Our culinary wonderings through Siena

Many travelers head to a new city with the anticipation of going into every museum, church and art gallery. The beautiful hilltop cities of Italy offer many choices of things to see displaying deeply rich historic and cultural insight into this country. However, sometimes it’s just as interesting to discover a new town by sitting in cafes, trying the regional cuisine, and watching the world go by. This is how Travis and I spent our time in Siena last week.

We are coming up on the tail end of our last farm stay in Italy, and I’d have to say that the many delights of this home have been a favorite of our time in this country. The setting of this villa perched on top a hillside with sloping vineyards and olive trees below make it just an exquisite way to live the Tuscan life. Peter and Lucie’s property is immense, and although we’ve performed odd jobs all over the land (clearing away and hauling piles and piles of brambles and branches to make a gigantic firewood pile, enlarging a horse stable, weeding the vegetable garden, cleaning out an old wine-making shed, and various housekeeping tasks, including cooking) it seems like there are still nooks and crannies that we haven’t explored. Our afternoons are spent here either reading or swimming in their little aboveground pool, or venturing off the property to hike the surrounding hills, or bike to nearby Tuscan towns. With all our seasonal meals enjoyed together sitting outside under the large blooming walnut tree, we don’t have many complaints with our current surroundings. Peter and Lucie are exceptionally gracious hosts, which makes the work all the more enjoyable and satisfying as we lend our hands.

This being said, it was a difficult decision to leave this panoramic view for two days and take a side trip away. Being in the south tip of the Tuscany region, we had to choose between visiting the nearby popular towns of Perugia, Orvieto, or Assisi in Umbria… or the art-packed Florence or smaller counterpart of Siena. With many recommendations and the desire to visit a town representing all-things-Tuscany, Siena seemed like a lovely destination. Two early morning bus trips later, we arrived in Siena by 10:30am, just in time for a cappuccino. We’d already had a straight cafe earlier at the station between bus rides, so now was time for our mid-morning snack. As a side note, the Italian breakfast is a pastry and a cafe. The cafes are a straight shot of to-die-for espresso that can be gulped in one swallow, as many of the Italians do. They come in the bar, place their order, chug their cafe and are out again in about 3 minutes flat. The tables in these bars are rarely used, as the coffee culture here does NOT encompass the American traditions of whittling away many hours reading the paper or sitting with your laptop computer. Rather, you stand by the bar to drink and exchange a few pleasantries with the barista, before you’re on your way again. No need for a to-go cup… just stop at another bar around the corner if you didn’t get enough of a jolt in your first cup.

But, back to our cappuccinos... our cafes were hours ago. Siena has a well-known, old and elegant coffee bar called Nanini, where we made our first stop in the city. We stood amongst a mix of Italians and tourists, and also sampled a decadent slice of panforte, a pastry the town is famous for. Meld together the flavors of brown sugar, dried fruits and almonds baked softly together, dusted with powdered sugar, and you can almost taste it melting in your mouth. We were fans. Next, we set off to find our B&B for the night, then toured a few of the historic churches and buildings, and we were ready for another treat. With the temperature in the high 90’s, when we passed a café selling mint-flavored ice-cold granitas we couldn’t resist. Sure, it was really lunchtime, but by the time we’d choose a place to eat our lunch we’d be starving, so we better have a pre-lunch aperitif. It was delicious.

Okay, focus…. focus. Would we do our typical grocery/deli type lunch, or actually dine in a restaurant? With pizza on Travis’s mind and a traditional Tuscan soup called ribollita being something I wanted to try, a pizzeria restaurant overlooking the steps of a beautiful chiesa (church) made an excellent choice. Plus, watching the hordes of tourists go in and out of the church was largely entertaining. We love to take turns guessing what countries they might be from based on their dress, physique or language. “Do people do that with us too?” Most likely… although we pretend to fit in. Travis ordered his favorite, the pizza margarita, but he decided that after having this dish in Naples where it was originally created, no other will compare. Despite it being such a hot day, I found the hearty soup to be delicious and filling- a creative mix of bread, beans and seasonal vegetables stewed together.

After lunch we did our typical wondering and walking of the city for hours, with me taking pictures and Travis finding the best shade to walk under in these narrow streets. To quench our thirst, we stopped for an early drink where I tried the house white wine and Travis an icy cold beer. We actually decided to rest a bit back at our hotel after our drinks, before we cleaned up and went back out again in time for the passegiata, the time of day when all the Italians come out for their stroll. With the quest of having another drink before dinner (hey, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do in Italy?), we set foot for the Piazza il Campo, the main square of Siena. This square is one of the largest we’ve seen, and it’s well known as the setting of the twice-yearly palio horse race that takes place here. The diameter of the square was lined with cafes and the interior with people sitting right on the sidewalk enjoying the surroundings. We had hoped to sit amongst the millions of others looking out on the square with glasses in wine in hand, but when we checked out a few menus and saw the prices, we knew we could do much better if we ventured further out from the center. Turns out we were right… we found the perfect place to take our drinks to go for about a quarter of the price. You got to love that you’re allowed to walk around her with a plastic glass of wine in hand and no one will glance at you twice. We found a smaller piazza all to ourselves to consume these drinks… who needs the large-scale Il Campo square ambiance anyway? We still had the 5 euros we saved in our pockets.

Our culinary day through Siena would not be complete without having dinner in a small Italian Osteria with the feel of a being in a cozy vaulted wine cellar. Tuscany is known for it’s thick Tuscan steaks sold by the weight, and we watched several tables (mostly Italians) split gigantic portions of the meat and eat it right off the bone. We made our own selections based on what our pallets were craving… Travis starting with a primo of pasta a pesto followed by a secondo portion of Tuscan beef stew. My primo was a serving of Tuscan white beans stewed together with tomatoes, and my secondo of grilled antipasto vegetables and a fantastic chunk of smoked cheese. This all was of course accompanied by good bread and a carafe of house wine… always a good choice.

So, I’d say we did it up well in Siena when it comes to our tummies. Enjoying the local delicacies is definitely a fantastic way to take-in a new city, at least that’s what we think. Keep in mind, because our life now is living with families amongst their normal daily lives, we have very little say as to the meals that are cooked and the food that is served to us. Sometimes, it’s just a treat to make your own choices and eat when you want to. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the gelato! Of course our day in Siena was not complete until we had our 3-scooped gelato before calling it a night. It just doesn’t get much better than that.