Two Weeks in Tuscany » Siena

Tuscany? Why Tuscany?

Joe Harkins — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:01:42 +0000

FIRST – TWO THINGS TO KNOW

1) To return to this home page from anywhere, click above on the box containing the words, “Two Weeks In Tuscany”

2) The posts are in Chronological Order, the way a journey runs, from the start to the end, instead of reverse-chronological order, the method common to blogs that put the newest post first.

Tuscany. The the most sensuous region in all of Italy. No, the most sensuous in all of Europe . . . OK, the truth? It’s the most sensuous region in the whole world.

You and I are going there right now, for two weeks. You with your little computer mouse and me with my laptop in my lap and my credit card in my hand. Together we will see wonderful things, eat excellent food and drink superb wine.

OK, I will do those things, and you can read about them. But if you wish, you can do them too. (using your own laptop – and of course, your own credit card.)

These photos were taken during the light rain that preceded our arrival by bus in Siena. They are here just to give you a foretaste. Click on the small photos to enlarge them. Oh, and there’s more text below this batch.

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Siena Morning

Joe Harkins — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:35:11 +0000

Morning comes to Siena like the aristocrat she is, quietly, with grace and dignity befitting her age and station. The night of repose is over. Soft but insistent light of a new day pushes away the shadows, slowly but steadily overwhelming the street lamps that have stood silent watch.

It’s a soft September morning. The big windows of the hotel let the room breathe.

As the waxing light of dawn spreads across the old brick walls and mossy roof tiles it suffuses the streets below. People are stirring. Deliveries are being made. Refuse is being carried away but there is no banging of bins or grinding of compactors. Shops are rolling up their shutters. The streets are still quite empty.

Siena, like most of Italy, sleeps in.

The Light in the Piazza

Joe Harkins — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:38:43 +0000

Siena awakens when the tourists awaken. And they all roll downhill through curving, steep and narrow streets to what may be the most interesting and engaging public space (wiki: Piazza del Campo) you have ever seen. I have no doubt that every City Planning and Architecture or Social Studies university course in the whole world must mention Siena at least once, and probably devote hours or days to it.

Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy

About three times the size of a baseball infield whose fan-like shape it resembles, one end (think of Home Plate) is tilted downward towards the foot of a smooth slope, paved and patterned with ceramic-like bricks. This is the 12th Century heart of 21st Century Siena. The wide end is lined with sidewalk cafes that offer satisfying people-watching for not unreasonable prices. The other, lower end, is lined with public buildings and emphasized with a gracefully proportioned tower that looks like a punctuation mark.

The rings of narrow, curbless, cobbled and tiled streets outside the plaza follow the curve of the fan. I doubt that the sun ever shines directly into more than a few feet of any street, and even then, briefly. As a result, the open plazas are sudden bowls of sunshine. The Piazzo del Campo, in particular, is especially dramatic.

The innermost of the half-concentric rings is pierced at various points with sharply descending arched tunnels. As you make your way down the steps or ramps and pass through, your slight claustrophobia is suddenly and powerfully relieved by the broad, open expanse of the amphitheater in front of and to either side of you.

Today’s soft, intermitent rain was hardly a discouragement. The photographer enjoys reflective slate surfaces and flat lighting. It’s quite correctly called “portrait lighting.” Alas, a few minutes after arrival, that bit of romance gave way to sunshine. Only here can the arrival of sunshine be considered a loss.

Click on any photo enlarge it. There’s more text below the photos.

In case you wonder why the name “Siena” is familiar, look in your box of Crayola Crayons. The fired bricks of the plaza’s pavement gave the world the color you now call, “Burnt Siena.”