~ wander.essence ~

tuscany: an encounter with the fiat 500 club italia in asciano

wanderessence1025 July 30, 2020

We left Castello di Fulignano promptly at 9:00 after Mike made us a breakfast of scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese, peach juice and espresso. We packed all our bags, Mike cleaned up the kitchen and trash, and we handed over the keys to Giovanni’s father.

the bedroom in our apartment at Castello di Fulignano

Living / dining room

kitchen in the apartment

It was chilly and rainy, sadly, and rain was forecast in the area for most of the day. Today was supposed to be the day of the most beautiful scenic drive and many small hill towns, so we were disappointed by the forecast.

We headed toward Poggibonsi, past the vineyard with the pretty line of cypress trees and into the industrial town over potholed and unpaved roads. We would miss this area.

A cold front was moving in, and a downpour followed us on our journey. Temps would be in the mid-50s today and lower the next day. This was not quite the Tuscan vacation I had envisioned.

Tuscan countryside

wind-whipped cypresses

Tuscan countryside

We took some wrong turns around Siena, be we finally found our way to S438 after stopping for a train in Taverne d’Arbia.

Our drive today: Castello di Fulignano (NE of San Gimignano) to Montepulciano

Our first stop was Asciano, which has origins as Etruscan, Roman and Lombard settlements. During the medieval period its location made it a site of contest between Siena and Florence. The village was purchased by the Sienese in 1285 and surrounded by walls in 1351.

In Asciano, we ran into a Fiat 500 Club Italia gathering, with a whole slew of colorful and quirky Fiat 500s. They were going out together for a Sunday drive in the Tuscan countryside.

Fiat 500 Club Italia

Fiat 500 Club Italia

We walked around the parking area, admiring the adorable little cars and taking pictures.

Fiat 500 Club Italia

We drove further uphill to the town to look for a cafe. After we parked, suddenly a whole line of the Fiats drove speedily into the town with horns sporadically honking and playing musical ditties. It was adorable. Mike and I stood on the corners and took photos as they whizzed past. I love those tiny vintage cars. I was happy then to have bought the black and white photos of the Fiats in the Tuscan countryside while we were in San Gimignano.

Asciano

the Fiat parade

the Fiat parade

We wandered into the town to check it out. We were greeted by the 11th century Romanesque basilica of Sant’Agata, built of travertine. The church, with its aisleless nave topped by a truss roof, is adorned with decorative elements of the Lombard type. Outside is its 13th century campanile.

Collegiata di Sant’Agata, Asciano

Asciano

We stopped at a cafe and I had an orange juice and a chocolate pastry. Mike had coffee and salami on toast.

our morning snack

We strolled briefly through the cute town.

Bar Hervé

Asciano

clock tower

Asciano

Asciano

Collegiata di Sant’Agata, Asciano

memorial in Asciano

After Asciano, we drove 10km south to Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, the large Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, mother-house of the Olivetans, founded in 1320. It was rainy and cold and a long walk. As we walked toward it, a lady told us it was closed until 3:00. As it was before noon, we decided we’d have to skip it and keep going on down the road.

*Sunday, May 5, 2019*

charleston: fort sumter & king street

wanderessence1025 July 28, 2020

I started off our first morning in Charleston by writing my husband to see how things went the previous night with our son. He said things had gone very well; they had a good talk about Mike’s childhood memories and various other agreeable subjects and it was very laid back. I was relieved he hadn’t had to endure another meltdown, and I felt a little bit of that lingering black cloud lift.

Sarah and I drove to Liberty Square in Charleston and bought tickets for Fort Sumter National Monument Tours – Spirit of Charleston. We waited in a long queue in the warm, humid and breezy morning. Once on the boat, we cruised from Aquarium Wharf through the harbor to Fort Sumter.

We had great views of Charleston Harbor and the islands of the Cooper River Estuary and a marina.

Charleston Harbor

Charleston Harbor

We admired the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River, connecting downtown Charleston to Mt. Pleasant. It has a main span of 1,546 feet (471 m) and is the third largest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western hemisphere.

A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables, or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

Charleston Harbor

Charleston Harbor

Today, the battered Fort Sumter stands at the entrance to Charleston Harbor on an artificial 70,000-ton sandbar, being part of the third system of fortifications ordered after the War of 1812. Begun in 1829, enslaved laborers and craftsmen were among those who built the structure.

South Carolina delegates to a special secession convention voted unanimously to secede from the Federal Union on December 20, 1860. In November, Abraham Lincoln had been elected President of the United States with no support from southern states. South Carolina listed its causes for secession, including: the newly-elected President was hostile to slavery; the Federal Government encroached upon the rights of the sovereign states; and the 14 northern states failed to endorse the Federal Fugitive Slave Act or to restrict the actions of antislavery organizations.

Within six weeks after South Carolina’s secession, five other states – Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana – followed its example. Early in February 1861, delegates adopted a constitution, set up a provisional government – the Confederate States of America – and elected Jefferson Davis as their president. Soon, Texas joined.

When Abraham Lincoln was sworn in on March 4, 1861, he vowed the government would not consent to a division of the Union.

Fort Sumter was still unfinished when Federal Maj. Robert Anderson moved his 85-man garrison into the day after Christmas 1860, setting in motion events that would tear the nation apart four months later.

On April 11, Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate troops in Charleston, demanded that Maj. Anderson surrender Sumter (Fort Sumter National Monument – National Park Service pamphlet).

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Major Robert Anderson refused to surrender Fort Sumter when requested to do so in the early morning hours of April 12, 1861. A few hours later, the first shot of the Civil War was fired from Fort Johnson by Confederate Captain George James. The 10″ mortar shell, a signal for bombardment to begin, exploded above Fort Sumter. The first return shot from Fort Sumter was fired by Captain Abner Doubleday, the man once credited as the father of baseball (Moon: Charleston).

canons at Fort Sumter

After various shots were fired by Confederates throughout the day, with some return fire by the Union, Anderson surrendered the garrison.

The Civil War had begun.

canons at Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

canons at Fort Sumter

canons at Fort Sumter

We watched the raising of the flag.

raising of the flag at Fort Sumter

We walked through the museum.

Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard of Louisiana

The U.S.S. Keokuk, hit by a crossfire of 90 projectiles from Confederate guns on Fort Sumter and Sullivan’s Island, sank off Morris Island on the morning of April 8, 1863. Later, the Southerners recovered her guns and mounted one on Fort Sumter.

