Mama mia, what a trip so far! Day 5 was the beginning of what I would consider the most 'challenging' phase... Nothing went wrong in the grand scheme of things, but people were definitely starting to get sick. Then it got reeeeeally hot for a couple of days. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start like we do every morning, 6:45 AM at the breakfast buffet! I would consider this the best breakfast so far. A LOT more fresh fruit than we'd seen further North, and for some reason it just kind of felt healthier. I really wish I would've taken more pictures of the espresso machine. I was starting to sense that I was going to miss it more than I even knew. I was pushing the limits of common courtesy and decorum with my espresso consumption, and felt a bit like Gollum when it came to my precious electronic drug dispenser... I began to formulate a conspiracy theory that Globus Tours was really just and elaborate sales scheme to push these miraculous coffee machines to the broader world market. Not the craziest thing I've ever thought.
We were in for another full day of adventure, but this was somewhat more casual. Almost a calm before the fiery storm to come. Our first few hours of the day were spent walking the town of Siena. It was still very early in the morning and none of the shops were open, but this place was beautiful and picturesque and there was a bit of an overcast sky which gave the morning a pleasant and comfortable feeling. The town of Siena was historically known as a "banking town". That's what I have written in my notes anyway, but currently as I recall it is more of a university town. With amazing stone churches, streets and narrow alleys it felt like a movie set. As the tour progressed we began to see the first signs of daily life. Cars would squeeze past our group and shops were opening their doors. We sat in the square which still hosts chariot races at certain times of the year and I tried desperately to find some way to capture how amazing this place was on the iPhone camera. None of the pictures do it justice. Upon further research the town itself is actually 3,000 years old! But it didn't feel a day over 2,999 to me.
We were allowed to see inside St. Catherine's Cathedral briefly as the giant bronze doors were opened. Apparently this was a rare and unexpected event, which I tried to appreciate. I felt a rush of cool air and craned for some kind of view, but I was also kind of distracted by the fact that I saw some guys replacing a door in a shop entrance across the square from us. My mind began whirling with a hundred thoughts about what it must be like to be a contractor, or handyman that has to do ANYTHING in these ancient medieval villages. What are permits like? How do you wire anything in a solid stone structure? I could tell they were using diamond bladed circular saws to alter the granite threshold in order for it to receive a new metal doorframe. These guys did not just go to Lowes and grab a door off the shelf. This thing had to be custom made and fit like a pair of fine Italian leather shoes. It was mind boggling. I wished I could speak Italian so I could ask them more questions.
Next, we were off to Pienza which was just an hour down the road. This is when the roads started to get curvy, and if you recall I get motion sick. We had still been obeying the seat rotation so I was sitting somewhere in the middle of the bus when we started to hear a commotion. Someone back there was NOT doing great. I assumed motion sickness, but it turned out to be some kind of mild seizure brought on by a migraine. I can't remember the details, but we didn't stop for long and everything seemed fine eventually. There were scattered coughs and sniffles as well. We had been sharing the same tube for hours a day and had developed a group respiratory virus with a side of covid. I kept giving people these intense mints that I found called "Frisk". They seemed medicinal, or at least had the placebo effect in the short term.
Pienza... I don't know how many times I can use the word "picturesque" but this was another one. A classic Renaissance Tuscan village from the 1300's. If Siena was out of a movie, then this place was torn out of the pages of an Architectural history book. It was the kind of town you see in your imagination when you close your eyes and think "Italy". We spent maybe an hour or more wandering through little shops and alleys. It was somewhat like a larger version of Monteriggiono. We entered the town through a beautiful stone archway which had a plaque above it commemorating a Roman emperor (sorry Mr. Emperor, I forgot your name). This town was also rebuilt after being bombed severely in WWII but you wouldn't be able to tell without being told because it still feels as old as everything else. I stood inside one of the cheese shops and just breathed in the air for a bit because I wanted to create a sense memory for this place. It felt so real and even though the odor of Parmesan cheese the size of car tires is pungent, it is also weirdly fragrant. I had a glass of regional wine from Montepulciano before we got back on the bus and head to our final destination for the next couple of days. Next stop, Roma!
The drive from Pienza to Rome is a little over 2 1/2 hours. This portion of the trip is as good as any to mention the rest stops. We are familiar with gas station culture and highway driving in the US, but it is very different in Italy (at least where we were). The highway stops were part rest-stop, part restaurant, and part grocery store deli. The ordering is confusing, and the portions are ridiculously huge. And you can also just buy a human arm sized dry salami out of a wicker basket as you checkout. Every one of those "rest-stop delis" was vibrant and delicious. Also, chaotic... Very "Italian".
As we got further South the sky grew gray and hazy. We passed several fires. Some looked like controlled burns on farms, but others were just randomly flaming cars on the side of the road. It felt ominous. As we approached Rome, I found myself daydreaming about the incomprehensible weight of the history of this city. Again, one could spend their entire life studying the history of the Roman Empire. I had a functional knowledge of various Emperors and eras. But driving into it for the first time in decades, I felt completely out of my depth. It was kind of like how I used to create imaginary histories of bands simply from reading the liner notes contained in the CD case. I just had to release all of it and prepare my brain to let a bunch of new information flood in.
I will reserve some time to give our driver Giuseppe his full accolades later on. But for now, I just have to say that I was perpetually amazed that he was able to maneuver this giant bus through increasingly narrow roads that were originally built for horse drawn carts or columns of Roman soldiers. It was simply incredible.
It had already been a long day as we walked a short distance to our hotel, which was in an alley wide enough to be considered a road, but lined with tables for restaurants, shops and cafes. Decorative lights were strung over sections of the street and it felt like a really cool and safe place.
There was a bar in the lobby and we all got cocktails and beers from the bartender (pictured above) who looked almost exactly like our friend Nick Ayers. This hotel was slightly older than the others we had stayed in the previous couple of nights, but it was still far nicer than anything I stayed in last time I was in Rome. We found our rooms and I immediately began searching for a "jersey store" for Mason. We had been passing markets with cheap knock-off soccer jersey's for days but he wanted something "legit". Miraculously, there was an "AS Roma Official" store just .7 miles from where we were staying. It was closing in 45 minutes and I knew we had a packed schedule the next day, so I told Mason if we were gonna go now was the time. We bolted out of the hotel and in somehow navigated ourselves directly to the store. It felt like a real accomplishment because despite google maps and the clearly labeled street signs chiseled in stone on the sides of buildings, I have an abhorrent sense of direction and get lost EVERYWHERE. The store was awesome and Mason was able to find some cool stuff and it felt like a real win for the day.
We had no dinner plans, and eventually found ourselves all eating at separate little cafes in close proximity to each other. Christie had VEGETABLES with melon and prosciutto. It was fine, but nothing special other than the vibe. It felt nice to be in the city, but not overwhelming. We wandered around a bit after dinner and found a cool place called the "Bukowski Cafe". It was a hipster bar with lots of character, but also a little too "cool" for us. We were in "tour-bus American" mode not "chic world traveler" mode. I felt like a real dork and we decided to just go have cocktails by our hotel. It was cool to watch local folks just doing their thing. Listening to 5-6 Italian kids play with a little electric Ducati motorcycle was so cute. That language is so amazingly musical and naturally funny. It was a nice little end to the evening. It was still warm at dusk, which should definitely have been taken as an ominous warning. The next day would turn out to be globally and historically hot. We were about to drink from a fire-hose of Roman trivia. But that's a story for tomorrow...
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