A Weekend Getaway

I have been lucky enough to see and experience a lot of Italy in my three weeks here. I have been to Angihari, Arezzo twice, Perugia, Monterchi, and Caprese Michelangelo. However, all of those trips have been in a group of people who had already planned the trip for me and knew what they were doing and where they were going. This weekend was the first time that I was able to make my own travel plans. During our first week in Italy, a couple joined us for lunch in the palazzo. The woman is a Meredith Alum who moved to Italy with her husband in 2007. This couple, Martha and Ben, live outside of Siena and made us students an offer that we couldn’t resist. The offer was that they would pick us up from the bus station in Arezzo and while driving us back to their house we would stop and see a couple small towns on the way. We would stay in their guesthouse and the next morning they would serve us a small breakfast and drive us to Siena. The next morning they would serve us an American breakfast and drive us back to Sansepolcro. Hannah, Lauren, and I decided that a weekend in Siena sounded like a great idea and a weekend in Siena that included transportation, a place to stay, and an American breakfast sounded even better!
Friday afternoon after class and lunch (we couldn’t miss Margarita’s lunch) we headed to the bus station. Our bus ride to Arezzo was the most interesting bus ride yet. About twenty minutes into our trip the bus driver pulls the bus over on the side of the road and gets out. As we look out the window we see him smoking a cigarette. After a few minutes another bus, which is empty pulls up, and the two bus drivers talk for a few minutes before getting back into their buses and continuing their routes. I now know one of the many reasons why Dr. Webb always tells us not to plan our bus rides and train rides too close together. Just because your bus ride from Sansepolcro to Arezzo is only supposed to take an hour does not mean that you will get there within an hour.
We arrived in Arezzo and found Martha and Ben already waiting for us. After a few minutes of quick hellos and reintroductions we were ready to head out to see a couple of small towns on the way to Ben and Martha’s house. We stopped in Chianti, Gargonza, and Monte San Savino. Chianti had a gorgeous view of the Tuscan mountains. Gargonza was like stepping out of the car and onto the grounds of a castle and Monte San Savino felt a lot like Sansepolcro. The next stop after Monte San Savino was Ben and Martha’s house. Ben and Martha live on a lovely farm that overlooks the Tuscan mountains. After settling into the guest house, which was also very lovely, the girls and I met Martha and Ben on their back deck to enjoy snacks and wine while waiting for the sun to set. Once the sun began to set the scenery that surrounds their house suddenly became even more picturesque than it already was. I tried to take as many pictures as I could of the unbelievable background that was in front of me but none of the pictures were able to do that moment any justice. The next couple of hours of that night were filled with eating, great conversation, and lots of laughing.
The next morning the girls and I woke up and had a quick breakfast before heading out to Siena for the day. We arrived in Siena around 10:30am and had seven hours before Martha and Ben would be back to pick us up. We were a little unsure about the weather because the weather forecast was calling for a possibility of rain but the day ended up being perfect for walking around all day. Lauren, Hannah and I decided that since we had plenty of time to see everything that we would begin the day walking around without a set destination. There were a couple of places that we wanted to see but we knew that if we walked around we would eventually get to all of those places anyhow. The only downfall of making the decision to start off by walking around was that we immediately found places where we wanted to shop. Since we did not want to carry bags around all day and knew that there were plenty of other stores that may have better prices we decided that maybe it was time to head to the Piazza del Campo. After locating the Piazza and walking around for a bit we spotted a stripped tower in the distance. I thought to myself “Oh, what a cool tower.” I took a picture of it and then continued on my way. Our next goal was to find the duomo. After walking up what seemed like a never ending up hill journey we reached a huge stripped building with a stripped tower attached to it. This was the duomo. After admiring its outward beauty and attempting to capture its greatness through pictures we walked into the bookstore across from the duomo. It was in this store that I picked up a children’s guide to Siena and read about the duomo and about Saint Cathrine of Siena. This guide book offered many quick and simple facts such as the duomo that we see today was only supposed to be a small arm of what the cathedral was supposed to be.
Following our trip to the bookstore Hannah, Lauren and I decided that seeing the inside of the duomo was something that we would be willing to pay for. We quickly hopped in line before the line could get any longer and in no time we were standing in the most beautiful church that I have ever seen. Everything about the duomo was breathtaking: the stripped interior, the marble floor, the choir chairs, and the dome! After walking around the church for quite some time, the girls and I sat down in the pews and tried to continue to take in every little detail of the duomo that we possibly could. When we finally decided that there was no way that any of us could ever walk out of the duomo completely satisfied because it was that beautiful and mind blowing, we all walked back out onto the streets of Siena completely silent. There were no words to describe the experience we had just had besides, “Wow!” but that was just not enough. The word “wow” was all that came to mind but it was too simple of a word to describe such a powerful experience. I have heard from others that the duomo in Siena was their favorite and most memorable duomo experience. As excited as I am that I got the opportunity to see the duomo in Siena when I did, part of me wonders if it would have been better to see this particular duomo later on in my trip. Now, when I see duomos in other places such as Florence will I hold them all to the standards of the duomo that I fell in love with in Siena or will I learn to appreciate each structure on its own? We are travelling to Florence next weekend so I guess I will find my answer after visiting the famous duomo in Florence.