The U.S.S. Keokuk

Federal forces finally reclaimed the Fort on April 14, 1865, four years after they had originally surrendered it.

The Stalemate Reaches an End

The Fort Sumter Flag had a diamond-shaped pattern of 33 stars. When the main flagpole was felled by a shot during the bombardment of Fort Sumter by Confederate forces, the flag was retrieved and remounted on a makeshift pole. The flag was lowered by Major Robert Anderson on April 14, 1861 when he surrendered Fort Sumter, at the outset of the Civil War.

The Stars and Stripes – Fort Sumter’s Battle Flag

The Palmetto Guard Flag

various flags

other flags

We walked around the grounds of the fort while we waited for the boat to take us back to the mainland. Of course, I got my cancellation stamp for Fort Sumter.

Fort Sumter

Sarah at Fort Sumter

canons at Fort Sumter

Spirit of Charleston

Charleston Harbor

cancellation stamps for Fort Sumter

The trip took about 2 1/2 hours. I didn’t spend as much time perusing the Ft. Sumter Visitor Education Center as I would have liked because Sarah was ready to explore the town.

After we docked, we walked down Calhoun Street to King Street.

Discovery Map of Charleston 2019, showing Calhoun Street to King Street

We found a fabulous mural on a nondescript building.

Charleston mural

Charleston mural detail

We passed Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, known simply as “Mother Emanuel.” It is one of the South’s oldest African American congregations. Before the Civil War, one of the church’s founders, Denmark Vesey, was found guilty of planning a slave uprising, and the edifice of the church was burned as retaliation for his involvement (This event was featured in the novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd). The church today dates from 1891 and has hosted greats such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, as well as Booker T. Washington. In 2015, nine worshipers, including the pastor Clementa Pinckney, were horrifically murdered by a white racist (Moon: Charleston).

Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

We continued walking through Marion Square, once a parade ground. It is flanked on one side by the Old Citadel, now a hotel.

The Old Citadel

another Charleston church

palm tree in Marion Square

Charleston church

We made our way down Calhoun Street to King Street.

Calhoun Street

The College of Charleston is the oldest college in South Carolina; its historic Sottile Theatre serves as a performance and event venue for the College and the community.

Sottile Theater on George Street

At Basic Kitchen on Wentworth St., we sat at the bar for lunch. Lamps with fringed shades lined up along the bar. I had the day’s special: Salmon Tartine: salmon tartare, beet relish, yogurt, and dill on pain de mie.

I enjoyed a Cranberry Rosemary Cooler: cranberry rosemary shrub, club soda and rosemary. Sarah enjoyed a hibiscus iced tea and Vegan Caesar: crisp chickpeas, pine nut “parm,” and cashew Caesar dressing.

Basic Kitchen

bulletin board at Basic Kitchen

fringed lamps at Basic Kitchen

Salmon Tartine

After lunch, we strolled down colorful King Street, the shopping center of Charleston.

King Street

King Street

We walked to Anthropologie and looked around, then to H&M, where Sarah bought a number of things. I stopped at Urban Outfitters to look at the Fujimax cameras. We stopped at a cookie shop and got snickerdoodles and a chocolate crunch cookie.

Anthropologie

We made it back to the car as it began sprinkling, then drizzling. We stopped at Harris Teeter for groceries. I got a bag of boiled peanuts, one of my favorite southern snacks, for donating $1 to charity.

We returned to our Airbnb to relax, eating all the boiled peanuts in the meantime. Sarah napped and then we each took long hot baths.

In the evening, we went to Chez Nous, with its tavern-like atmosphere: quiet, dark, with simple plain furnishings and exposed ceiling rafters. The menu here changes daily and there are only a few choices. The owners handwrite the menu each day.

Chez Nous Menu, November 12, 2019

I had Padrones (peppers) with shrimp, fish with roasted tomatoes, haricots verts & aioli. Sarah had a salad with ham and cheese, and roasted rabbit with farro. We both got clafouti with cherries for dessert. The meals were great but the dessert was mediocre. This was a very expensive place: it cost us $168 before tip!

Sarah at Chez Nous

me at Chez Nous

Padrones with shrimp

salad with ham & cheese

fish with roasted tomatoes

roasted rabbit with farro

clafouti with cherries

Back at our Airbnb, we relaxed. I watched a junior chef show with Sarah, then read my book, The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd.

Meanwhile, back at home, it seemed our son went to his massage therapy class from 5:00-11:00, but we found out a few days later than he didn’t go to class at all but was afraid to tell my husband.

*Steps: 11,385, or 4.92 miles*

*Tuesday, November 12, 2019*

a short stroll through damp monteriggioni

wanderessence1025 July 26, 2020

After leaving Siena, we drove to Monteriggioni, a castle town with not much to it. The Castle of Monteriggioni was begun in 1213 and enclosed completely by walls. The expense and labor was paid for by Siena as a strong defensive bulwark against Florence’s expansion into the sensitive area crossed by the Via Francigena. The history of this town is filled with countless armed clashes with its rival Florence, which many times tried to destroy the walled hamlet.

Monteriggioni fell during the siege of 1553 by the imperial troops aligned with the Florentines, who bombarded the castle until it surrendered.

The Castle of Monteriggioni

The Castle of Monteriggioni

The Castle of Monteriggioni

The Via Francigena in Tuscany goes over the Ciso Pass to follow mule tracks through forests and reminders of medieval times. The road goes past fortified villages and then descends to the Ligurian Sea at Sarzona; it continues alongside the Apuan Alps to reach the walls of Lucca. It then travels through the valleys of central Tuscany and crosses the Arno to the fortress of San Miniato. From here, past vineyards and olive groves, and following a path through the Elsa Valley, it reaches the 14th century towers of San Gimignano and medieval Siena.

It sounds much like the Camino de Santiago, and I noted that I should check it out for a future long-distance walk.

Via Francigena

We strolled through the town as rain threatened.

Monteriggioni

The Chiesa di Santa Maria, which dates back to the 13th century, was once the headquarters for a canonical community. It has Romanesque-Gothic features and is composed of a single nave with apse. There is a small round window framed in brickwork, a source of light on the inside, together with small side windows and the large Gothic window on the back wall.

Chiesa di Santa Maria

We dipped into a few shops; in one of them I bought a white t-shirt with a newsprint design on it for 25€.

