Siena is such an incredible place to live, and today’s Sienese Art and Architecture class illuminated the historical palaces, piazzas, and streets that I walk by each day. Siena is a relatively small medieval town, but its importance spans across political, religious, and architectural realms. However, before I explain my Art and Architecture class, I’ll mention that Italian was once again a good class. The 2 ½ hours goes by quickly because Marco involves a lot of different activities (and continues to give us coffee breaks!). For instance, today we watched video clips of scenes from our textbooks. Then he had Elena and I act them out to each other, me being the student and Elena the secretary. The hardest parts were the listening exercises. We were supposed to listen to people introduce themselves and record what names they said. Not only am I unfamiliar with Italian names, but they also spoke so fast I could hardly understand what they were saying, much less spell them correctly in Italian! But Marco was very reassuring, and he explained to me (in English to make sure that I understood) that it was very normal to have difficulty listening, especially since I have never studied a foreign language that requires listening skills. He was very encouraging and after completing the exercises, we ended the class by playing hangman with new Italian vocabulary words.
Every Wednesday in Siena, there is a market near the Fortezza, which sells everything from clothes and jewelry to plants, food, and kitchen supplies. Elena and I went after class to explore it, and we quickly realized that we would never make it through the entire market before it closed at 1pm. There are hundreds upon hundreds of tents spanning across the entire park. We only made it through a portion of the clothes and jewelry because it is also very crowded. Yet the deals are superb, and we left having purchased some items for ourselves and to bring back as gifts! I experienced the plant and food sections of the market in part because when I returned home, Stella put two plants with pretty, red flowers in our bedroom windowsill and brought back gourmet, spicy olives for us to taste – both from the market. I enjoyed the olives with her, and she made me a tomato and cheese sandwich for lunch. (By the end of the day, I’d had enough cheese to last me the rest of my time in Italy!) We discussed what her son is going to name his soon-to-be child, and she explained the history behind some Italian names. (Fun fact, many Italian men have the first or middle name “Maria.”)
At three, we met for our Art and Architecture class to go for a walking tour of Siena with our professor. The two-hour tour was very interesting, and taking notes did not seem like a chore because I wanted to remember all of the important sites. Plus, we all took pictures of the points of interest, so hopefully they will jog our memory come studying for the test! Our professor is quite funny and very Italian. I’ll attach a picture of him with this post. He said that throughout this course he’d have many “spicy stories” of popes who were more interested in politics than religions. Also, he puts stress on wrong parts of words a lot, i.e. making “political” into “poliTEEcal”, and doesn’t finish words, such as “knight” becoming “nye.” We began by going to Castellare degli Ugurgieri from the 11th century. This was the most important political center in Siena during this time because they did not have a formal government yet. It was a huge castle during its time, and today some of the CET students live in an apartment that is inside of it. The castle is the typical architecture for a feudal society (gates, thick walls, small windows). From there, we saw Piazza Tolomei and the Tolomei family’s palace. The Tolemei’s were wealthy bankers in the 13th century, and their palace was the first example of the new Gothic style in Siena. It had a blend of French and Middle Eastern styles. We saw many other sites, but the final, most interesting one was the Loggia del Papa, built in the mid 15th century by Pope Pius II for his relatives, the Piccolomini family. The Piccolomini’s were one of the richest families in Siena at this time, and their palace is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture. Instead of being warriors or bankers, this was a family of intellectuals who viewed socialization as the most important part of life.
After the tour, Ana Rose and I went for a run in the Fortezza before getting ready for our CET-sponsored dinner. CET program directors from Washington DC were visiting Siena, and they took us to a nice dinner at Taverna di San Giuseppe. It was a quaint restaurant with wine bottles decorating the walls, old stone, and low ceilings. We were all extremely full after the rich food and many course. After bruschetta, I had a pear and pecorino salad, and for my main course, I had delicious homemade pasta with a saffron, pumpkin, and leek cream sauce (very rich, but very delicious). We also had Chianti and several of us had chocolate soufflés. I, however, was in the group who opted for gelato after dinner and enjoyed dark chocolate and strawberry flavors! The CET advisors were very friendly and gave us recommendations for places to visit in Tuscany while we are here. The dinner lasted over two hours, so needless to say, walking up the hills of Siena afterwards was quite a struggle! After dinner, we went back to another student’s apartment and played cards with John Luigi (an Italian roommate) and his Italian friends.
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