Italian Culinary Adventure 2003 ~ Day Two ~ Siena And Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore

View of Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy

We awoke early, and opened up all of the shutters and windows to let in the fresh, country air before the heat of the day rolled upon us, and my husband and I took off for a walk along the dirt road in front of the house which led up into the hills. It was a wonderful walk with vibrant colored wildflower of many kinds lining the road past picturesque farmhouses, some lived in while others were needing renovation. Up in the hills, we came across a herd of sheep, being moved across the road by farmers from one pasture to another, and we stopped to watch with the sheep dogs letting us know they were in charge. Returning an hour later, we set up a hearty breakfast of local cheeses and cold cuts, fresh fruit, and slices of crusty, country bread on the large wooden table in front of the open windows overlooking the side pasture. The smallest horse was running up and down the pasture, while the owner's dog kept watch. We ate a leisurely breakfast together, enjoying our first morning of the trip before getting ready to depart for Siena that day.

I chose Siena as our first day's destination since it was the closest larger city to us, requiring less travel for us after our long trip the day before. We all climbed into our large van, which was painted an ugly teal green color, leading us to nickname it the "green machine", and headed off to Siena. The drive took almost an hour, and once in the city, we scouted around for a central place to park before setting off to explore. We first headed down to the Piazza del Campo, the city's main square from which the rest of city leads into. It is a huge, round piazza, lined with shops, and coffee bars, where it seems everyone in Siena gathers, both locals and tourists alike. At one end we saw the regal looking Palazzo Publico, which contains one of the largest clock towers in Italy. The tower is called, the Torre del Mangia, and you can buy a ticket to scale the 112 meters, or 400 small steps to the top where you'll get a view of the entire town as well as the surrounding countryside. I had climbed the tower once before, so decided not to try once again, but my son-in-law was interested. It seemed however that they were only selling tickets each hour, and he would have had to wait another hour to climb the tower, so he gave up his plan to do so. While we were enjoying the Campo, we were pleased to see a parade of people carrying colorful flags come through which we were told was related to the upcoming palio, or horse race which takes place twice a year in the Piazza del Campo. It is an amazing race, taking less than 2 minutes to race three laps around bareback on horses chosen at random three days before the race. The palio is famous as much for the race itself, as the festivities surrounding it which take place three days before the race. We learned later, that Andrea Degortes, the owner of the farmhouse we were staying it, had raced the palio many times throughout his life, and had in fact won 14 times, making him the jockey with the most wins in the history of the palio.

After strolling around the Campo, we headed towards the outer ring street surrounding it which is lined with shops. I had remembered a wonderful pasticceria in Siena from previous trips, so we headed there for a cappuccino and pastry. The coffee was as delicious as I had remembered, and came with a different design created in the foam and powdered cocoa on each. We shared a few pastries typical of the area with our coffees, and were soon off for more exploring. We walked around for a while, and then headed off towards Siena's beautiful duomo, or cathedral. A beautiful example of mixed Gothic and Romanesque architecture, it was started in the 12th century, but not completed until the 14th. Some of us went inside to admire the interior, while the rest climbed up towards the back to get a different view. We explored the duomo and its treasures until lunch time, when we had to decide where we would eat our first restaurant meal in Italy. I had done some reading before our trip, and had a few restaurants selected, and after we finally made our decision, we headed off to find Al Marsili.

We finally located the restaurant and were seated in an alcove in the larger room with huge vaulted stone ceiling, and browsed through the menu trying to choose what we wanted. The menu was very regional Tuscan, with a very heavy Senese flavor. We ordered wine, a bottle of Col di Sasso, mineral water and our first and second courses and relaxed until our first courses arrived. We ordered the following first course dishes;

Risotto With Lemon - A light flavored delicious dish with a hint of basil. The risotto was creamy, and cooked perfectly with just a bite to the teeth.
Gnochetti Duck Sauce - Tiny, tender potato dumplings were topped with a tomato based duck sauce. Although I was uncertain about the sauce, I found it delicious and not at all heavy or greasy as I had feared it might be.
Paglio e Fieno Senese - This was a dish of fresh spinach and egg pasta topped with a very light tasting creamy artichoke and lemon sauce. Flavorful, but very mild.
Mixed Bruschetta - A typical dish of toasted bread slices topped with a mix of vegetable toppings including one of tomatoes, another of mushrooms, and one topped with the traditional Tuscan liver pate.
Shell Pasta With Spinach And Mushrooms - A delicious, very vibrant tasting dish of shell shaped pasta topped with a tomato sauce flavored with spinach and mushrooms.

Everyone enjoyed their first courses, although some more than others, and soon our second courses arrived. For our second courses we ordered;

Pressed Grilled Chicken - Very moist, the chicken was well seasoned before grilling it.
Veal Scaloppini in Tarragon Tomato Sauce - Although the menu stated this was a traditional Senese dish, the sauce had an odd flavor to it as though some spice such as cinnamon was a little overdone. The veal was also just a bit chewier than it should have been.
Guinea Fowl - This dish came with an interesting sauce of red wine, prunes, pine nuts and one other ingredient we were not able to identify. Very tasty, yet unusual sauce that made the most of the stronger flavor of this bird.
Grilled Vegetables and Scamorza Cheese - I had ordered the Gnocchetti for my first course which was a little heavy, so I chose a lighter entrée. The vegetables were very tasty, and the scamorza very interesting grilled. It had a very firm, almost spongy texture.

A plate of sautéed spinach, and one of Tuscan white beans we all shared rounded out our meal, and we finished with an espresso. After lunch, we strolled around a while longer, taking more photographs, buying some of the local products, and enjoying the town before heading back to the van for our drive back to the farmhouse. Once there, we relaxed for an hour or so and then headed up to the Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, an abbey located less than 10 kilometers drive from where we were staying perched high up in the hills of the area. We walked around for an hour or so, visited the church on the grounds, and admired the colorful frescoes covering the walls of the adjoining cloister. The abbey was founded in 1313, and is still one of Tuscany's most visited abbeys. Before leaving, we bought a bottle of liqueur made onsite from 26 herbs grown on the grounds that is supposed to improve your health. Once again, we headed back to Villa le Focaie, very pleased with our first day of exploration.

The remainder of the afternoon and early evening was spent relaxing by the pool, or reading under the trees. Later, we had a small dinner of some of the local cheese, sausage, marinated vegetables and bread we had bought in Siena with a bottle of Tuscan wine before heading off to bed, anticipating our trip to Montalcino the next day.

Read more about the Siena Palio, as well as Andrea Degortes, the owner of the farmhouse we rented on this trip HERE.

Ristorante Al Marsili
Via del Castoro 3
Siena, Italy
Phone - 0577/47154
My Overall Impression - This restaurant was recommended to us by the owners of the farmhouse we were renting as being typical Tuscan, but particularly Senese. I would recommend it as our experience was indeed good (but not outstanding), however I think my next trip to Siena I would prefer trying something different.

Continue to view more photos of SIENA.

Click HERE for Day Three in Montalcino!

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Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 2003
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