Monteriggioni

We found one shop with some funky shoes.

funky shoes in Monteriggioni

We drove back to our Airbnb at Castello di Fulignano and had wine and cheese and crackers and prosciutto, and then the sun started to come out. We strolled around the grounds to admire views of the Tuscan countryside.

view from our Airbnb at Castello di Fulignano

view from our Airbnb at Castello di Fulignano

pool at Castello di Fulignano

view from our Airbnb at Castello di Fulignano

Mike threw together a gourmet meal: green beans, tagliatelle, pesto and cheese. It was delicious. He also made a salad with tomatoes and lettuce, garlic bread, leftover salami and cheese, but I was too stuffed with cheese and crackers to eat the salad.

green beans & Tagliatelle

looking out from Castello di Fulignano

After dinner, we hopped in the car to go in search of some sunset pictures, hoping to find a view of San Gimignano from the west. We never found a good view of the town, but we got some nice shots of the countryside.

Tuscan countryside at sunset

Tuscan countryside at sunset

Tuscan countryside at sunset

San Gimignano from afar

The next day, we would head to southern Tuscany.

*Steps: 13,001, or 5.51 miles (Sienna & Monteriggioni) *

*Saturday, May 4, 2019*

a july cocktail hour: inching out into the world with caution

wanderessence1025 July 25, 2020

Here we are, slowly making our way out into the world on this last Saturday in July. Welcome to my 11th cocktail hour, during a time where we venture a bit further from home and enjoy a beverage. I offer you Cheers! À votre santé! 乾杯/ Kanpai! Saúde! Salud! May we all remain healthy, safe, financially afloat, and hopeful.

hydrangeas in bloom

Beginning July 1, according to Virginia’s governor, social gatherings of up to 250 people were permitted. The new guidelines also ended the cap on the number of customers allowed inside non-essential retail stores, restaurants and bars. Previously, these businesses were limited to 50% capacity under Phase Two. These establishments had to continue to follow physical distancing requirements, such as keeping tables six feet apart. Bar seating would still be prohibited in Phase Three.

The third phase also eased restrictions on other facilities:

Personal Care: Beauty salons, barbers, spas, massage centers, tanning salons and tattoo shops could reopen at their normal capacity — but customers were required to make appointments to come in. Both customers and employees were required to wear face coverings.
Exercise Facilities: Gyms, recreation centers and sports centers could open indoor areas at 75% of their lowest allowed occupancy. Customers had to be screened for COVID–19 symptoms before allowed inside, including whether they had a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher. Fitness equipment had be spaced 10 feet apart, and similarly, personal trainers or instructors and exercise class participants had to stay 10 feet apart from each other.
Pools: Indoor and outdoor pools could reopen at 75% capacity, and pools were open for free swim, instruction and exercise classes. Swimmers had to be screened for coronavirus symptoms before entering. Swimmers and divers were required to stay 10 feet apart.
Entertainment: Entertainment and amusement venues, such as movie theaters, concert venues, bowling alleys, arcades, amusement parks, museums, botanical gardens and zoos, were allowed to reopen at 50% capacity or a maximum of 1,000 people. Performers and audience members had to stay 10 feet away from each other, and cars had to be parked six feet from each other at drive-ins.
Religious Services: Churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship were allowed to reopen at their normal capacity, but worshipers had to continue to be seated six feet apart except for families. Food or beverages had to be served using disposable containers.
Childcare: They would be able to reopen.

All businesses were required to continue to follow physical distancing, cleaning and disinfecting and enhanced workplace safety.

around Lake Newport in Reston

Though these were the guidelines beginning in July, the actual experience has been much different. So far, I don’t know of any movie theaters in our area that have opened. Most of the museums in Washington, D.C. are still closed. On Friday, July 24, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, will reopen to the public. Free, timed-entry passes are required for entry. All other Smithsonian museums remain temporarily closed.

Lake Newport

Our church, Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna, VA is only open for “pop-up” church, limited to 50 people on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Saturday evenings outdoors on the front lawn of the church. We haven’t yet attended any of these services.

Our Fairfax County gym, Oak Marr, recently opened but people must sign up for a limited number of 1 1/2 hour slots. I went to the gym Thursday for the first time since early March, and I was struck by how sad it all was, the markings on the floor and virus reminders on walls, the acrylic barriers between staff and patrons, the scant attendance, the weight machines spread out at 10 feet distance, people wearing masks to work out. The usual social vibe was utterly missing. It was a world I didn’t recognize any more, and I didn’t want to accept it, but I had to.

Outdoor pools seem to be only open for lap swimming, and people must sign up for limited slots.

hydrangeas around Lake Newport

I am still dealing with my laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Some days I feel slightly better, and some days worse. I am never well, so I’ve set up an appointment with a gastroenterologist on July 30 (This was the soonest I could get an appointment, and only with the nurse practitioner. I couldn’t get an appointment with the doctor until September 1. I know it’s a pandemic, but doctors should be doing their jobs!) After I got my diagnosis from the ENT on June 8, I began immediately to cut out tomatoes, alcohol, coffee, onions, and many other high acid foods. Soon after, I got the book, The Acid Watcher Diet: A 28-Day Reflux Prevention and Healing Program, by Dr. Jonathan Aviv. I started the diet in this book on Monday, July 6; it is much more restrictive than the list given to me by the ENT. I’ve been on the diet for almost 21 days now. Dr. Aviv says most people start feeling better after three weeks on the diet, so I’m discouraged that it doesn’t seem to be helping me. I hope the gastroenterologist can help me figure this out. I’ve heard that LPR is a difficult problem to solve and that it can be chronic, but I’m not ready to give in yet. My quality of life will be miserable if I have to keep suffering with this problem.

purple coneflowers

We have been out numerous times to dinner. We started out doing outdoor-only dining, and we finally went out for indoor dining at Woodlands Pure Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Enatye Ethiopian Restaurant, and Artie’s. We know the people in these restaurants, so it was good to see them again. We got takeout at Yoko Sushi because they weren’t yet open for indoor dining. This week, we went indoors to Seasons 52. On all of our indoor dining experiences, we went early so the restaurants were mostly deserted. We wore our masks when not seated at the table and when we talked to the waiter. Otherwise, while sitting alone at our table, we didn’t wear the masks.

Mike at Woodland’s

Mike at Enatye Ethiopian

me at Artie’s

Mike at Seasons 52

me at Seasons 52

trout, asparagus and marbled potatoes

I even had a pedicure one day. The salon was totally revamped with new pedicure chairs and hanging acrylic barriers between customer and pedicurist. I don’t have my fingernails done, but each manicure station had an acrylic barrier between customer and manicurist, with room for the hands to go through to the other side. Both customers and workers had to wear masks the entire time. I think it’s great how businesses are being creative in figuring out how to reopen. I’m sure it cost them a pretty penny to revamp the space, but at least it allows the business to remain open.

