The Magic School Bus Takes Siena

Last week our Urban History class took a field trip! I haven't gone on a field trip since my ill-fated jaunt to some prairie reserve in Kansas with my AP Biology class, where I learned that crickets CAN in fact grow to the size of your palm. One case of poison ivy and 2-3 months of cricket-themed nightmares later, I can say that I definitely prefer Italian field trips.

I've said it and I'll say it again, Siena is my favorite Italian city (Verona is fighting for the title though). It has history (conserved Medieval city), tradition (contrada culture and the Palio), incredible art (the Maestà in particular) and unbelievable food (pici). If you haven't read my last post on Siena, go check it out here. This time it was just a day trip, and we started with a tour of the famous Duomo.

Siena used to be a medieval commercial hub and a huge seat of power. At the height of their influence, they decided to enlarge the already giant Duomo, and began construction on a new nave (which would have turned the entire current church into a large transept). Then came the plague around 1350 and 3/5 of the population was wiped out. Sorry, no extension. However, they did start building it, and you can go through the museum up onto the finished walkway over what would have been the main doors for an incredible view. Climb even higher on up a thin tower on said walkway and you're at the perfect spot to see all of the city as well as the rolling green hills of the surrounding Tuscan countryside. We climbed up on the first sunny day in weeks and reached the pinnacle of the tower just as the church bells started ringing. 

After our tour of religious Siena, we paused for lunch before our later viewing of the secular monuments. Chiara, my lovely TA from last year, met up with all of us Vassar kids and took us to lunch at one of her favorite little trattorias, La Grotta di S. Agostino (Prato S. Agostino 12). I had pici with spicy salami, sausage, and hot peppers.

Chiara on one side of me had very rare steak with rosemary, and Byron on the other flank had thin-cut steak with radicchio and a balsamic glaze.

After a lovely long lunch, we headed to the Piazza del Campo for a lecture on the Fonte Gaia (which brought clean water into the city center) and then a tour of the Palazzo Pubblico (no photos allowed). After that, we headed down some little side streets to the Fonte Branda, the much larger source of city water. There were fish in it so I hope no one has been drinking from that since the Middle Ages.

We walked back to the bus in the afternoon sun and took a sleepy bus ride back to Bologna. A sweet little taste of this gorgeous city, and quite the best field trip I've ever taken!