Today was a “free” day in Siena…we had options for cycling, but decided to explore the city instead. We started with a trip through the market at La Lizza, which was packed with people and 80% women’s clothing, shoes, and fabrics. This took up about 10 minutes of our day...next!
Of course there is plenty to see in Siena, so that was not the problem as much as where do we start. From the market we hit the many of the touristy spots…Piazza Madre Teresa di Calcutta, the Duomo di Siena, and of course an overpriced lunch and some gelato in Piazza del Campo. I included some photos just for the heck of it, but won’t bore you with the details of our day.
Dinner this night was wonderful. It was an ‘on-our-own’ dinner night, but some of us decided to dine together anyway. The restaurant where we were supposed to meet was closed, so we went to one up the street (it's so hard to find a restaurant in Siena…well…ok, no it’s not—just turn the corner, any corner).
Damon and I were with Leslie, Jan, and Brian for most of the dinner. Brian, who was probably the stronger of the cyclists in our group (excluding Catherine our coordinator of course) had made the > 30 k ride to Asciano (and maybe the 50 k to Montalcino, I don’t recall) by himself and warned us how tough it was. Hmmm, that got us thinking…maybe we needed to see more of the city—on foot—tomorrow and ah….rest up a bit, yeah….another free day. Ok, ok, of course we’re riding tomorrow…especially since it’s kind of a yawner to post our free day activities (or lack thereof) to this blog.
Towards the end of dinner, Catherine stopped by the restaurant and we all decided to go out for a drinks and/or coffee after eating. Now, this was one of those great random moments that make life so interesting. We weren’t sure where to go, so Catherine stopped and asked a group of people standing in a small piazza. After a couple of minutes of back and forth, Catherine was “grazie’ing” her way back to us…she had our destination.
Making our way through the streets of Siena, we were following Catherine (who was on the phone) like baby ducks behind their mother. After a couple of 'uncertain' turns we (she) asked again for directions. It turns out we were right there...it was one of those funky down the steps and next to/under the bridge clubs you wouldn’t find unless you were looking for it.
As soon as we went in I felt like I had been transported to
something out of a 50's/60’s movie (Funny Face?) and some beatnik poetry bar in NYC…except everyone was speaking Italian, people were smoking outside (city ordinance), and there was no poetry. But you get the idea….
What was going to be a quick drink turned into an evening at this little club. The night was complete with amazing tea blends, top-notch Limoncello from Naples, fresh and tasty deserts, and a fantastic singer named Angela de Nardis, who did a better-than-the-original cover of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” (it made me really like the song). I can safely say we all had a great time.
Day 12 Stats:
- Ride Sheet - Loop Day (52 - 107 k)
- Actual Ride - 0 k
- Lunch - Siena at the Piazza del Campo
- To Remember - Random club find and Angela de Nardis singing, Duomo tour, Dinner, Flaming desserts
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