We drove downtown to D.C. on July 5 and went on a mural walk, which I wrote about here: a mural walk in washington on a hot july day.

“The Torch” mural at Ben’s Chili Bowl

I started going to Club Pilates again, and so far have been three times. It’s hard to wear a mask when working out, but I try to keep mine on the whole time. I’ve also been taking a bikeride at least once a week, usually around 10-11 miles.

my bicycle: along the Washington & Old Dominion bike trail

In national news, on July 9, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in a 5-4 ruling that much of eastern Oklahama is an Indian reservation. This was a great victory for Native Americans who have dealt with a long history of brutal removals and broken treaties with the U.S. government. During my daily walks, I’ve been listening to the excellent Crooked Media podcast called This Land, hosted by Rebecca Nagle, which tells all about events leading up to this decision. It is an excellent podcast that lays bare the mistreatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government over centuries.

On July 15, I walked around Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. This time the visitor center and bathrooms were open, again with social distancing requirements and acrylic partitions between staff and the public.

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

On Wednesday, July 1, Richmond, Virginia took down the Confederate statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. There had been protests on Monument Avenue for weeks. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and Monument Avenue had five high profile statues including Stonewall Jackson, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on horseback, and Matthew Fontaine Maury, American astronomer, naval officer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator. Apparently Maury was not a slaveholder and did not support slavery, but neither was he opposed to the institution. He was apparently ambivalent about it.

The Confederate monuments have dominated Richmond’s landscape for decades — some of them even longer — since they were first erected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to bemoan the lost cause of the Confederacy in the Civil War. People demonstrating against racial injustice have torn down or defaced statues of these prominent Confederate leaders, as well as other historic figures with known racist pasts.

Last Saturday, July 18, Mike and I drove down to Richmond to visit our daughter, Sarah, who I hadn’t seen since January. Wearing masks, we went to Monument Avenue to see what was left of the four statues, and the Robert E. Lee statue, which is slated to be removed unless a case before the court decides it won’t be removed. Since then, some of the other high profile statues have been removed after protesters defaced the statues. The Robert E. Lee statue has not yet been removed, but Virginia’s governor has vowed its removal.

I believe there is no need to preserve these statues. I have had people argue that we need to preserve our “heritage,” or that this is part of our history. Actually, many statues honoring Confederate racists were installed during the Jim Crow era to remind black people of their subjugation under whites. They serve only as intimidation. It must be remembered that Confederates were traitors to the Union, and fought to secede from the United States in order to preserve slavery. They should not be honored in any way, shape or form. People who want to learn “history” should read history books, as monuments are meant to honor people. These traitors deserve no honor.

Jefferson Davis Memorial partially removed

Confederate General Robert E. Lee

LISTEN THINK VOTE

Confederate General Robert E. Lee: PEOPLE OVER PROFIT

Memorial removed

While there, we got take-out and enjoyed a picnic outdoors at Maymont Park, and went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see the exhibit: Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities. We had timed-entry tickets, had to wear our masks the whole time, and were supposed to keep 6-foot social distance between other family groups, although that last part didn’t work out so well.

Treasures of Ancient Egypt at the VMFA

I failed miserably at my goal for July, which was to write a two-line poem for each day of my Camino. Later, I hope to combine some of these two line poems into one poem.

My main goal for the remaining months of 2020 is to finish writing all blog posts through my travels so far. I need to finish them by December 16, because my subscription with WordPress will expire on that date. I plan to take at least a year off from blogging, maybe more, so I’d like to get caught up on my backlog before then.

hydrangeas’ last hurrah

Our leadership has certainly succeeded in “Making America Great Again!” We have the highest number of COVID cases in the world, over 4,122,100 as of July 25, 2020, and the highest number of deaths at 145,376. Worldwide, there are 15,695,200 cases and 637,159 deaths. The U.S. has 26% of worldwide cases and 23% of deaths, despite having only 4.2% of the population.

Here in Virginia, we are somewhat better off than much of the country, with 82,364 cases and 2,067 deaths. Our governor has started easing restrictions and has made rules about mask-wearing inside public places, and for the most part, at least in Northern Virginia, people seem to be following the guidelines. However, since the state has begun to reopen businesses, cases have increased, especially in southern Virginia.

As for the country as a whole, what murderous behavior is exhibited by our leadership! We are failing miserably as a country, and we’ve become the laughingstock of the world. Even the EU has banned American travelers and I don’t blame them at all. I’m ashamed that we as a country have come to this, and I am pledging, come hell or high water, to get to the polls on November 3 to vote out our corrupt and vile criminals.

“Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.” Khaled Hosseini

*********

In the midst of all this, what can we do as restrictions are relaxed and we make our way out into the world again? I’ve created a page where I’ll share different ideas I’ve come across of ways to cope during the coronavirus. It is here: how to make the most of a staycation... or how to cope during the coronavirus #Stayathome orders. If you have any positive ways to get through this, I invite you to share: bits of humor, projects, what we can do to help others, how to keep our sanity, TV shows or movies to watch, books to read, exercises to do, etc. Please feel free to express your emotions during this trying time as well. I’m sure we can all relate to any and all emotions you are feeling.

I wish you all the best during this “new normal.” Stay at home, or close to home, and stay safe, healthy and always hopeful.

*********

I’m writing a monthly cocktail hour/diary about this challenging time; my next will be Saturday, August 22. I invite you to share your own experiences with what we’re going through right now, either in the comments below, or in your own blog post, which I invite you to link below. I’ll try to keep writing this as long as we are suffering through this together. I hope that we will get through it unscathed, sooner rather than later.

Peace and love be with you all!

Indra, of TravTrails, shared her June experience with lockdown in India.
- Pune Journal: Summer Caper

anticipation & preparation: ecuador – someday :-)

wanderessence1025 July 24, 2020

I began the new year with hopes of going to Ecuador in July, so I started reading Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galápagos Islands and another little brochure (This is Ecuador: The Most Complete Guide to Ecuador Since 1968, dated December 2018) that somehow made its way to me.

