Lugging

Dictionary.com defines luggage as “containers for a traveler’s belongings.” I find this definition severely lacking in that nowhere does it mention anything about lugging. To me this is a major oversight. I say this because despite the fact that three fourths of a mile doesn’t seem that long when all you have to propel is yourself, it takes on a much greater significance when you are also propelling your luggage.

Wife and I discovered this very early on in our walk to the hotel in Siena from the train station. We had managed alright with getting the bags on and off four different trains on our way to Siena (helpful hint: take a bus), but we managed to somehow forget that every town in Tuscany is on a hill. Combine that with the fact that the train stations aren’t ever on top of the hill and you get the picture of what our trek from the train station was like.

Somewhere along this journey Wife was actually advocating traveling naked. While I could see the convenience of this arrangement, I assured her that the local police would probably not be as accepting of the idea.

On arrival at the hotel we were a little disappointed. The room was clean and it wasn’t small, but the luxurious accommodations we had in Manarola had spoiled us. The floor tile pattern recalled the time of the Nazi occupation. At least we’re pretty sure it did since the pattern where the corners of the tiles came together were swastikas. We ignored that as best we could and headed out to explore Siena.

First we headed for the main piazza which is dominated by the town hall. It consists of a large, block style building with a tall clock tower that overlooks the semicircular piazza. The building is actually fairly ugly, but we sat down and engaged in some people watching. One thing that surprised us was that it seemed that public displays of affection are illegal. A couple not far from us was engaged in some affectionate mauling which caught the attention of a police officer who proceeded to give them a stern talking to. So much for amore.

Not too long after that we continued our meander around the piazza, stopping in the small shops and taking the view of the restaurants and bars that rim the open area. Leaving the piazza we found our way to the duomo which was of course under heavy restoration. The entire front of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding. Whoever was doing the restoring was kind enough to have draped the front of the scaffolding with a picture of what the duomo would look like could you actually see it. Something definitely got lost in the translation.

For dinner we went to a little restaurant around the corner and down the street from our hotel. All the lugging and a small lunch combined to make us absolutely ravenous. We had seen this restaurant in our Lonely Planet Italy guide and since it was convenient to our hotel we decided to give it a try. It definitely got us started off on the right foot with Tuscan cuisine. I had spaghetti with ragu sauce (no, not the stuff in a jar) and roast veal. The broth left after I ate the veal was so good I soaked every last drop of it up with bread.

We dined with two Danish men who were on holiday. They had been to Florence for a few days and maybe Venice, but I’m not too sure now. After they had finished their dinner we had a nice chat about traveling in general and how nice it would be for Wife and me to be so close to Europe after we moved. They recommended traveling to Copenhagen, which wife immediately added to her list of destinations.

Frog