Siena's Il Campo

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 6)

The second main area of attractions in Siena is the center of town, called Il Campo. It was very windy today and the wind was sweeping across Il Campo making it feel rather cold. Since it was past the lunch hour, we decided this was a good excuse to duck into a nearby cafe for some lunch. Il Campo is surrounded on its outer edges by lots of cafes with outdoor seating areas, but the wind today was keeping everyone inside. We enjoyed a pizza lunch, inside, and then tried to get into City Hall -- only to discovery that it was closed! So we revised our plans and will return here in the morning instead.

We enjoyed Il Campo and took pictures by the fountain there. We also window shopped through the streets behind Il Campo and then headed back to the Hotel to rest for a couple of hours before going out to dinner.

We dined this evening at a small restaurant called the Two Arches. It was really cute. We enjoyed a simple meal, along with a bottle of red wine - of course!

And now, it is time for bed.

The Duomo Altar and Baptistry

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 5)

The third feature of the Siena Duomo that I found most notable was the pulpit -- which is a sculptural work of art. The pulpit is held aloft by seven marble pillars, each resting on the figure of a lion. The sides of the pulpit consistof six panels with intricately carved scenes including several depicting the Adoration of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt, and the Last Judgment.

Also within the Cathedral complex, we visited the Baptistry, which is decorated on all the walls and ceiling with beautiful frescos. And because it was too

late in the day to gain entry to either the city hall or tower, we spent some time in the Duomo Museum. It is a wonderful Museum,

and I ended up being rather happy that we were unable to see the Palazzo Publico today, which is what we had planned. In the Museum, we were enchanted by our being able to get an up close view of some of the original stained glass, statues and paintings that originally adorned the exterior of the Cathedral.

Another feature offered by the Museum was a 120 step climb to a rooftop area from which we were able to get a panoramic view of Siena and the surrounding countryside. Dad made one-half of the climb with us, and

then Katherine and I climbed the rest of the way. It was a very windy day, but we enjoyed the sights and took lots of pictures

The Piccolomini Library

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 4)

Also inside the Siena Duomo is the Piccolomini Library. This room was built to house manuscripts and it contains some illuminated manuscripts today. But they are not the real draw in this room. The main attractions here are the brightly colored frescos on the walls that depict scenes in the life of Pope Pius II, also know as Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who was from Siena.

The frescos in the Library were painted between 1505 and 1507 by the great Umbrian artist, Pinturicchio. They are beautiful, and they remain extremely colorful. This room is doing a masterful job of preserving them.

The ceiling of the Library is also a delight of colorful tiles and reliefs and scenes with animals both real and imagined.

The Siena Duomo Complex

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 3)

The main sight that we saw today was the Siena Duomo. This Cathedral was built during the 13th and 14th centuries and took more than 100 years to complete. In fact, theoriginal building plan was never completed. A much larger section of the Cathedral was planned but the construction was abandoned due to a lack of funding. Some of the walls of this additional section are still standing and so it is possible to get a feel for how massive the second phase of construction would have been.

But the existing Duomo is still very large, and it is very beautiful. It is also quite

unique in appearance since it is built out of different layered shades of marble. The Cathedral complex is made up of the Cathedral, a Baptistry, a Crypt, a Bell Tower and two walls of the even larger cathedral whose construction was abandoned. Also, there is a wonderful museum on the grounds that houses much of the original stained glass, exterior paintings and exterior statues that were removed from the exterior of the church about 60 years ago to protect them from deterioration.

The Cathedral was a magnet for our attention so we went in there first. The highlights inside the Cathedral include (i) the marble tile floor, (ii) the Piccolomini Library, and (iii) the marble sculpted altar.

The marble floor is truly amazing. It took over 500 years to complete. The floor consists of dozens of sections depicting avariety of biblical, historical and allegorical scenes. The layered

process by which these scenic floor sections were created is beyond me. They are truly unique, and it is no wonder that it took so many hundreds of years to complete the entire floor. The floor is the pride and joy of this church -- so much so that most of the scenic sections are cordoned off to force visitors to walk around them. And other sections are kept completely under cover for 11 months of the year -- being uncovered only during September of each year to allow for viewing.

Getting Our Bearings in Siena

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 2)

We finally found ourselves on the outskirts of Siena and heading into the city. Siena sits on the top of a hill, so we did a lot of up hill driving as we approached. Once within the old town, we had to find our hotel -- the Hotel Athena. At this point, however, the GPS failed us. It was telling us to turn when there was no street to turn onto. We turned it off.