Lonely Planet guide to Ecuador & the Galápagos Islands, along with two journals

Since I was hoping to “live like a local,” I started a Spanish class at the end of January. I’m embarrassed to say that I studied Spanish for four years in high school. I had rarely used it, so I didn’t remember much of anything. Thus I started all over at the beginning, at level 100. We started in-person classes, but due to the pandemic, we had to meet online for the remaining courses. The virtual classes haven’t been much fun. I was never crazy about the teacher, who I felt could have given us a lot more practice time. She is also terrible about keeping the class on track. We had our last class for level 200 this past Wednesday, and I’ve decided I will try to study on my own because I hate the Zoom classes. Whenever I am able to go to Ecuador, I hope to take immersion classes in Quito.

For my class, I had to do a Power Point presentation about “Music of Ecuador,” so I learned about the country’s traditional music including pasillo, pasacalle, yarabi, marimba, bomba, and Sanjuanito. I also learned about some Indie rock groups, including Da Pawn and La Máquina Camaleön, both of which I love. I created a short playlist on Spotify: ecuadorian music, which I’ll add to over the coming months.

I found an article that I also read for ideas: culture trip: 12 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About Ecuador.

Of course, I always love to read books set in my destination, so I read some of the books below (indicated with stars and ratings). Others are suggested reading; since I can’t go to Ecuador this year, maybe I can read some of the others.

the queen of water: a novel based on a true story by Laura Resau and María Virginia Farinango (YA) ****
America Was Hard to Find by Kathleen Alcott (currently reading)
The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller
Our House in the Clouds: Building a Second Life in the Andes of Ecuador by Judy Blankenship
Cañar: A Year in the Highlands of Ecuador by Judy Blankenship
Pieces of My Life by Rachel Dann
Villa Pacifica by Kapka Kassabova
The Amnesia Clinic by James Scudamore
City on the Ledge by Philip Kraske
The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (+ Columbia + Venezuela)
Fool’s Gold by P.J. Skinner
Huasipungo: The Villagers by Jorge Icaza
Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition That Reshaped Our World by Larrie D. Ferreiro
The Farm on the River of Emeralds by Moritz Thomsen
Galápagos Islands
1. Enchanted Islands by Allison Amand ***
2. Floreana by Margret Whittmer
3. The Evolution of Jane by Cathleen Schine
4. To the Edge of the World by Harry Thompson
5. Mr. Darwin’s Shooter by Roger McDonald
6. The Origin of Murder by Jerold Last
7. Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galápagos Islands by Michael D’Orso
8. Galápagos Regained by James K. Morrow
9. The Voyage of the Beagle: Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World by Charles Darwin (intro. by Steve Jones)
10. Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin’s Lost Notebooks by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
11. The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner
12. The Origin: A Biographical Novel of Charles Darwin by Irving Stone

For more international books, see my page: books | international a-z |.

Books I’m reading set in Ecuador

I found movies set in Ecuador, but sadly I haven’t seen any of them. Hopefully, I can find some of these in the coming months.

Entre Marx y una Mujer Desnuda (1996)
Proof of Life (2000)
Crónicas (2004)
Qué tan lejos (2006)
Crude (2009)
Rage (2009)
Fisherman (Pescador) (2011)
With My Heart in Yambo (Con mi Corazó en Yambo) (2011)
The Porcelain Horse (Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas) (2012)
The Death of Jaime Roldos (La Muerte de Jaime Roldós) (2013)
El Facilitador (2013)
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2013)
Holiday (Feriado) (2014)
El Secreto de Magdalena (2015)
Medardo (2015)
A Secret in the Box (Un Secreto en la Caja) (2016)
Translucido (Translúcido) (2016)
Such Is Life in the Tropics (Sin Muertos No Hay Carnaval) (2016)
Special Correspondents (2016)
Alba (2016)
Snatched (2017)
Final Minute (2018)
The Longest Night (2019)

After having read more about Ecuador, I am no longer certain about my plan to stay only in Quito for a month. Now, I want to go to Cuenca (both Quito and Cuenca are UNESCO World Heritage Sites). I would also love to go to Guayaquil, and possibly from there to the Galápagos Islands. Originally, I didn’t think I’d have an interest in going there, but now that I’ve read about it, maybe I will have to visit.

I’m not sure when I’ll be able to go, but I am certain that someday, this pandemic will come to an end, and we’ll all be able to travel again.

I prepared one journal, and depending on how long I end up staying, it’s possible I’ll use two or three.

Quito

more Quito

Cuenca

Galápagos Islands

Galápagos Islands

As always, I created some intentions for my travels.

Ecuador intentions

I still hope to go in July of either 2021 or 2022. My friend Jayne in Jersey, England has said she wants me to come to her 60th birthday next July, which would mean I’d plan to travel somewhere in Europe (assuming Americans are allowed there!). That would put my trip back another year. Someday, I hope! 🙂

call to place: ecuador

wanderessence1025 July 23, 2020

Since my years of living and working abroad, I’ve had a dream to travel to a place and simply live like a local. I love the experience of living in a place vs. traveling to a place. The first is a deep immersion while the second is skimming the surface. I love diving in and learning the culture and getting to know the people. It’s an entirely different experience.

I knew it would be expensive to live somewhere for an extended period, and I wondered how I might do it. I figure the key would be finding a cheap place to live. For a while, I followed some bloggers who lived in Quito, Ecuador and what surprised me was that they were renting a house for $325/month. They were actually living there long term, so they had probably signed a long-term lease. That would be impossible for me, because I only wanted to stay a month or slightly longer.

Still. I thought maybe it might be possible. While there, I could study Spanish, write about a fictional character living in Quito, and wander aimlessly through the culture.

This appealed to me and I determined I would figure out a way to do it in July of this year, 2020, the year that has turned into a perpetual waiting, a stressful year in which we’ve mostly been staying at home, waiting to be released back to normal life. I wanted to go in July because it is said that the best weather for visiting with less rain and warm clear days is from June-September. I found July to be the driest month and so decided that’s when I wanted to go.

I am also enticed to travel to South America, a part of the world I’ve never visited.

When I began reading in the newspaper in late March that the Ecuadorean city of Guayaquil was hit by one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, I knew my plans were doomed. The country’s collapsed health system had forced families to leave the corpses of loved ones on street corners, sometimes for days under the burning sun.

Since I realized I wouldn’t be going ANYWHERE in July, I hunkered down and read all about Ecuador. I figured I would have an idea of what I wanted to do when next July, or the next, rolls around. I hope beyond all hope that I can get there in one of the next couple of years.

Most people go to Ecuador to see the Galapagos Islands, but when I first dreamed of going to Ecuador, I didn’t think I had any interest in going there. As I read more about the country, my ideas about what I wanted to do there began to evolve into another sort of trip altogether.

