Tag: Culture

Being nice certainly pays off! The really nice concierge at my hotel moved me to a suite with a view of the Duomo, see below. As I type this, I am looking up at the architectural detail of the Dome, remembering Ross King”s historical work on its construction.

I decided to hike up to Michelangelo”s Square to catch the morning sun. The light in the few places that I have been in Italy, Florence included, is beautiful. A photographers dream! When I arrived I noticed someone had sent up their camera to do a time-lapse. What a great idea! I spoke with the videographer who, it turned out, spoke English! Not normal English though, the British variant 🙂

KH lives in Florence and works for The Florentine newspaper as a videographer. I am sure that I talked her ear off (who me?) especially since I haven’t had a spoken conversation without the aid of Google Translate and its accompanying time lag for 7 days. It has been a trying week for me. Oh, the horror!

I made my way to the Lorenzo Medici museum and viewed his collection of sacred artifacts. Wow! Afterwards I saw his library including his original copies of Aristotle and Dante. I was in book heaven! I did wonder, though, if these copies were originally bound and published here or in Venice. I have some research to do!

I then went to San Lorenzo Market and followed the sage advice of KH and had the fried fish platter for lunch. Two words: mmmm mmmmmm! I then bought a silk scarf and made my way to the Scuolo del Cuoio, the leather working school in Florence. I spent too much but the craftsmanship is well worth it. The quality is exceptional.

A shout out to my sister and my niece! I look forward to seeing both of them upon my return. 168 Sushi for dinner?

And, for those interested, I am well over 4000 images for this week. I hope at least a few turn out.

My feet are, however, killing me. I think I have almost worn a hole through my new shoes. I am going to try to stay off of them for at least tonight.

I have some cinghial (boar) and pecorino left over from Tuscany but, as I type, I realize that when I bought the wine this afternoon that I should have gotten some honey!

I grudgingly left Siena this afternoon after an incredible visit to the Basilica di San Dominico to see the severed head of Saint Catherine. She died while in Rome but the Sienese wanted her back so they smuggled out her head in a bag. When stopped by the authorities, the legend goes, all they saw was rose petals.

There is an awful lot of that in the history of the various (now) Italian cities, including the theft of St. Mark”s body by the Venetians, smuggled out in a vat of pig fat to avoid the prying eyes of the Muslim authorities.

I digress.

I left Siena by bus around 2. The bus is definitely the preferred mode of transport in Tuscany. An hour later I spied the beautiful dome of Brunelleschi in the distance! I can only image what people thought when they first saw it in the 15th century!

Here are a few pictures. I settled in to my hotel across from the Duomo and went out for some quick photos.

Bread, pecorino cheese, sausage, grapes and a pear!

A wonderful day today at the Duomo, the Pinocoteca Nationale, and wandering around in Siena!

Tomorrow I go to Firenze and Brunelleschi”s dome!

I took the bus from Pienza at 9 this morning and arrived in Siena a little after 10. I got to my B&B, dropped my bags, and tried to sleep for a bit but I was just too excited! I grabbed my cameras and some lunch, went to the Campo and ate. Great people watching! The sun was out, another beautiful day. I then went to the Duomo and bought an OPA pass to the Duomo, the Museum, Baptistry, and the facciatone, the unfinished portion of the Duomo that gives an amazing view of the city. I took a panorama from the top, see below! I have the Duomo and Baptistry to do tomorrow but I am sure it will be busy! After that I will I will climb the Torre del Mangia for another great view!

The first photo below is the beautiful Duomo and the second is the view from my B&B, that’s the Saint Dominico Catherine Basilica that I will visit tomorrow morning. Being Italy, there are a lot if churches, most with gorgeous art works! I spent a half hour with Duccio”s masterpiece Maestà this afternoon, people rushed in and out of the room with this spectacular altarpiece without even giving it a glance.

Oh…. And for those who asked; 2393 photos so far…. Not including iPhone photos 🙂

It is 5 am my time and I just woke up after a refreshing nights sleep. I am heading out to take a few sunrise pictures at 6:15 after I pack up. My accommodations thus far have been excellent, the food exceptional, and the photography, spectacular!

I will be leaving for Siena by bus at 9:15 this morning, just enough time for a few more photos and breakfast.

I just got back from an incredible hike through the Tuscan countryside to the Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta. It is between Pienza and San Quirico d”Orchia and it took several hours due to my stopping every two minutes to take a photo!

Here are a few from along the way!

I woke up early and refreshed! I packed my camera gear and set out to get some sunrise images! Here are a few, including a panorama. It was incredibly breathtaking!

There is a beautiful sliver of a moon out tonight. Here is the Duomo in Pienza with the moon in the background.

I had forgotten that I had taken photos of my dinner. The wine menu should be enough explanation! Both the wine menu and the photo of the glass of wine were taken prior to my going to eat dinner. I can’t remember the name of this beautiful little wine bar but it is right next to a church 😉

Thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes! I am here in Pienza eating a lunch of pecorino cheese and wild boar looking out over the beautiful Val D’Orcia. I’m really tired and the multiple cups of espresso aren’t working. I had a great stay in Montipulciano. Here is a shot of my room and the private garden.

Montipulciano is a wonderful town filled with wineries. I had dinner at the Borgo Buio, across the street from my B&B. The food was spectacular starting with a collection of local pecorino cheese and jam, I then ate Pici pasta, hand made by the chef, Richard. He came to my table frequently to drop off samples of his best Grappa, wine, and aperativos. I was well taken care of. I then had the most tender cheek as my main, followed by a chocolate dessert that I fell in love with. My hosts were the best and, to be frank, I expected (and was quite willing) to pay a lot more than what my bill was. Kudoes to the chef!

Luckily I was across the street from my B&B because I would have definitely gotten lost being in the state I was! I slept sparingly hence my dismal state today. It was the best dinner that I have ever had!

I wandered to Pienza and fell in love, again. Where Montipulciano was short streets and narrow alleys, Pienza is open and, while small, quite spacious. Here are a few from along my stroll. Note that all of these from my posts are from my iPhone to make it easy to update. I have given both cameras quite the workout and I am up over 1000 images thus far!