Is that an oompah I hear?

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I got up and headed down our 76 steps to begin the trek to Sarah's school. I think she had left earlier to work. Anyway, I was on my own. Sometimes we turn east down Via dei Neri to take the Borgo Pinti route north. However I turned west on Via dei Neri to take the slightly longer, but more scenic Via dei Servi/Via Gino Capponi route. Regardless, I would have headed west anyway because as soon as I made it out our front door I heard an interesting sound. Somewhere in the distance I heard a large crowd and the distinctive sound of German oompah-like music. So of course I headed to the Piazza della Signoria to find out what was going on.


Sure enough I was greeted by a large crowd that was watching a parade of mainly Alpine looking men. I missed the beginning, but I guess they had come down Calzaioli to the Piazza and were heading down through the Piazzale degli Uffizi as seen above.


I just caught the end of the parade, but the festivities weren't over. Apparently there was more going on in the Piazza.


Wait! A few last minute parade stragglers came through.


So I guess they weren't German. They were groups that had something to do with the Italian Alps. I have no idea what was going on. But I loved their outfits. Of course, the Italian Alpine areas are right up against the Swiss and Austrian Alpine regions, so I wasn't too far off.


The plaid shirt and featheredhat brigade kept a'coming.


David looks nervous as the Swiss attack.


Some people will make any excuse to put on their medieval kits. They're as fanatic as our Civil War re-enacters. Is that how that's spelled. Don't answer that.


And the band played on...as Menelaus aids the fainting Patroclus.


Nurses were on hand. Just in case.


I had trouble seeing the person being saluted over all the feathered hats.


Apparently the worries over what noise does to the Renaissance statues was not considered when the Austrians came marching in with their brass bands.


As I headed north to Sarah's school I ran into some lost standard bearers and their well-trained eagle. These gentlemen did not get the memo about the mandatory plaid shirts.

Casa Hatfield

Saturday 9/27
Sarah, Kellin, Mary, and I met Clark and Tom at the Piazza Beccaria in the morning so we could catch a bus to Professor Hatfield's house. He had invited the group to a cookout and said that I could come along. Since he lives so far out of town (up in the Tuscan hills) we had to take a Citta Bus, which I had never taken before. It is more like a tour bus that goes way outside of the city and its tickets cost more than a normal city bus. After we got on Dan, Lara, and Stephanie got on at a later stop to complete the group. The bus took us all the way out east near the town of Sieci then turned north. We went up north and got off at the intersection of Strada Provinciale Molino del Piano and Via della Lucole (which goes east towards Santa Brigida, if you're keeping score at home). The bus continued on and we walked with Prof. Hatfield (who was standing along the road waiting for us) further up the strada almost 1000 feet. There we turned left down a little lane that intersected the strada. If we had gone right, which some of us did later, we would have gone up further into the hills to a church whose name I forget. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Here's me posing at the edge of Dr. Hatfield's yard. Not a bad view to enjoy every day. Behind me to the left might be the strada we came up. I'm not sure.

These were the first buildings we saw when we turned down his lane. He lives in a little cluster of buildings that is very common out here and is similar to the cluster of buildings that Sean and Luke live in. Except they don't live up in the hills.

This is part of his little back yard. His is the section to the left. To the right of the picture was the table we ate at. The food was absolutely delicious. Dr. Hatfield grilled chicked and there was salad, bread, wine, figs, and all kinds of tastey things. Oh, by the way, I made a great impression by breaking one of his plates. I didn't realize that the stone table was not a flat surface when I set a wine bottle down. It tipped over onto a plate. Luckily the wine bottle didn't break as well.

Here is another view over his wall. He said that we could go for a walk if we wanted to. So Kellin, Dan, Lara, Tom, and I decided to head for the church that you can see in the picture up in the hills. The elevation difference didn't look too bad, but Dr. Hatfield said that it was a tough hike.

And it certainly was. Once we crossed the strada the rest of the trip was up a pretty steep hill. The incline did not let up until just before the church. It was exhausting. In this picture I ran ahead (stupid idea) to take a picture of the others below me.

Once we got in the church's grounds we stopped to take advantage of their view and tried to locate Prof. Hatfield's house. It was so far away though that we weren't sure which tiny group of buildings in the distance he belonged to. Above are (left to right) Dan, Kellin, Lara, and Tom. I shouted to them and snapped the picture just as they all turned around.

Once inside the church a man filled the others in on the history of the church. I guess.

Below the church was a little chapel, a room with the stations of the cross, and this little room where St. Somebody stayed. I just realized that I forgot the paper where I wrote his name.

Here is the back end of the chapel with a lot of mementos of miracles that were worked.

On the way back down the mountain we saw a couple of little shrines that were built into parts of trees. Actually I think that I was the only person that missed them the first time. It must have been while I was stupidly running up ahead. This one was dedicated to Mother Theresa.

I'm not sure what this one represented.

Then it was back down the hill. Note the way they're leaning back. It really was a steep road.

Just before we left Prof. Hatfield said we could have some rosemary and some figs if we wanted them. So Kellin, Lara, and Stephanie attacked the trees.
Then we walked back down to the bus stop and said our goodbyes. I forgot to mention that we sat around chatting for a long time before our hike. We didn't just eat and run. It was a really enjoyable day. Great food and company. And a broken plate. On the trip back the bus was about 90 degrees (not one of Sarah's exaggerations) and I felt like I was going to be sick. I was way in the back and I had no view out the front, which is a recipe for disaster when it comes to me and windy roads.

Siena - part 5

Our buses then went a little over ten miles northwest to the small town of San Gimignano. It is another walled hilltop town that was first built by the Etruscans. The city has managed to preserve 14 medieval towers of varying sizes. Due to the route we took into town, I didn't have a good view to take a good picture. So I got the image below from the Internet.