South America

a mural walk in washington on a hot july day

wanderessence1025 July 19, 2020

One hot and humid Sunday in July, we followed a mural walk in D.C. that was outlined in the Weekend Section of The Washington Post: “Need an art fix? Take a mural stroll.” We didn’t actually walk, because it was about 95°F, so we drove from mural to mural following the walk in the article, putting our masks on every time we hopped out of the car.

Most of the museums in Washington are still closed, going on four months now, so it was fun to have an excuse to go downtown and see some street art. This three-mile walk starts near the Columbia Heights Metro station in Northwest Washington, and it ends at the U Street Station. Many of the artworks have been commissioned by MuralsDC – a public program that funds murals. The pieces on this walk reveal the city’s cultural and economic history, highlighting the city’s native folks.

Here Einstein spray paints his famous formula on the wall like graffiti.

E=MC2 by Nessar Jahanbin (3018 14th St.)

“You Are Welcome” by Cita Sadeli, a.k.a. Miss Chelove (3020 14th St)

by G. Byron Peck (2500 14th St)

unknown

“Buck Hill” is the 70-foot-tall saxophone-playing “wailin’ mailman” painted by Joe Pagac; it celebrates the jazz musician and postal worker.

Buck Hill by Joe Pagac (1925 14th St.)

We found three murals by Aniekan Udofia, one of D.C.’s most well-known visual artists. One of them is a gagged George Washington; another is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg – by Aniekan Udofia

unknown by Aniekan Udofia

gagged George Washington by Aniekan Udofia

We found a number of famous and recent murals celebrating African American icons such as Paul Robeson (1898 – 1976); he was an American bass baritone concert artist and stage and film actor who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political activism.

Paul Robeson (1351 U. St)

Ben’s Next Door by Eric B. Ricks

The Torch by Aniekan Udofia, at Ben’s Chili Bowl, is one of the most photographed murals in the city. Here we found Prince, the Obamas and Duke Ellington.

Ben’s Chili Bowl, founded in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, is one of the oldest continuous businesses on U Street. It is also one of the few to survive both the riots that followed the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the years of disruptive Metro construction in the late 1980s. Thanks in part to the patronage of entertainer Bill Cosby, Ben’s has become a national landmark. The restaurant occupies the former Minnehaha Theater, a 1910 movie house that was owned and operated from 1913 to 1920 by Sherman H. Dudley, once a leading vaudeville performer and entrepreneur.

bear mascot at Ben’s Chili Bowl

On the corner of Ben’s Chili Bowl, we saw the Obamas draped in an American flag.

The Obamas and Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

The Torch at Ben’s Chili Bowl

Kaliq Crosby painted William P. and Winnifred Lee outside their flower shop at 1026 U. St. NW.

Lee’s Legacy (William P. and Winnifred Lee) (1026 U St.)

Lee’s Flower Shop

Black Lives Matter at Lee’s Flower Shop

We stopped on a side street to see Aniekan Udofia’s mural of D.C. native Marvin Gaye (710 S St. NW).

Marvin Gaye (710 S St. NW) by Aniekan Udofia

We found a number of random murals and buildings along the way.

random murals in D.C.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

random murals in D.C.

Pabst Blue Ribbon

Bohemian Cavern

random murals in D.C.

Industrial Bank

random murals in D.C.

Three separate murals in an alley celebrate the neighborhood’s musical roots.

D.C. to the World by Cita Sadeli (637 T Street, NW)

I love this one, but I’m not sure what it’s titled or who the artist is.

unknown title or artist

We found another alley full of murals. Here the alley had a rather pungent odor. 😦

more D.C. murals

Finally, we saw the very tall “Kindred” by Alberto Clerencia (1210 V St.).

“Kindred” by Alberto Clerencia (1210 V St.)

It felt good to get out of the house after four long months of rarely going anywhere interesting.

*Sunday, July 5, 2020*

tower of the four winds & the desoto national wildlife refuge

wanderessence1025 July 16, 2020

I left Omaha on a highway that cut through cornfields neatly trimmed with white wooden fences, all glimmering in the breeze. Vaguely rolling hills, soft and green, surrounded me. It seemed everyone in these parts had SUVs or pickup trucks. Soon I passed a Christmas tree farm called Santa’s Woods.

I was looking for the city of Blair and found “Dana College” painted on the town’s water tower. I went directly to Black Elk-Neihardt Park to see the Tower of the Four Winds, designed by Dana College professor F.W. Thomsen. Built to promote world peace, brotherhood and humanity, it portrays the message of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux holy man and visionary. He is said to have envisioned a radiant person with outstretched arms in a blessing to all people, standing in front of the tree of life. The 45-foot tower, made from native rock and covered with a 50,000 piece mosaic, represents the messiah-like figure of Black Elk’s vision.

Tower of the Four Winds

Several trails crisscrossed the 80 acres of rolling hills in the park. They included a paved trail with pedestal mosaics by Prof. Thomsen depicting Native-American descriptions of north, south, east and west.

South

East

North

West

I took a pleasant and breezy stroll around the park in a happy start to my morning. At the “heights,” I had some views of flat Nebraska.

Blair, Nebraksa

Blair, Nebraksa

Tower of the Four Winds

I then crossed the Missouri River into Iowa, where I entered the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1958, it encompasses land in both Iowa and Nebraska. It lies on the wide plain formed by prehistoric flooding and shifting of the Missouri River. The Refuge’s primary purpose is to serve as a stopover for migrating ducks and geese. Peak populations of 50,000 or more ducks, mostly mallards, are common on the refuge during the fall migration.

The seven-mile-long lake that is the heart of the refuge was once a hazardous bend in the Missouri River. The DeSoto Bend got its name from the nearby river town of DeSoto.

Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery traveled through this area in 1804 and 1806. They set up camp along DeSoto Bend after meeting with Indians at “council bluff” (according to William Clark’s journal) on August 3, 1804.

Desoto National Wildlife Refuge

I looked around the Visitor’s Center, including the goods scavenged from the Steamboat Bertrand, which sank on April 1, 1865.

Facts about Steamboat Bertrand

By the mid-1800s, the Missouri River had become an artery for trade that opened the West. Steamboats carried supplies to the early fur trading posts, frontier settlements, and mining towns. But the turbulent, snag-infested “Big Muddy” took its toll on the early stern and side-wheelers. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, more than 400 steamboats sank or were stranded between St. Louis, Missouri and Fort Benton, Montana.

