Thursday 2 August 2007

Thursday morning Mum, Dad and I set off for Siena expecting the journey to take just under 2 hours. Unfortunately, the route map that had been given to us sent us round the outskirts of Florence and we got caught in the traffic on the ring road so instead the journey took well over 3 hours. Jo and Paul were waiting for us when we finally found the hotel Il Chiostro del Carmine which was a beautiful ex Carmelite monastery towards the top end of the town. The stairs were a death trap and it was a hearty walk to get up them, but the rooms were generally very nice and the view from Jo & Paul’s window was exquisite showing the quintessential Tuscan countryside I had always imagined it.

Having settled into our respective rooms we all took a drive to San Gimignano, a beautiful hill town about 40 minutes drive from Siena. A few pleasant hours were spent walking its streets, taking in the attractive scenery including the famous towers and doing a little shopping. We found a lovely store called L’Erbario Toscano, which is similar to L’Occitane. Jo bought some rose perfume and I bought the cinnamon & orange perfume and shower gel. Of course there was ice cream – in my case scrummy hazelnut.

Once back at the hotel we met up with Sharon and Gerard (Jo’s Matron of Honour and friend from Australia and her hubby) and made our way to a great restaurant, the ‘Antica Osteria da Divo’ which is actually housed in some Etruscan Tombs. The food was interesting and very good with such fare as pici pasta with wild mushrooms, risotto served in a pecorino cheese and tuscan beef. Between courses we were plied with extras, a glass of sparkling wine as an aperitif, a cheese and ham dumpling whilst waiting for our starters and a tuscan cake whilst waiting for desserts, with chocolates and biscuits with the coffee. It was a very reasonable meal, and we all left completely stuffed. Jo mentioned that they had wanted to hold their reception there, but unfortunately the layout of the restaurant (it is on 3 levels) meant that we wouldn’t have been able to all sit together – a shame as it was a really lovely place.

(Thanks to Jo and Gerard for the photos)