And we discovered that we were driving very close to Il Campo -- the center of town. We were driving down narrow, cobblestoned, ancient

streets with lots of pedestrians on them. On each side of the streets were

three and four story, tightly packed row-house-type buildings.

There were few cross streets and this meant that it was very easy to lose one's sense of perspective or direction. Dad had to drive very S-L-O-W-L-Y, and we were starting to get a bit anxious. We really didn't know where we were going.

We stopped three times and asked directions of pedestrians. And we still could not find the Hotel. We even asked a policeman and he gave us the worst directions of all! Finally, finally, we found the Hotel Athens. And it's a lovely hotel. The bedrooms and

bathrooms are spacious and sunny. We are very comfortable here.

Bound for Siena

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Part 1)

We left Rome today, and I think we were ready to leave. We had faced such frustration at the Vatican Museum and the Colosseum that we were ready for a "fresh start."

We were up early - at 6:30 a.m. - and we checked out of the Hotel Fontanella Borghese by 7:45 a.m. We had ordered a cab to take us to a Hertz office on the outskirts of town and, once having picked up our rental car (which was very comfor

table), we faced our biggest challenge of the day.

Driving in Italy (and in most of Europe) can be frustrating -- for Americans. This is so for at least two reasons. First, there are very few street signs. Second, the highway route numbers and the directions of the highways (north, south, east, west) are not well marked. Rather, directions are most often provided by signs indicating the towns that lie ahead. But if you do not know the towns in the area, this is fairly useless information! [Note: We do this in the US too, but we are obviously much more familiar with the geography there. As a foreigner in a foreign land, it is, sadly, not very helpful.]

We had one advantage, though. Dad has a European GPS system. Initially, we had some difficulty picking up a satellite signal. But once we found the connection, it worked pretty well. Our next problem was that we had trouble trusting the GPS. It would tell us to get on a particular road going east, when we felt

(strongly) that we really should be going west. Or we would enter a rotary and the GPS would tell us to get off at the third exit, but the second exit had a sign pointing to Siena so Dad got off there instead. When we allowed our instincts to interfere, the GPS would then need to "recalculate." It did a lot of "recalculating," because we made quite a few wrong turns, and we started to go a little crazy.

The other problem was that the GPS would often give an instruction to turn right or left when we were right on top of the turn -- and Dad would go past the intended road. This happened several times, and it really wasn't Dad's fault. But we persevered and after some misdirection, we finally got on the main highway headed in the right direction to Siena.

The pictures here were taken on our first afternoon in Siena when, among other things, we spent some time in Il Campo - the mail town square. Oh, and Dad bought a new scarf here (which you see in the pictures) because this was our coldest day in Italy. It was also very windy. He made a smart purchase and made good use of it.

Our Second Night in Rome

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 7)

It is only our second, but last, night in Rome. I had a vivid recollection of a very simple, but very tasty meal of pasta bolognese that I had when we were last here, and I was determined to find the restaurant where I had that meal. I had a general recollection that it was located on a fairly main street in the vicinity of the Trevi Fountain. Dad and Katherine were agreeable to trying to find it and so, after a brief rest, we set out for dinner. And we found the restaurant. I still cannot remember its name. It was a very simple place, but I enjoyed the pasta -- again!

And after dinner, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. From our last visit, I recalled that I enjoyed the Trevi Fountain more at night than I had during the day -- so I wanted Katherine to see it at night. We found the Fountain easily. You can actually hear the rushing water from several blocks away! It is an amazing thing. It is so huge, and yet it sits in an impossibly small piazza. We were fortunate tonight because the crowd at the Fountain was relatively small. So we were able to freely walk around and take our time taking pictures and, of course, throwing coins into the Fountain.

The Pantheon

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 5)

We had tried to see the Pantheon (inside) on Saturday, but we were frustrated because a religious service was taking place and entry to the public was not being permitted. So, following our tour of Ancient Rome, we made our way to the Pantheon. This time, we were successful. It was open, and it was very crowded.

I am surprised at how much more crowded Rome is on this Spring weekend -- as compared to my visit here in September 2009. I think of September as still very much a part of the peak tourist season, and I was expecting March to be much more quiet. Of course, I had failed to factor in the impact of the Rome

Marathon! All weekend, we ran into large crowds of visitors just about everywhere, and the Pantheon was no exception.

