Second Course: Siena

Whenever you get to the train station and you look at the large departure board trying to find your platform, you will always notice the random "Canceled" in the middle of it. You think, "Wow, that sucks for everyone planning to get on the train, but that will never happen to me." And then the next thing you know, it happens. We were waiting in a random tiny town in the middle of nowhere (between Rome and Siena) to catch our connecting train, when it said "Delayed 35 minutes." Thinking nothing of it, we continued waiting. It turned into 45 minutes. Then an hour. Then that dreaded word appeared: "CANCELED." May I mention, that it was also dumping rain.

We couldn't be outside so we were again wearing our masks. Mom was trying to find a train headed to Siena, and she did, only to get turned around by the train conductor. That meant a two hour wait until the next train. The other people were getting taxis, but we just kept on waiting. Once the rain stopped, we headed out to get dinner. The pizza place we found was completely devoted to kids. With the boys getting french fry pizza, and me getting white pizza.

After heading back to the train station, we were finally boarding a train. It was easy going and we found our campsite easily, after a 20 minute hike up a hill.

We were "glamping" (glamour-camping), so our "tent" had beds, a refridgerator, furniture such as a table and chairs, clean dishes, and sheets. The campsite consisted of a small market, a restaurant, a bar, a pool, and three bathrooms for the camp users. The first day, we stayed at the pool, which we were at for 7 hours.

In the afternoon, we went into town. Siena was much cuter than Rome. It was split up into 17 neighborhoods, with each neighborhood being separated by different light posts.

We ate at the restaurant Gallo Nero, which the Drakos recommended. Everybody but me ate pigeon leg (yuck!) though I did get a fancy vegetarian substitute. That was the first of seven courses, which, in total, took an hour and 45 minutes. (This meal inspired the whole writing idea.)

I will say, my Italian tofu was delicious and the boys very much enjoyed their lamb. On the way back to the bus stop, we found a store named SCOUT and got some cool free stickers.

Then we went back to our tent and had a nice night of sleep and the end of day one. The morning of June 19, 2022, we ate chocolate croissants and yogurt for breakfast. Mom and I went to the grocery store earlier that morning. Then we went straight to the center of Siena. We wandered, which lead us to get lost, but we found some beautiful views.

And Kiefer made Mom and Dad laugh: after Gallo Nero the night before, he continuously said to every pigeon we passed, "I ate your leg!" Another lunch of pizza (ugh) and then we had the best gelato yet. We then went to the striped church, which was amazing.

After exploring for a bit more, we went back for a nice swim.

The boys played countless rounds of Gin Rummy, having just learned it. Then a dinner of PB&J's, followed by sleep. (It was Father's Day but all of us forgot. Luckly, it was a pretty awesome day anyway). Early the next morning, we left for the train station, on our way to Florence...

All right, Scout! Only a few blog entries, and they're already naming stores after her. Yes, Siena was great, the perfect break after "brutal" Rome (--that's how Rick Steves describes it in our tour book). Suzy's instincts led us all the way, the glamping, the pool, wandering the labyrinthine streets of the city, taking pictures of the different lamps and doors, and of the Tuscan country side, and of us, of course. It was her idea to wait and get inside that gothic church, too, and, like Scout said, it was awesome. She was like the she-wolf above--giving us exactly what we needed. Yea, we forgot it was Father's Day. Truth be told, I was hardly aware of the day of the week, or the hour of the day most of the trip, which is exactly the way I like being. All I knew was I was where I was, with the ones I love most--fully present! Honestly, I could not have asked for anything more special.

But back to what you really came for: Our best-of-Italy tally sheet. Well, Siena found its way into our tops list twice: 1) it was voted our second favorite city; and 2) the campsite tied for our second favorite place to stay. You're probably wondering, but what were the top vote-getters of your trip? Patience, my friends, the main course is on its way...