Friends, kids, food, wine and Siena in April

We spent a leisurely morning at the hotel. Susie slept in – well-deserved to be sure – while I roused myself, showered, dressed and went downstairs to have caffe and catch up on my blog notes. (photo: breakfast room.)

Staying at Hotel Santa Caterina was Roberto Bechi’s idea – we’d be close to both Peccati di Gola, our favorite pasticerria (pastry shop) and within easy walking distance to the Piazza del Campo.

Once a private home, the Hotel opened about ten ago and was totally refurbished within the last two. The rooms are spacious and ours was away from the street overlooking the hotel garden, which has a wonderful view of southern Tuscany. The service is very friendly, the breakfast tasty and, I can tell you, the caffe (“espresso doppio” for me) incredibly good.

(I say “caffe” because saying “coffee” just doesn’t sound right to me, not here anyway. It may sound pretentious but when I say “coffee” I think of coffee generally available in the US: large quantities of rather hot, brown water. I know I’m going to hear about this but there is something about the intense richness of an Italian caffe; not just here I know but there are plenty of places in the US that strive to replicate just such flavors and intense aromas.)



The singular drawback at the hotel is the lack of an Internet connection, an affliction that unfortunately affects many hotels and inns in Italy. So we have go to another old haunt of ours, the “Internet Fast Net” on Casato del Sopra. Parking is also somewhat limited at the hotel (see photo above); the hotel lot is designed really only for small cars, but we were driving a Citroen C3 so we were in luck.

One last thing, and this applies to many European accommodations: the half-shower, half-shower door idea seems to reflect an unwillingness of making a decision to do one thing or another: either a shower or a bathtub. In any case, it makes for an interesting morning experience.

While I’m talking about cars, I should say that we thought the autostrade toll prices significantly less than the autoroute tolls in France. Also, there seemed to be lots of new highway construction completed in Italy during the past couple of years, in northern Italy at any rate. The roads in France seem to be wider though and most are very well maintained. Oh, and you can use your US credit card to pay for tolls in Italy whereas you cannot in France. (Like buying Metro tickets or train tickets at the self-serve kiosks you need a France-based credit card. Dumb)

Anyway, Susie eventually joined me for caffe and after breakfast we strolled into town.

Our first objective was the Internet point we had used when we lived here in 2005. They were still in business (good to see) and the owner, a young man now sporting long hair and a ponytail, even remembered us. After spending a half hour checking emails and uploading a couple of blog entries we paid our 2 euros and walked out the door.

Just a few meters away we were back on Via di Citta which soon became Via Stalloreggi, heading for Aimone’s new enoteca. As we walked into the shop, there was Alessandra (sans Costanza though), Aimone, his wife Moreena and their friend Claudia.

The six of us walked around the corner and halfway down a steep walk was a door leading underground to “Permalico,” a ristorante they wanted to try. The antipasti and two pici (pasta) dishes were tasty, and the service friendly and attentive. But it was the conversation that fueled the afternoon’s energy: we spent the better part of the next two or two and a half hours talking about food, wine, wine and food, food and wine, wine without food (not possible), food without wine (only possible where they wine was no good).


After lunch (“pranzo”) we stepped outside into the late afternoon drizzle and said arrivederci, but with the idea that we would get together one last time on Wednesday.

Susie and I strolled back to the hotel where we relaxed (a civilizing thing to do after a good lunch) and wait for Roberto Bechi to come by and pick us up.

About half-past four Roberto pulled up in front of the hotel and Susie and I climbed in his van. Roberto is one of the preeminent travel guides in Siena and has been featured on more than a half dozen episodes of Rick Steve’s travel shows. We’ve known Roberto and his American-born wife Patti for some years now and have often referred inquiries from my website to them for on-the-ground assistance. Anyway, the three of us drove off in a light rain whizzing through the Senesi countryside. I have to say though the rain added an incredible luminance to the greening of Tuscany.

We were heading to their home in Asciano, or rather outside of Asciano, overlooking “Le Crete,” the beautiful clay hills just south of Siena. Their house and the new one they are working on finishing, sit on a promontory, a spit of land jutting out from the side of a hill with incredible views for nearly 320 degrees.

We made a short detour to Serre di Rapolono, about 5kms from Asciano, so Roberto could stop at a local marble quarry to finalize a choice of marble (”marmi”) they need for a set of outside steps for the new house.



And the new house is indeed incredible. At more than 3500 square feet, the house is built on the ruins of an ancient barn and stables, and is designed to be totally self-sufficient and passive in both heating and cooling. It’s also designed with the latest structural technology to help it ride out an earthquake (“terremoto”), something which has become very timely for Italians recently.

We chatted for a bit until Patti drove up with the kids (they had all been swimming at a pool in Asciano) and with pizza. Patti works several days a week teaching English for the University of Siena branch in Grossetto, which is located on the coast some 75kms away, and on those days little time is available for dinner preparations. Anyway, the pizzas were delicious, thin cracker-like crusts and plenty of varieties to choose from: sausage, veggie, potato, margarita, cheese.

And of course wine, a red wine we brought from Piemonte.

A good time was had by all – we laughed at the kids, Michele (“Micky”) in particular who has the energy of 10 kids twice his age (which is 6 if you must know), at each other (usually at me or Roberto).


We talked about the future of travel and tourism in Italy. This is a topic of great concern right now, especially for people like Roberto and I hope to have more to say about our discussions and those we had with Aimone in the weeks to come. Suffice it to say we always enjoy seeing these guys and hope it won’t be another two years before we can sit down and eat pizza together.

The evening eventually slid into night and it was soon time to say arrivederci. Patti had had a long day and she was still wrapped in her little boy. Roberto drove us along one Tuscan ridge after another until we glided into Siena. He dropped us off at the hotel and we “ciao, a presto!” “Until next time!” A wonderful Italian concept, spoken with emphasis and enthusiasm.

A presto!