The Pantheon, which means "all the gods," was designed by the Emperor Hadrian and was built in the second century A.D. The architectural highlight of the Pantheon is its dome. It was created by pouring concrete into forms supported by temporary wooden frames. The walls of the dome are 17 feet thick, and the inside contains hollow decorative coffers designed to reduce the overall weight of the structure. In the center of the dome is a large hole, called an oculus, which is the only source of light inside the Pantheon.

Another noteworthy feature of the Pantheon is that it is the resting place for the tomb of Raphael. Raphael was a contemporary of Michaelangelo but, unlike Michaelangelo, Raphael died young, at age 36. Raphael specifically requested that he be buried in the Pantheon.

Gelato Time!

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 6)

This was a very long day. Given the absence of any taxi service in the city, and given that we were severely detoured by the Rome Marathon barricades, we spent the great majority of this day on our feet and walking. By the time we reached the Pantheon, around 4:00 p.m., we were ready for some rest and some nourishment. It was definitely time to try out some gelato.

The Pantheon sits on the south side of the Piazza Della Rotonda, and this Piazza is ringed with several outdoor cafes. We were very lucky to grab a table at one of these cafes, and we zeroed in on the gelato menu. We each ordered a sampler of three different flavors.

Gelato is a wonderful thing. It is obviously similar to ice cream, but it is SO MUCH creamier. And the flavors are so distinct. My sampler flavors included hazelnut, cherry and caramel. Yum, yum, yum. It was the

perfect snack. It was also nice to give our sore feet a rest and just sit for a few minutes.

From the Pantheon, we walked north (heading to our hotel) along Via

D. Maddelena and Via di Campo Marzio. Unbeknownst to us, these turned out to be great streets to do some window shopping, and some real shopping too. I bought some silk scarves and a pair of gloves in one store. Dad popped into a stationery store, and Katherine and I followed him. Ten minutes later, we exited, each with our own purchases. And further down the street, I found a leather shop selling brightly colored briefcases, folios, wallets, purses, etc. I ended up purchasing a really unique, soft sided briefcase in bright green and pink! I cannot wait to start using it later this Spring.

The Roman Forum

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 4)

Our next stop, after Palantine Hill, was the Roman Forum itself. Historically, the Roman Forum was the most public portion of ancient rome. This was "main street." There were many temples, markets and public buildings located here. When the victorious Roman army returned from distant lands, it paraded down the road through the center of the Roman Forum. The Roman Senate met in a building here, and Caesar's burial site is located here.

Highlights within the Roman Forum include the reconstructed Arch of Titus, the remains of the massive Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius (with a footprint larger than a football field) and the House of the Vestal Virgins. The House of the Vestal Virgins was the home of virgin priestesses who tended the sacred flame in the Temple of Vesta. The house was a large rectangular building around a central garden. The garden contains the remains of statues of the virgins, and some of these statues are in surprisingly good condition. The gardens were very crowded with tourists on this beautiful Spring day.

Palantine Hill

March 20, 2011 (Part 3)

Following our tour of the Colosseum, we met up with Dad and grabbed a snack at one of the street vendors. Dad and I split a variation of a ham sandwich. It was heated and it was delicious. We then crossed the street and entered Palatine hill. And, of course, we had many steps to climb to reach the top of the hill.

The Palantine is the site of the ruins of a huge palace that was built at the end of the first century A.D. It is hard to visualize how absolutely huge this palace complex was but just enough remains of some of the walls and

building sections to give us a good idea of how massive it must have been. There were numerous sections of the palace, and there were beautiful gardens and fountains in and among the buildings. There was also a stadium area where athletic activities and competitions took place, and there was a very large public hall where the emperor greeted formal guests and petitioners.

Additionally, located on the northwest portion of Palantine hill are the ruins of dwellings from a 9th century village where Romulus -- the fabled founder of Rome -- lived with his family. Also in this

area are the ruins of the house of the Emperor Augustus and his wife Livia. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome, having claimed this position and title for himself in the 1st century A.D. It

is the emperors after Augustus who built the nearly by palace began to live excessively opulent lives. In contrast, Augustus chose to live very simply, as these ruins suggest.

The Colosseum on a Beautiful Spring Afternoon

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 2)

I toured the Colosseum just 18 months ago with my Dad and Chris, but I remain in awe of this massive structure. And I enjoyed my visit just as

much this time around.

