Today is a total adventure!! We wake up with colds and a broke camera, but can only address one problem at a time. Where do all the Italian kids get their iPods? The guy at the front desk gives us a map to "Media World", since city camera stores would be way too expensive. Grazie mile!! Firenze with its Uffizi and beautiful gardens killed our camera. We heard its death rattle in the middle of the night, and now it is no more.
We grab the last bits of free breakfast… blackberry confiture, panna cotta croissant with hot chamomile tea. We walk around the road pavers to get to our car rental. Quick pop into the farmacia to get cold medicine with weird Italian ingredients, hope it's safe, it says Pfizer. Renting cars in Italy a little more complicated, but then again so is driving. Our Garmin freaks out, and all those crazy vespas as we work our way out of the city.
We can't figure out if the parking lot is paid or not for the Coop and Media World. It is confusing and set up funny. Get a great camera, Olympus, just like our other one… the price is not so great. We are worried because it takes double AA batteries, but later find out that it last about 10 times longer than our old camera. The store plays a terrible array of Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and an Italian version of "It's the end of the world as we know it".
We fill out about 90 complicated forms to get our tax refund. Nothing in my guidebooks can prepare me for this part of our journey… cameras, forms, taxes. We try and buy bread at the Italian Costco (Coop), but stop short of the door with member cards and weird bar code machines. It's just a little more communication barrier than we can handle. We grab some sandwiches in the food court instead, which also sells fresh coffee and wine. Wine everywhere!!
It is a maze to get out of Firenze and into the hills. Tuscan fall is so beautiful, the hills and vines, just starting to turn yellow and orange against the green. The Tuscan sun heats the car, who knew we'd need to use A/C in November. Speed limit signs mean nothing to the Italians. We climb up the hills and see the towers of Sam Gimignano in the background and the road curves.
Our Renault Clio chugs along at a slow pace. We park and walk into the city. Sam Gimignano reminds us of Venice but with no canals or tourists, at least at this time of year. There are endless stores of porcelain olive oil and vinegar bottles, pots. We get board salami from a nice old man. La Buca tempts us with their pappardelle, and we walk out with wine and porcinis as well. I feel inspired to cook.
Museo Tortura chiuso, Museo Vino chiuso, we are getting pretty used to that word. We wander up the ruins and take pictures of the hillside. A man paints the landscape from the top of the ruins. I love the way the light pours into the windows of the old castle and how they put a childrens playground right next to an old dungeon. Birds and construction cranes circle the towers. I snap a panorama shot to but together later.
Tom loves Sam Gimignano, so relaxing and quaint, so devoid of tourists, definitely the "good life". We find an enoteca that looks closed, but the door opens. I wander far back until it becomes someone's home, "Me scuzzi? Aperto?" They come out and turn all the lights on for us. Vernaccia is refreshing and cheap. Grappa makes my through burn. We have wine, food, and pictures, thus abbiamo finito.
The Garmin can't pronounce "sam gimignano" or Italian in general. We get some good shots of the vines on our way out, as we drive into Siena. Our hotel is surrounded by some ugly railroad tracks and shopping centers, but as we turn a corner we reveal a cute little hill tucked into some trees. That is where we are staying. For 85 euro a night we get a full antique kitchen with a dining table, heated towel racks, Jacuzzi tub, huge bathroom, 2 TVs, and a wine bar at the front desk serving Brunello buy the glass. We have found heaven.
Tom goes on an olive oil run as I make dinner. The soaking porcinis fill the room with their aroma. I try and stick to the 5 ingredient rule of Italian cooking: pappardelle, sun dried tomatoes, fresh grated pecorino, porcinis, and olive oil. The cheap chianti matches it perfectly. Note on the olive oil… although it is bottom shelf in Italy, the smell is beautiful and makes the stuff we have back home (we tried side by side comparison later) smell like chemicals.
We are off to Siena downtown, and Tom tells me stories of is adventures at Coop. He says while the deli is full of good stuff, like a village salumeria, they try and sell you real estate on the way out. The soda section is ultra skimpy while the olive oil section is large.
The Garmin decides to take us through some questionable streets, and I get worried about turning down a staircase like Jim and Pat. We park, then ask for directions with mixed results. Finally we find the Fortezza and Enoteca Italia. We try a variety of wines while the bartender tells us that the establishment is 74 years old and has over 150,000 wines, they are a museum, a restaurant, a store, a bar.
La Bustantina Terre Eteree Sovana Ciliegiolo 2004 is a Sangiovese wine from Tuscany. It has a pepper watermelon aftertaste, and it is so bright and drinkable, not acidic. Our first Brunello was Cantina di Montalcino 2001. I can remember it from first sip. It was thick, unbelievably thick, like a chocolate mint liqueur on the front. It was dry and incredibly rich and fruity, the darkness is so hard to describe.
The bartender debates for some time as to what to possibly give us after the Brunello, they are very particular about order. Finally a Barbera, Castello San Lorenzo Radicato Resrva 2000 from Campagnia… a wine we bought and lost to the Roman airport. This one reminded me of a Valpolicella Ripasso, was so thick and dark with the flavors of raison and fig. It had a little bit of paint and flowers on the nose, and also some spicy Christmas cookies. A thick and pungent wine that had a lot of dark power for the money.
We wait to buy the Brunello until the next day. I want to try some more, but the bartender warns me that I won't find them cheaper or better anywhere else, and he was right. We watch as a man with a crazy scratchy DJ voice (grand theft auto) starts arguing with bartender about wines, and some how ends up with a free pour. We have no idea what is going on.
We go down into the basement show room, again unattended. There are at least 1500 wines on display from all regions of Italy. I act as tour guide for Tom and am actually surprised by how much I have learned over the past year.
We move the car to a more prime spot, but people seem to be parking anywhere they please. We take 5 escalators up to the top of the city. The alleys are scary at night, but we take pictures anyway. Suddenly we turn a corner and find the shops and Americans, this reminds us more of Firenze.
The Piazza il Camp is great at night. The slant makes it good for sitting and taking panorama shots. We find a bar with young people blasting American music, so we decide to sit outside instead. Try and get a birra con molti sapore and the waitress looks at us funny. We decide to leave the young crowd.
We skip the duomo, you see one you see them all. A statue of a woman in a window takes creepy art to a new level. Parking is expensive but it is better to be safe than sorry. There are energy efficient bulbs everywhere in Italy. We fall asleep looking at pictures.