They kind of look like skyscrapers from the middle ages. A lot of towns had similar towers, but for whatever reason they didn't survive. Florence had them. Rich families built them as status symbols as well as for defence. Some cities tore them down because of what they represented and sometimes they just didn't last.


I took a lot of pictures that I really don't have much to say about. Here is our approach to the city walls.


I just love the medieval feel to so many of these cities.


This is the main piazza in town. There is a well in the middle that would have been so important for a defensive hilltown. Now people just throw coins into it and take pictures in front of it. Like me. Except for the coin throwing. I don't go in for such tomfoolery.




This was their version of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio, I think. It is called the Communal Palace. Now it is an art gallery.


Professor Hatfield teaches the class about medieval Italy and the towers on the steps in front of a church called the Collegiata.


More cool medieval looking buildings.


We didn't get to stay too long before it was time to head back out to the buses.


Sarah and Kellin pass through the old walls.


Being in both Siena and San Gimignano made me feel like I was back in the Middle Ages. You get a little bit of that feeling in Florence and even Rome, but not nearly as much as in these cities. All the tourists and the shops geared toward them help to snap you back to reality.

Siena - part 4

Siena's baptistry was not on our list of things to see due to time constraints. However, since we ate a fairly quick lunch and the baptistry was part of the ticket package that we had we decided to go ahead and see it.

Siena's baptistry is not a separate building like the ones we saw in Florence and Ravenna. It is underneath the eastern side of the cathedral. But since it's so hilly in Siena the baptistry's front is completely above ground.

This picture is from inside the cathedral. This is a baptismal font. You can see a little hole in the wall behind it. That hole leads down to...

the baptistry below. You can see the opening above this much more ornate baptismal font. This font shows six scenes from the life of John the Baptist. The hole between the cathedral and the baptistry allowed people below to hear what was going on above. Or something like that.

And we found Sarah's gesture in the baptistry. It was in a dark corner cut off by a security rope so getting a good picture was impossible. We thought about distracting the guard so that Sarah could hop the rope, but it never happened.

The whole group went (actually, before we went to the baptistry) into the Palazzo Pubblico. We were lectured to by Gordon Moran in the Sala del Mappomondo (Great Council Hall). He told us about some art controversy and told us some corny jokes. Above is the Maesta by Simone Martini.

Like we saw in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, this palazzo had huge frescoes depicting famous battle scenes that they happen won.

Then we saw Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good Government...

and the results of good government...

and the Allegory of Bad Government.

I really love the image of bad government. I got yelled at by a guard for trying to take a picture in here. That picture didn't turn out well so I went ahead and took another one. It didn't turn out very well either. Serves me right for not following the rules. I think it looks like John Lovitz playing the devil in an old Saturday Night Live skit.

In my first Siena posting I mentioned that we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside of San Domenico. So I didn't. Well I lied. I took one. I snapped this picture then turned to take a picture of the head of Catherine of Siena. Sarah told me that we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. So I didn't take any more. For real this time.

Siena - part 3

The Siena Cathedral
Unfortunately, I don't know as much about this impressive church as I would like. Our tour there was kind of odd and rushed. A large percentage of the floor was blocked off so that all the tourists had to squeeze by each other, making for a difficult time and making guided tours nearly impossible. Plus, we were pressed for time. So, while we were lectured at a little bit, we were mostly free to roam around to try to see everything before we had to leave. Here's what I know:


The church was finished in 1263. There were any subsequent additions, including one that was never finished. The facade is in a Tuscan Gothic style, and even has some gargoyles to go with all of the other sculptures.


It's hard to pick them out from the facade behind, but there are two sculptures that I was told about. The one in the foreground (on the column) is of two little children being suckled by a she-wolf. But it does not refer to Romulus and Remus. Or so I was told (more on that in a minute). The other sculpture is the lion on the left. It signifies that Siena was subjugated by the Florentine Republic.


I am pretty sure that I heard that the suckling pair (seen here on the marble mosaic floor inside) are actually supposed to be the founders of Siena, Senius and Aschius. Their's being a story suspiciously similar to that of Rome's Romulus and Remus. However, I have seen in a few sources since that they are actually Romulus and Remus. Apparently the legend says that Senius and Aschius were the sons of Remus and that when they left Rome to found Siena they took a statue of their father and uncle from a temple. One source didn't even mention Aschius, but just talked about Senius founding Siena. So, I'm not sure. Let me know if you find out.


Some works of art behind the altar about which I can tell you nothing. Sorry.


The black and white stripes all over the place are due to black and white being Siena's colors. A lot of the marble, including that used for the huge pulpit (not shown), came from Carrara.


This is the entrance to the Piccolomini Library. Stephanie was lecturing the students about it, but was unfortunately told to keep it short due to time constraints. Hopefully I'll get another chance to go in and look around because it has illuminated choir books and impressive frescoes.


Here you can see that, although the church is quite big, much of the floor was blocked off making it difficult to get around.


The floors are not usually sectioned off like that. It is usually covered and you can walk all over it. We happened to arrive during the six to ten weeks a year that they are uncovered. The inlaid marble mosaic floor is extremely ornate and covers the entire floor.


Here are some mementos of miracles, including some bike helmets.


It is really is a quite large church, but it could have been absolutely enormous...


Plans were under way in 1339 to more than double its size. The current nave was going to become the transepts while an entirely new (and enormous) nave would be built perpendicular to it, centered on the altar. Then the construction was halted in 1348 due to the Black Death and was never resumed. Apparently there may have been some flaws in the plans.


This shot gives an idea of how big the church would have been. The (black and white striped) nave is in the background. The arches on the right would have been one side of the new nave and would have extended all the way to the wall I was standing on. It's really impressive when you're standing there looking down on it.