Dad decided not to accompany us inside the Colosseum, opting instead to watch the Marathon. Katherine and I proceeded inside and immediately faced a brief detour at the ticket office. You might have thought that those in charge would have gotten their ticketing system

down pat, but no. There was considerable confusion among the ticket sellers. Maybe they had a bunch of new recruits at the windows today. We waited in line a long time to buy tickets

and audio guides, and we were misdirected a couple of times and became very frustrated. Then, when we were finally in possession of both tickets and audio guides, we ran into problems with the audio guides. Mine worked for about 3 minutes and then "died." Katherine's guide lasted for about 10 minutes and then hers also stopped worked. Thank goodness we had our guidebooks. The Rick Steves' book, in particular, had a complete walking tour of the Colosseum and we took turns reading from it.

Today was a perfectly beautiful day. The sun was fully out and the air temperature was between 55 and 60 degrees all day. We were very comfortable and enjoyed walking through the Colosseum. We started at the top most level and walked the circumference where the lower classes and slaves would have sat. Although the Colosseum is in ruins, enough of the structure remains that it is quite easy to visualize how the arena worked and where different

classes of people sat. There are also sections that have been

partially reconstructed specifically to give a better sense of what it used to look like 2000 years ago. One quarter of the main floor of the arena has been reconstructed as has the dais where the emperor's throne sat as well as a portion of the marble seating area where the vestal virgins sat.

As amazing as the Colosseum is, it is even more amazing to consider what took place there and how important the games there were to Roman life. Games took place here regularly -- more than 200 days of the year. And about 50,000 people packed the Colosseum to watch them. The games were privately funded spectacles and were intended to showcase the sponsor's wealth and position in Roman society. Animals of all sorts were featured -- the more exotic the better. Executions of criminals and duels between gladiators were standard fare. There were lavish costumes and sets. And there were concealed trap doors from which the competitors and the scenery appeared and then disappeared. In its day, these were the greatest shows on earth.

The Colosseum Challenge

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 1)

Call us crazy, but on this trip, we were trying to see a good portion of Rome in just two days. It was a challenge, but we managed to accomplish a great deal.

On our second day in Rome, we planned to tackle the ancient ruins, starting with the Colosseum. We were foiled a bit at the start of our day. We were planning to take a taxi to the Colosseum and work our way back to the Hotel on foot . . . until we learned that there were no taxis working in the city today because the Rome Marathon was being run. This Marathon is the equivalent of the Boston or New York Marathon. It is a big deal, and the city was overrun with people here to participate or spectate.

Well the absence of taxis was not a great thing for us. Dad is the ultimate trooper, but he likes to avoid excessive walking where possible. Today, however, there were to be no options. But he didn't want to be left behind, and so he announced that he was joining us anyway and we proceeding to walk down the long Via Del Corso through the Piazza Colonnia towards the Victor Emmanuel Monument, which sits just west of the Roman Forum ruins.

As we got closer to the Piazza that sits in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, we started to run into large crowds and barricades. The barricades became our biggest obstacle -- although the crowds were no fun either. It became very difficult to find an opening that allowed us to cross the street -- which was necessary in order to enter the Roman Forum.

We did finally manage it and started to walk along Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Market (see photo below), but then we found that we needed to be on the other side of another street if we wanted to get to the Colosseum. But there was NO WAY to

cross. The barricades were impenetrable. There was no opening for pedestrians -- none -- nowhere. Ugh. We kept walking along the barricades, looking for an opening. We kept thinking -- and saying to each other -- there must be an opening soon. But there wasn't.

Boy were we stuck. We ended up walking ALL AROUND the Colosseum before we found a place to cross the street and enter the Colosseum grounds. As we painfully discovered, the marathon route was immediately next to and around the Colosseum, and that's why there was no place to cross. We probably lost an hour or more making this tortured journey just to get to the entrance of the Colosseum.

What a frustrating way to start the day. Although I must say that it was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rome. So at least the weather was cooperating.

St. Peter's Square

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Part 5)

The only way out of the Vatican from the Basilica is through St. Peter's Square. The Square is truly enormous. In its center

is an obelisk erected here in 1586 with the help of 150 horses and 47 winches. And around the outskirts of the square are four-deep rows of 50-foot tall columns.

These columns are enormous, and they create a unique optical illusion if you stand in just the right spot on either side of the center of the square. In fact, there are markers on the ground of the square telling you exactly where to stand to experience the phenomenon. Katherine tried it out. What happens when you stand here is that the four rows of columns "disappear."

Instead, as you turn your head and look at the columns that surround the square, there appears to be a single row only. The three back rows are completely invisible. It's pretty neat. A real "touristy" think to do!

The Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Part 4)

Following our thorough tour through the basilica, we decided (well, Katherine really pushed for it) that we should climb St. Peter's dome. This was to be a 554 step hike, and we had to wait in a 30 minute line to get started. But it was worth the wait . . . and the climb.

I've done a lot of climbing in Europe, and this climb was a bit unique. There was no

consistency to the staircase segments that we

climbed. Some of them were in tight circles. Others were long straight staircases. Still others were in large square patterns and occasional small square patterns. It was strange, but it kind of took your mind off how many stairs we were actually climbing. Katherine started out counting the steps, but I made her stop. I didn't want to think about how many more steps lay ahead.

We had several stops along the way. Our first stop was at the base of the dome where we ended up on the roof of a portion of the church. This was a neat place because it allowed the best exterior view possible of the Sistine Chapel -- which really isn't much to look at from the outside. But we were able to spot the famous pipe from which the black and white smoke emerges as the

cardinals cast their ballots to elect a new pope. Also from the vantage point of the rooftop, we were able to get a closeup view of some of the statues that stand atop the front of the church and around St. Peter's Square. Their size, of course, is so much more impressive from this closeup perspective.

Our second stop (before the very top) was a catwalk along the inside of the dome itself. Along the walls were beautiful (huge) mosaics of angels and cherubs, and of course we were getting a very up-close-and-personal view of the ceiling of the dome. And for those who have a fear of heights, it is best not to look down. The people on the floor of the basilica look like ants -- literally.

Finally, we made the last portion of our climb and enjoyed some beautiful views of the City of Rome, including the Vatican Museum complex and the Vatican Gardens. On my next trip to Rome (because of course there will be a next trip to Rome), I want to take a tour of the Vatican Gardens. They

are not open to the general public and can only be seen on a guided tour. It was pretty crowded at the top of the dome so we did not stay for too long. We took our fill of pictures and then started the equally long walk down. Sometimes, the trip down is more stressful than the trip up!

Castel Sant' Angelo - The Castle of Popes

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Part 6)

Our last tourist stop on this very long day (after spend some leisure time in St. Peter's Square) was to walk through Castel San' Angelo. The "castle" is almost as old as the Vatican and it has a very checkered past. It has been used for

many different purposes, including as a mausoleum (originally), a fort, and a residence for popes during times of unrest. It sits along the street that leads directly into Vatican City, and it is an interesting building from the

outside because of its circular shape.

Because of its varied past, however, the Castle (I think) suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. It's rather confusing inside, and it clearly hasn't attracted much attention as a site for serious preservation. This, perhaps, is very much reflective of its diverse uses over time. We saw what little there was to see, but against the splendor of Vatican City, it was hard to be impressed.

We wandered through the rooms and saw Emperor Hadrian's

mausoleum (which dates the construction of the building to 139 AD) and some of the rooms occupied by various Popes, which

still house some interesting frescoes on the walls.

Il Convivio - Our Four Star Dinner in Rome

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Part 7)

When we were in Rome with Chris 18 months ago, we had a wonderful meal -- truly the best restaurant dining experience I have ever had -- at Il Convivio, a Michelin four-star restaurant located a few blocks north of the Piazza Navona. It was one of the highlights of our trip. So Dad and I decided that we had to return -- this time with Katherine. We were equally delighted and satisfied on this second visit.

It may have been a very long day, following a night of very little sleep, but knowing that a meal at Il Convivio lay at the end of the day was a beacon of encouragement for me. Since no one eats early in Europe, our reservation (the earliest of the evening) was at 8:00 p.m. We arrived promptly at 8:00 p.m. At the front door, we rang the bell (it's that kind of place), and the door was opened by no fewer than three young men who helped us with our coats and escorted us to our table.

I had to laugh. We were seated in the same room (out of three available) and at the exact same table where we sat before! And we recognized our waiter immediately. He was the same waiter we had 18 months ago. He claimed to recognize us, too, but he may just have been saying that to be gracious. Nonetheless, he made us feel like we were visiting old friends. It was so nice.

We all ordered the "tasting menu." Dad got the 6-course tasting menu while

Katherine and I restrained ourselves and went with the slightly smaller 4-course tasting menu. This turned out to be the perfect way to sample the greatest number of dishes being offered. Each portion was a bit on the small side, but they were more than filling in combination. Everything was beautifully prepared and delicious. We enjoyed several varieties of fish, and the "main" course was a thinly sliced filet. Dessert was great too, and we enjoyed two different wines during the meal -- a proseco to start and a red wine with dinner. Magnifico!

It was outrageously expensive, but I would go back again.