Changes

Our fourth week of school opened in the midst of change, good and bad. To the good is the weather. This past weekend was mainly sunny and in the high 50s, and the early part of the week is shaping up to be cloudy but in the low 60s. To the bad, we lost the two women from Delta, Jennifer and Michaela, both of whom had to leave and return to the US. They both brought a fluency to the class which served to challenge the rest of us, to force us to be more focused than might otherwise be the case.

We are now officially in Intermediate I, and with the addition of new students (this being a Monday of course), we are now at 9, two of whom were in the previous Intermediate class and have been combined with ours (they were down to only two in their class) and we have added two men, one from New York but who has been teaching comparative literature in Japan and young man who works as an Information Technician in Switzerland.

Saturday we had a leisurely morning and a little after 11 we got into the car and headed south out of town, picking an obscure little back road. As we drove through the countryside, what is called the “Crete”, or clay hills of Siena, we were just overwhelmed by panoramas we saw almost constantly. The combination of rolling hills, clay soil, and fields just beginning to turn green mixed with the strong sunlight was powerful indeed and we welcomed the fact that we had no itinerary, or place to be or nothing in particular to achieve which might place some demand on our time.

But all roads eventually lead somewhere and we eventually found ourselves in Montepulciano. We parked and, since it was early in the afternoon and nearly every shop was closed, we opted to kill some time eating. We had a wonderful lunch at Trattoria Diva & Maceo on Via di Gracciano nel Corso 90/92, almost across the street from the Avignonesi cantina. The service was pleasant and professional, the food outstanding and the atmosphere lively with the tables being occupied by what appeared to be mostly locals.

After “pranzo” we strolled the streets, looking for a coppersmith’s shop which we had visited once before in 2001. We found it and the smith himself, Mr. Mazzetti and his wife at Via dell’Opio nel Corso 64. He makes all his own copper pots, pans and various other accessories for the home, and his prices are very reasonable for copper: for example, a 4- or 4.5-quart cassoulet for 130 euros and if you have them ship to the US they take 20% off the list price (in effect dropping the VAT tax), although much if not nearly all of that comes back to defray shipping costs.

After we left town we headed down to the church of San Biagio at the foot of the city, strolled for a bit and then headed back into Siena, where we changed clothes and then about 7:30 pm headed into the city for dinner. We joined in the evening passegiata and then strolled up Via Camollia heading for the northernmost point of the city walls (the Porta Camollia). Along the way we found a delightful looking place to eat, Ristorante Enzo, and had an absolutely wonderful meal. We both ordered a disgustazione menu of five courses each: Susan had the Tavola di Toscana consisting of typical Tuscan dishes and I had the “Tradizione”, which was oriented on more “traditional” or typically peasant dishes. One of its courses, for example, was “Acqua cotto”, or cooked water. In effect a soup consisting of beans, greens, carrots, whatever was left over in the pantry I assume, with a raw egg on top and then a couple of slices of cheese on top of the egg. This was then placed under a broiler to melt the cheese and poach the egg. Delicious.

We strolled through the streets back to our car (we had parked in our usual spot near the fortezza) and got home a bit before 11 pm.

The next morning we took the 10:58 bus into town where we strolled through the huge mercato at the fortezza. (The mercato is held normally every Wednesday morning and consists of scores of vendors selling clothes – mainly – housewares, some produce and cheese and meats, all in vans specially designed to set up in open air markets.) We strolled to the Piazza del Campo where we sat on the ground soaking up the sun before heading to the Cimitero Laterino. The cemeteries in Italy, and in particular this one in Siena, are in effect spectacular outdoor sculpture gardens, and nearly every headstone has a photograph (or more) of the deceased. We then strolled along the top of the city walls to the Porta San Marco (passing the new underground garage complex which was, of course, full). From there we headed to the other side of the city walking to Santa Maria dei Servi, near the Porta Romana and from there back through the city to catch the bus back home. After all we still had homework to do.