Day 21
Today was a travel day – we joined the group from USD to visit Siena and San Gimignano to the south (about 1.5-hour bus ride). The only downside was the rain and cold but didn’t stop us from having a wonderful time! The countryside was beautiful, the towns lovely, and the food to die for. We began our tour of Siena at Basilica di Cateriniana where we learned about Saint Catherine of Siena; from there we walked into the center of the city (lots of hills!) and the Piazza del Campo. We visited the Museo Civico in the Palazzo Pubblico and saw the beautiful frescoes – Cameron summed up the tour “Florence bad, Siena good”. Our free time led us to a restaurant Nick and Camille told us about that they visited on the honeymoon – Antica Osteria da Divo. In a gorgeous setting, the food was tremendous and the wines phenomenal. The Chianti Classico from Lilliano was claimed (by Brian, Cameron, and Greg) to be the best of the trip! Anne and I shared a Pinot Grigio that was also spectacular. Appetizer was duck ragu and wild fennel in filo pastry topped with Parmesan foam. Around the table was Coniglio stuffed with pork sausage (with freshly shaved black truffle), rack of lamb, and pici pasta with traditional Tuscan meat sauce. Back on the bus took us to the small, hilltop city of San Gimignano where we didn’t have much time but enjoyed the torre (towers) and gelato (of course!) The bus ride home we were in the last row and it was a bit bouncy – so we are enjoying some downtime at home while we recover. Uh … hold on … the rest of the gang is heading to a cannoli bar (I’m staying in!)