"I could sit here all day!"--my weekend in Siena

This weekend Lauren, Sam, and I all ventured off to Siena for the weekend. It seems to me that we picked the perfect weekend to line up this trip, see a beautiful city and stay with our new friends, Martha and Ben. Friday we boarded the bus after lunch and I adjusted myself in my seat in what I thought was the best way in order to not get motion sick on the way to Arezzo. We were off to begin our adventure and just half way through our trip to Arezzo our driver pulls over on the side of the road and gets out. Here I am thinking, oh no the bus is messing up and Martha will be waiting forever for us in Arezzo. The driver walks by my window and is smoking a cigarette, really? Our driver stopped mid route for a SMOKE BREAK. I guess it was a reminder that the Italians really aren’t concerned about time, theirs or yours. I would love to feel that same nonchalant feeling for the gift of time, but it will take remolding my entire process of functioning!
We finally arrive in Arezzo, get swept up by Martha and Ben and ride to a small town called Civitella in Val di Ciami if I remember correctly (I can guarantee my attempt as spelling it correctly is defiantly not correct). This small city, which we had the privilege of seeing only because we were riding with Martha and Ben, was the site of a war memorial. Martha told us that at the end of the war this quiet town was attacked and about 150 people were executed. I couldn’t imagine the devastation it caused in a town so small or the amount of families that were affected. I have learned that a lot of families continue to live in the city they grew up in because that is where there family is known to be from and they want to carry their name on in that same city. It was here that I once again saw the charm of a quiet small town city and remembered how great it was to be living in one during my time here.
After seeing that small town it was off to Monte San Savino which is the small town Martha and Ben live in. After arriving to their house we put our stuff in the guest house where we would be staying and turned the two twin beds into a double bed for three. To succeed in fitting 3 girls in one bed (included me and Lauren who have the world’s longest legs) we slept on the bed sideways so that it appeared we were spooning with each other each night. Samantha swears that the first night we all managed to rotate at the same time while sleeping. After seeing the most beautiful sunset I have seen since my arrival to Italy, Martha and Ben took us to a wonderful seafood restaurant in Monte San Savino for dinner. If you are confused like me than you may be surprised I said seafood, but seafood restaurants do exist here. Of course Sam, Lauren and I all opted for the pizza in the end instead of the seafood. The night was amazing and it was finally time to get some sleep, but not before our first taste of Lemoncello and a midnight question from Samantha. As we were walking out the door to go to sleep they told us to make sure that we made enough noise to scare off any animals that may have walked up. Samantha stomped all the way to the guest house, and once we were in bed safe from the wild animals she asked “are there bears in Italy.” The next morning we made sure to ask for clarification of these “wild animals”, and while there are bears in Italy there aren’t too many bears near Martha and Ben’s home.
It was Saturday and time to see Siena at last! Martha and Ben drove us right into the city and dumped us out beside an Irish pub. We walked down a few streets that we could tell we not as well known and further away from the Campo and Duomo, but with really charming and cheap stores. When we finally made it to the Campo we had to just stand and stare for a moment. The mood of the Campo was busy and energetic and our cameras came out which allowed us to fit right in with all the others. We had learned just a few minutes earlier that you should not stand still too long taking pictures or you would get pooped on. This is because Samantha (our “outdoorsy” friend) got pooped on just a few minutes before when we had stopped to take pictures of a church. So there we were, in the Campo snapping away with our cameras, and after finding the tourist office and checking back with our map we learned that this so called “Duomo” that we had to see wasn’t in the Campo and we were all sorts of confused. We began to follow the arrows and when we arrived at the Duomo we knew we had to be right this time.
I have seen many churches, but the Duomo isn’t even as big as it was originally planned to be and us three stood there speechless. All I could do was stop and stare at every part of this beautiful church. The floors, the ceiling, the columns, the arches, the frescos; it was all beautiful beyond words. I wondered how people came to services in a place so elaborately designed because I couldn’t focus on a preacher if I had to attend a service. The Duomo we saw is what was supposed to be only the Nave in for the church, but they never finished all that was planned. The fact that people line up and pay to see something that was to be only a portion of something even bigger tells you how grand it was.
Everywhere you go in Italy there is a church. I knew this before I came and feared I would get tired of going in them. Well, I haven’t gotten tired of going in them and I don’t think I will. All of them have held their own beauty and charm, and ones that are as big and beautiful as the Duomo have left me speechless. We went into the church of St. Catherine right before going to the Duomo. St. Catherine was said to have gone through stigmata (the stages Jesus went through during the resurrection). This particular church was placed on the sight of her family’s home. There were works done in the 1800s that adorned what was the family’s kitchen and showed St. Catherine’s life. In the church there was a cross with Jesus that was similar to the one I had seen in a church in Arezzo. I could connect it to a time period and an artist even though I didn’t know much about it. I thought it was interesting that there was work from many different centuries in the church. The back piece that was in the same room as the frescos from the 1800s was done in the 1500s. You must be able to analyze a piece of art to notice how an older style. It is not as easy for older pieces as it is for art work of today. In pieces from today you can easily notice a modern flair that reads like no 15th to 17th century piece of work which told its own story. Let me not attempt to get into too much detail of comparing art work until I get a little more knowledge!
Saturday turned into Saturday night, and after a successful day in Siena we attended an event similar to a pig pickin in the states in Monte San Savino. There was entire pigs laid out on the butcher’s counters and you had the option between two pigs (which they DID name.) I picked my pig and had a Panini. The difference between a pig pickin in the states and this “festival” for pigs was there was that there was no cole slaw and no barbeque sauce. Neither of these bothered me because I absolutely despise cole slaw and enjoyed my pig without any sauce, but it would have been quite nice to have an extra large sweet tea last night! To make up for my loss of a southern US treat Martha and Ben made us an amazing American (US) breakfast this morning! My plate was filled with cheesy eggs, bacon, hashbrowns with onions, and even some toast. It was an amazing way to end my weekend in Siena. We made it back to Sansepolcro and now it is time for me to piece together the many stories in Italy’s Sorrow, study art history, and make it to the Ballestra!! Ciao Ciao <3