Tomorrow we head back to Fiumicino, Italy where we will catch our flight back to the USA. We wake with this knowledge swirling in our heads and quickly compartmentalize our thoughts. Today we are heading to Siena for a final day of exploration and shopping.
Siena is an hour drive from Vignamaggio and we want to get an early start. After our award winning breakfast in the breakfast house we return to our room to gather up our goodies for travel.
The road to Siena is winding and full of scenic views. The landscape of the Chianti region is just stunning. Driving from one hill to another with nowhere to go is pleasure in itself.
We arrive at our destination with no hiccups or wrong turns (Google tries hard but Italian roads can be confusing even for the best navigator). We park in the Il Campo parking lot. Il Campo is easy to find and highly recommended for secure convenient parking, with clean restrooms to boot (that's important).
See map: Il Campo Parking
We park and walk for a short 10 minutes into the heart of the city. As we find our way to Piazza del Campo we watch the city come to life.
Restaurant staff are cleaning the sidewalks and preparing their tables for lunch services. Local storekeepers are congregated outside catching up on local news and each others lives. As we approach Il Campo we begin to see the splendor of the square. Il Campo is one the most famous piazzas in Europe. It is a massive square with stunning buildings surrounding it.
The medieval architecture offers an amazing peek in the history of Siena. Siena was built in the exact place where the three antique hilltop towns sloped together, before eventually combining to create the community of Siena. "Il Campo” was built at the intersection of three major roads coming from the major hilltop towns of its day. Siena, was considered to be neutral and here the business of government and trade could happen harmoniously.
We spend our morning soaking in the sights and weaving in and out of the local shops.
After finishing up our mission of shopping we stop for a quick bite at a local Trattoria then head back to our villa.
Our last real meal in Italy is at Vignamaggio. After we return from our day in Siena we take a walk through the gardens and I try my best to capture every tree, rock an view to memory. I will close my eyes in the years to come and pull up one of these images and remember the smell, beauty and tranquill feeling I am experiencing right now.
We take a seat on the veranda and order a bottle of Rosato and our last meal. As we eat we reflect on our amazing opportunities and adventures we have had. The two weeks have just flown by and yet they linger on through our memories.
Life in Italy is slow, slower than home and I appreciate the willingness of the Italians for sharing this with me. It is important to slow down and really take in the moment, which I often do not do. I spend a good deal of my days preparing for tomorrow or next week and so on. This is a good reminder to be in the now.
Thank you all for following us on our travels and we hope you felt included in the journey. Our next adventure will be our cooking class held on July 30, 2018 at 6:00pm. We will be preparing a menu based on our favorite foods of Tuscany.
Perhaps??
Seven hour baked Tuscan pork ribs.
Tiramisu with candied fennel.
See you soon!