One of JR's goals for this trip was to do a lot of sketching. Here he is on a street above Impruneta drawing our surprise destination. Well, a surprise for Kit, the rest of us knew.
As some of you may know, Kit is a history major and also enjoys SCA and sword fighting. We wanted to find something to really make the trip special, so I found a place called Malleus Martialis in a little town called Impruneta. We didn't tell Kit where we were going, just that it was a surprise for him.
He was a little apprehensive but totally lit up when he saw swords through the doorway. Our hosts had been advised of Kit's expertise and were completely onboard with describing their process, asking him questions and showing us 'cool' stuff. As you can see by Kit's face, he was in his element and having a grand time - as were we all, really.
The showed us how CNC blanks were turned into fine instruments of competition. All kinds - longswords, rapiers, cut & thrust, daggers - are handcrafted and custom.
Kit has been wanting to get into Cut & Thrust, so he spent a lot of time with our hosts handling those type of blades and figuring out what he wanted. I can't wait to see the finished product.
After all the geeking out and sword play, we were HUNGRY. We drove down to the town of Impruneta and were treated to a lovely city Piazza and stellar food/service. The restaurant had about 5 dishes to choose from it was all very tasty. The restaurant itself had a lovely outdoor area covered by a canopy of wisteria and a view of the Piazza.
Having slated our hunger and thirst, we decided to drive down to Siena. stunning views off A4.
As we have learned, each town is unique and Siena did not dissappoint. Rick Steve's says the Piazza is the prettiest in all the land and he was not wrong. Again, we were overwhelmed with Italian architecture, history and "shiny things".
The Duomo was worth the climb to the upper tier - thank goodness for escalators to assist. I'm always amazed at how beautiful the churches are. I'm more interested in what it tells about it's society than I am about the actual religious implications. This church had some portrayals of some of the most horrific events that took place. The soldiers almost look beatific while killing babies - story of Herod ordering the death of every newborn - and no one looks horribly outraged. Very weird. Lovely mosaic work, tho.
Our time in Siena went much too quickly and it was time to return to Florence. Not without a little meat and cheese board from a small, corner deli outside Siena. I'm so glad JR and I will be returning to Siena in May to visit some friends.
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