When the Bertrand sank on April 1, 1865, the Missouri River quickly covered the boat in mud. In 1968, the boat and its cargo were discovered on the refuge and unearthed the following year. The Center holds over 250,000 artifacts from the shipwrecked steamboat.

The Final Voyage

The cargo contained all manner of goods needed for the new Montana Territory, gold mines, logging camps, farms and households. Aside from tools and equipment, even food items and clothing were recovered from the boat. Remarkably preserved, the cargo provided a unique time capsule for researchers.

Steamboat Bertrand

April 1, 1865: A Moment Frozen in Time

Steamboat Bertrand

Familiar objects from Steamboat Bertrand

Worcestershire Sauce from the Steamboat Bertrand

more artifacts from Steamboat Bertrand

There were also displays about local history and wildlife at the Visitor’s Center. As the land here was opened up by riverboats, pioneers settled in the area and changed the land to suit their needs. Croplands replaced the meadows of Bluestem and Indiangrass, and native animals were sometimes displaced along with the plants. Today, the Refuge is working to restore pieces of prairie.

The lure of gold along the upper reaches of the Missouri produced a major boom in the middle 1860s. By 1865, eager fortune seekers swarmed over the hills and panned in streams. The activities of miners often produced devastated landscapes, sterile mine dumps, and foul water that killed native fish and made streams unfit for drinking by man or animal. Some mining techniques washed entire hillsides into the valley below, destroying wildlife habitat and polluting mountain streams with silt and other sediments.

Towns in the region became focal points for settlements. Sometimes entire towns sprang up almost overnight on what had once been limitless prairie or wooded river bluffs. The building of a town had much the same effect on wildlife as the activities of the farmer and miner.

coyote in the grasslands

TOWNS: Making Nowhere Somewhere

A Fisherman’s Life

bobcat

water birds

I watched the film at the refuge then drove through part of the refuge and took a walk on the Grasslands trail (3/4 mile), where I saw a variety of grasses, goldenrod, and other yellow flowers that looked like rudbeckia – yellow petals with brown faces. Critters kept skittering across the trail in front of me, but they were so fast I couldn’t tell if they were lizards, grasshoppers or tiny frogs. I heard a commotion in a pine tree and saw three large raccoons scampering up the tree. Lots of action in these wetlands!

Grasslands trail

Grasslands trail

Grasslands trail

Grasslands trail

butterfly along the Grasslands trail

Grasslands trail

Missouri River

Missouri River

Missouri River

Missouri River

I left the wildlife refuge close to 11:00 a.m. and headed to Fort Atkinson State Historical Park.

*Thursday, September 5, 2019*

on journey: a drive from richmond to charleston

wanderessence1025 July 15, 2020

Getting underway with my daughter is not always easy, so we started our 8-hour drive to Charleston an hour later than I hoped, close to 10:00 a.m. While she got ready, I talked to my husband about our son’s meltdown the previous night; the details put a black mood over me for our upcoming trip. I would have to work hard all day to get out of my distress and my funk.

We took I-95 almost the entire way from Richmond to Charleston, so it was an incredibly boring drive landscape-wise. The only interesting things that happened were inside the car: conversations with Sarah and songs from her eclectic playlist.

An hour after leaving Richmond, we were welcomed to “North Carolina: Nation’s Most Military Friendly State.”

We were soon driving past exits for Lake Gaston, a place I spent many happy summer vacations with friends when I was a teenager. My friend Melissa’s mother had a family-sized permanent tent set up on her lakefront property, and another open-air awning sheltering a picnic table and cooking area. Melissa lived there with her mom and siblings for much of each summer and we outsiders were sometimes invited to stay a week or so. We spent many happy hours water skiing, lounging on the floating dock, diving and swimming off the dock, and even skinny dipping in the evenings. The mother had a lot of friends who congregated around the picnic table in the evenings, drinking, playing cards and joking around, and I remember learning my most famous card trick from one of the men who hung out at that lakefront. I can still picture the set-up at Lake Gaston and the carefree times we had there.

We drove along the highway, cotton fields stretched out on either side of us. A sign said “Real Christians Forgive Like Jesus.” We passed the Roanoke River and signs for Roanoke Rapids. A car whizzed past with a a Harley Davidson sticker and a license plate: PSYCHWARD. As we passed Rose’s, about 103 miles north of the South Carolina border, a sign reminded us that “When You Die You Will Meet God.” We passed Selma, Goldsboro and a sign for the Cape Lookout National Seashore. We would come to the the famous roadside attraction, South of the Border, in another hour and a half; signs started popping up telling us how far we had to go and what attractions we’d find there:

Reptile Lagoon: South of the Border
¡Caliente! – South of the Border
¿Where the Hell is South of the Border?

We passed Black Ops Paintball and more cotton fields. Sarah mentioned that her friend Daniel used to live in Rocky Mount, N.C. and he said there were a bunch of “podunks” there. A Confederate flag flapped in the wind along the highway and we both expressed our disgust.

Pedro’s Sombrero: Observation Deck – South of the Border
No Shoot Ze Bull – South of the Border

We passed the Cape Fear River, Fayetteville, Elizabethtown, the Lumber River and Lumbertown. A pink sign promised “Fantasy Video and Novelties.”

Take a Walk on the Wild Side – South of the Border
Too Much Tequila – South of the Border

At 2:45, South Carolina welcomed us and we saw the 100-foot-tall Pedro statue sporting a huge sombrero. We kept on driving.

Back Up – You Missed It!

We passed the Lynches River, Lynchburg and Shiloh — such southern (& racist) names.

We finally checked in to our Airbnb at 65 Vincent Drive, Mt. Pleasant, by 5:55. It was a very nice duplex in a huge yard in a quiet neighborhood.

my room in the Airbnb

Airbnb kitchen

After unpacking our stuff, we headed into the city of Charleston to Poogan’s Porch.

Poogan’s Porch

Sarah treated us to a bottle of wine, Poggio Torto: Toscana Rosso 2016, bringing back memories of Tuscany for both of us. She had gone to the region several years earlier than I had, with her father and stepmother and their family.

wine

fireplace in the dining area of Poogan’s Porch

Sarah at Poogan’s Porch

We shared an appetizer of fried pickled okra. I enjoyed Lump Crab Cakes, cream corn, local greens, and grilled asparagus with a lemon herb vinaigrette. Sarah had Pan-Roasted Duck Breast, “Country Captain” style rice, duck confit, tomatoes, golden raisins, bell peppers, almonds and curry broth. My crabcakes were excellent.

