout the town, offered a ‘surprise’ at each turn or narrow walkway. Its history dates back to the 7th century BC. It was a Roman town, later owned by the Medici family for several hundred years, before becoming a part of the Kingdom of Italy. Today it is mostly a tourist town with many shops and café’s. The movie certainly has had its impact on the town. It also has several churches, including the mandatory Duomo.

Cortona’s main piazza.

What’s an Italian town without laundry hanging out?

A typical street in Cortona

Followed a great aroma – it’s a butcher shop!

Santa Maria delle Gracie al Calinaio

St. Maria’s altar

Pieta in St. Mary Basilica

In addition to seeing the Duomo, we wanted to find the fountain in which Lindsay Duncan, as Katherine in the movie, decides to take a late night dip. We did find a beautiful fountain and park overlooking the valley, but it didn’t look like the setting. After some inquiry, we discovered that the fountain in the movie was just a fiberglass fountain, set up in one of the piazzas.

The “Not the Fountain” in Under the Tuscan Sun

The following day, we drove about 60 km north-west to the much larger town of Siena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This medieval town, with a population of about 60,000, is walled in and situated at the top of a hill. Legend attributes its founding to Senius and Aschius, the sons of Remus who was murdered by his brother Romulus (Rome was named after Romulus), in about 760 BC. In many respects Siena is very similar to Cortona but given its larger size, it misses on the charm and quaint front. The Piazza del Campo is Siena’s social and civic center, and site of the semi-annual Palio horse race. It is not a tourist event. It is serious business for the 17 districts of the town. It is the most famous Italian sporting event, with the possible exception of international soccer tournaments. A mixed marriage between two people from different districts takes on a whole new dimension for this race. It is not unusual for these couples to separate in the days leading up to the race and the race day itself. Tickets for standing room only in the plaza must be purchased far in advance. Reserved seats are sold more than a year in advance. We could see workers busy preparing the town and the Piazza for the next race just days away, on August 16th. Ten horses with their bareback riders race around a circular track in the Piazza. The race typically last for just over a minute. That’s it! It is a very brutal event with the use of whips on horses and competitors. Bribery! Threats! Conspiracy! Injury or even death of horses is not uncommon. A documentary, Palio (2015) is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Prepare yourself…some of it is gruesome!

Entranced to the walled city of Siena

Cobblestone streets of Siena

Every ally has delightful surprises.

Piazza del Campo – site of the Palio

Where’s the race? Did we miss it?

Photo of the Piazza during race day.

Our final stop in Siena is the Domo di Siena, a medieval church, located in the Piazza del Duomo. Built in 1263, it appears disproportionately large relative to its surroundings – like an edifice all in white. It is the first church we’ve visited wherein we had to pay an entrance fee. But once you get in, you quickly realize that it is worth the fee. It is spectacular! It surpasses every other church we’ve seen, including the Duomo in Florence. Whether you look at the marble mosaic inlay floors depicting a story, or the black and white marble pillars, or the altar, or the dome and ceiling – it is grand in every dimension. What more can I say, but to add a few extra photos?