Italy Journal 4 - Siena, Steak & Strange Italian men

            Wednesday morning we met for a bus tour to San Gimignano and Fattoria San Donato in Siena. Walking to the Santa Maria Novella train station, I was excited about what lay ahead. I'm very interested in sustainable agriculture and know that the fattoria, or farm, will be really interesting from this perspective. I had no expectations or prior knowledge about San Gimignano.

            The bus ride took us through a part of Florence that I haven't seen yet, to the north. There was a nice park and many more trees than can be found in Oltrano, where I am staying, on the other side of the arno (river). I sat next to Julie and it was fun to talk on the way there. One of the stories I told her was about the previous night when we were all together.

A group of us had gone out the night before for Steak Florentine and to a bar with Eddie from the school. The food was fantastic--starting with the antipasti, then probably the best steak I've ever had, free flowing wine, new potatoes bathed in olive oil and even fantastic desserts that we all shared. Later I had a really interesting experience at the bar. There was an Italian man who had been drinking too much and motioned that he was sick – I recognized the hand motion for "mal" because we learned the 'sign language' of Italian in our class. I got him a glass of water and told him to just breathe. When he came out of the bathroom he looked much better, perhaps for being paid a little care and attention, and planted a big Italian kiss on my cheek and walked off! It all happened really fast and was really funny to me.No one else saw it. I will chalk it up to being a minister and having that come out most often in the strangest of places!

I have noticed about Italian culture that they are much less wrapped up in their heads than Americans tend to be. I find myself being more present while here, just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy things to the fullest extent possible.

*    *    *

We arrived in San Gimignano and there was another pay toilet. I think it's funny that my classmates still don't know how to use them. It was the first thing I learned in the Rome train station – by necessity! They usually cost between 30 and 80 cents and are well maintained. Walking into San Gimignano feels a bit like Medieval Times, because that is when the town dates from. It is known as the Manhattan of the Middle Ages because wealthy neighbors would try to outdo each other by building higher and ever higher towers. These towers are the size of skyscrapers and were where the families lived. It reminded me a lot of the set for Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I wondered if it may have been filmed here. Throw the cow!

Onto the farm, we traveled by bus, as a hungry bunch. We were greeted by lots of rain and shuffled into the gift shop first, then the wine cellar for a brief history of the Vernattio wine that is produced here, alongside the Chianti (a blend of grapes). They also make Grappa from the skins of the grapes. I was given the opportunity to taste it and it is very strong! The owners of the farm created a beautiful spread of food for us and gave a lesson in how to properly taste wine before drinking it. My favorite part of the meal was the fresh ricotta, and the wine jam, which I purchased to bring back to New York. Other dishes included a faro salad, pickled eggplant, peppers, and onions, three kinds of salami, prosciutto, gorgonzola and parmesean cheeses and garlic bread soaked in the most delicious olive oil. Our meal was leisurely and relaxed. The wines were also very good. The chianti was not sweet at all and I liked the fullness of it.

The farmer also told us about the origin of steak Florentine. Since the cows in this region are raised for dairy, not for meat, they are kept in use until they are a ripe old age. It is these old dairy cows that provide the steak Florentine, which is a huge cut of meat cooked very rare, about 10 minutes on each side. Any longer cooking would render the meat too tough to eat.

I felt as though I could have stayed in both San Gimignano and San Donato (they are both in Siena) for the whole day, week, even month. The Tuscan air is at once perfumed and incredibly clean – like breathing in a shower for your lungs.  The Tuscan countryside is every bit as beautiful as the millions of pictures showcasing it. It was very nice to get out of Florence for the day, and made me realize how cold and urban our host city can feel in contrast to it's larger setting in Tuscany. I hope to go back again to Tuscany for a more formal wine tasting, as well as Parma and Modena. On the way home, I caught the most beautiful sunset on the Ponte Vecchio.