This is what I would love in Charleston, good southern home cooking. As my daughter is an avid foodie, we would try many eateries during our stay here.

Fried pickled okra

Lump Crab Cakes, creamed corn, asparagus and greens

Out on the street, the sky and palm trees imparted an otherworldly feel.

the street outside Poogan’s Porch

mural in the parking lot of Poogan’s Porch

We were tired after our long drive and our big dinner, so we went back to our cozy Airbnb to relax. Sarah introduced me to some of her favorite shows, but I didn’t care for some of them. She seemed offended that we didn’t share the same taste. One we finally settled on was This Is Us. This was the first time I’d seen this show, and I’m still watching it today.

The next day, we’d begin exploring Charleston.

*Drove: 455.8 miles. Steps: 3,234, or 1.37 miles*

*Monday, November 11, 2019*

tuscany: exploring siena

wanderessence1025 July 14, 2020

After Chef Mike cooked up his eggs Florentine (eggs with cheese and spinach) and plain toast, accompanied by peach juice and espresso, we were on our way to Siena. The forecast was for rain, so we took our raincoats and umbrellas despite the day’s auspicious partly-sunny beginnings. Actually, clouds scuttled across the sky, but I held on to my optimism through much of the day, until it actually started raining in Siena at 2:30.

We stopped along the way to take pictures of the beautiful farms lined with cypress trees.

cypress trees all lined up

Tuscan countryside

On the way into Siena, one of Italy’s best preserved medieval towns, we passed the huge Basilica of San Dominico, an imposing red brick box begun in 1226. Named for the founder of the Dominican order, it is now more closely associated with St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380).

entering Siena

Basilica of San Dominico

Fiat in Siena

Siena’s streets

a cute little sconce

bicycle in Siena

We stopped first for coffee and croissants and then bought tickets for one of Italy’s finest Gothic churches, Siena’s Duomo, or Cathedral. It was completed in two brief phases at the end of the 13th and 14th centuries. Giovanni Pisano designed the white, green and red marble facade. Multicolored marbles and painted decoration seemed to be the Italian approach to Gothic architecture.

Duomo di Siena

The Duomo has a striking interior with black and white striped columns and a gilded dome. It holds the oldest example of stained glass in Italy (1288) in a circular window; the carousel pulpit, carved by Nicola Pisano in 1265, and Renaissance frescoes in the Biblioteca Piccolomini.

Duomo di Siena

Duomo di Siena

inside Duomo di Siena

Life of Virgin Mary Stained Glass, 1288, in Duomo di Siena

The Duomo is famous for its inlaid marble floors, which took nearly 200 years to complete. They include 56 separate compositions, including Biblical scenes, allegories, religious symbols, and civic emblems. These sorts of “Bible in images” were created between 1369 and 1547 to the designs of great painters such as Matteo di Giovanni and Dominico Beccafumi.

the Duomo’s inlaid marble floors

the Duomo’s inlaid marble floors

The interior was exquisite in many ways.

Duomo di Siena

We then went into the Museo dell’Opera, where we waited in line for a while to climb the tower inside the museum, the Panorama del Facciatone. They only allowed 28 people go up at a time as the stairway up was extremely narrow. People who climbed up were only allowed 15 minutes at the top.

View of Siena from the Panorama del Facciatone

View of Siena from the Panorama del Facciatone

View of Siena from the Museum

View of Siena from the Panorama del Facciatone

Mike in Siena

il Campo

me with il Campo in the background

We walked briefly through the Museo dell’Opera, which contains the Duomo’s treasury and some of the original decoration from its facade and interior.

The masterpiece at the museum was Duccio di Boninsegna’s Maestà (1308-1311). One side of the altarpiece had 26 panels showing episodes of the Passion, and the other side had a Madonna and Child Enthroned. Duccio’s Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the representations of Byzantine art towards more direct presentations of reality.

The Maestà, or Maestà of Duccio

Also in the Museo dell’Opera:

Museo dell’Opera

We popped into the Battistero di San Giovanni, the Duomo’s 14th century Gothic Baptistery, built to prop up the apse of the cathedral. There were beautiful frescoes throughout. The highlight was the huge bronze 15th century baptismal font designed by Jacopo della Quercia (1374-1438).

Battistero di San Giovanni

After the Battistero, we went in search of lunch. We settled into a small outdoor cafe on a side street, Ristorante Le Campane, where I finally discovered one of the orange drinks I’d seen everywhere, Aperol Spritz, vino bianco secco e soda (dry white wine and soda).

streets of Siena

I was finally able to order the dish my daughter Sarah had recommended: Picio Cacio e pepe: Homemade Sienese pasta with black pepper and pecarino (ewe’s milk) cheese. Mike ordered a Pumpkin Velouté with sausage crumbles (a soup) and a side dish of spinach and Swiss chard.

Picio Cacio e pepe

Pumpkin Velouté

It was all yummy, and we relaxed at the cute outdoor cafe with greenery and flowers hugging the balcony. We thanked the waiter: “Va tutto benissimo, grazie,” or “Everything’s great, thank you.”

We strolled down to the Piazza del Campo, a fan-shaped sloping plaza simply known as il Campo (The Field). It was built toward the end of the 12th century and is the heart of the town. The focal point of the Piazza is Palazzo Pubblico, a Gothic building that has served as Siena’s town hall since the 1300s. Its distinctive bell tower, Torre del Mangia, completed in 1349, apparently offers superb views, but we didn’t climb.

On July 2 and August 16 of each year, the Palio, the famous horse race preceded by a splendid historical procession, takes place at il Campo.

il Campo and Palazzo Pubblico

il Campo

il Campo

It started raining at 2:30, so we headed toward our parked car. Our parking expired at 3:30, so on the way out of town, we dipped into a scarf shop. I would have bought two more Italian scarves, but the saleswoman reprimanded me for taking one of the €59 scarves off the rack and trying it on; she pointed to a sign written in Italian. I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t read Italian,” and she said she’d have to write it in every language to accommodate every tourist. As we were the only ones in the shop, she easily could have told us directly not to try on her scarves. It was ridiculous and I refused to patronize someone so unaccommodating and rude. There was no skin off my neck; I’d bought plenty of scarves already. 🙂

Siena

last view of Siena

Leaving Siena, we drove on to Monteriggioni.

*13,001 steps, or 5.51 miles*

Saturday, May 4, 2019*

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: