Italy - Siena and the Abby(normal) 2025-05-12

 

One of the delightful side benefits of our Italian Journey with Tania and 7Week-Italian is meeting like-minded people who also want to learn Italian and possibly live there.  JR was paired with JimH for a 'pausa partner' (a study buddy with whom to share and speak Italian) Jim and his lovely wife Anne (an Italian - dual - citizen) live in Westminster which is just a short drive North of Denver. Coincidentally, they have a house in Siena and are also visiting Italy at this time. JR and JimH hit it off from the get-go and soon a dinner at an Italian restaurant in Denver was arranged. From minute one, it was all systems go for our new friendship. Side note - I'm (Stacey) too tired to invest time in friendships whose moral compass does not align, so this was a sweet surprise. They invited us to come to Siena and spend the night and JimH would narrate our way through some Tuscan history and Food.  They  have a delightful doggo - Maggie - who is the bestest girl here in Italy. She is pictured below

JR and I boarded a bus for the one hour-ish ride to Siena. The countryside was lovely. Lots of twists and turns as well. Jim and Anne (J/A for ease moving forward) picked us up at the train station and we had a lovely walk through the side of Siena we didn't get to view when we were here with Jeri and Kit just a week or so ago. Jim is quite the tour guide and has all these rally fantastic facts/history about Siena. First, J/A took us to Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico. Not only is this Basilica lovely, but Saint Cateriniana took the lead when a time women were not active leaders (Middle Ages). She was a crusader for those less fortunate and did not suffer fools gladly. This is one church that I've actually seen a nun in the stained glass. The stained glass has been replaced as time took their toll. The new glass has a child-like quality to the design. They are by B Cassinari (1982).

I have never seen a nun in a stained glass prior to this one.

The door was relief panels in brass and truly lovely.

Siena is composed of 17 Contrade (one ContradA, multiple ContradE) You can find info about them here - https://www.aboutsiena.com/Palio-races-of-Siena/the-contrades-of-the-palio-of-Siena.html  The Palio is really interesting. We visited JimH's favorite Contrata - The Owl. It was built over Etruscan ruins and has an amazing story of it's history and their competition in the Palio,

When a Contrata wins the Palio, they have a banner created. It was interesting to see the evolving artistic influences over the decades/century.

We had an amazing time and even visited with a pen & ink artist and JR got to talk shop with him both in Italian and English. His art is rooted in working class people and the impact they have on culture as evidenced by the oversized hands and feet. He was also just a really nice guy.

We then had amazing food and then spent the night at J/A house which is really lovely. Photos from their backyard and the food.