Dinner and other things in Sienna, Italy

They say that an army runs on its stomach. Well, we're not an army, but I think we also run on our stomachs.

We spent a week in Sienna, Italy in May of 2006. The weather was perfect! Around 80 degrees every single day and clear blue skies as well.

We stayed in the Albergo Bernini. Albergo in Italian means hotel. It was owned by an Italian family, the son having graduated from the University of San Francisco. We learned before we went that he collected patches of different police departments from around the world. So, in order to assist him in this, we took him patches from the Hanover Sheriff's Office. He was delighted to receive them and placed them on display with the rest of his small collection.

There were several interesting and funny things that happened to us while we stayed there. One happened on an afternoon when we decided to have dinner on the terrace of the hotel. We purchased our food, and then proceeded to go into a wine shop to purchase a bottle of wine. The middle-aged woman who was working there spoke no English. In many small towns in Italy, few people speak English, but, with a minimum of effort, one can make themselves understood.

We selected a bottle of wine, and when she asked if we wanted to purchase it, I had a mental lapse and responded with the French term for yes, namely "Oui". Definitely a no-no! She immediately began "speaking with her hands"....

"Oui? Oui è francese! È sì! SI!"

"Scusi! Scusi!" I replied, cringing under the onslaught of good natured ribbing of my faux pau...

Anyway, we purchased the wine, returned to the hotel, and ate on the terrace as we looked out on the view surrounding us.

The second incident occurred over the period of a day and a night and the following morning.

I asked the owner of the hotel to recommend a restaurant where we could experience a really good meal. He suggested a place called "Da Divo".

"Would you like me to make reservations for you this evening?"

"No, thanks. I think we'll just walk over there and see if they have a vacant table."

We walked around until we found the restaurant. It did not open until 7pm, or so the sign indicated. It was then about 10 minutes until seven. so we decided to just wait. Two other couples joined us in the wait. We waited until seven. No lights, no door opened. We waited until five after seven, ten after seven. Still, no lights, no open door.

It was then a shutter opened across the street. Now, picure this... the street is about 8 feet wide, so there was not a great distance from where we waited to the open shutter.

A young man leaned out and very nicely informed us that the restaurant was closed that day.

The next morning, the owner of the hotel asked us on the way out...

"How was the restaurant?"

"It was closed yesterday."

There went the hands again, speaking in Italian while the voice spoke in English...

"See? See? I wanted to make reservations, but Nooooo... youuuu had to walk over there to see if it was open!"

"Okay... Okay... you were right! I should have had you make reservations."

"Would you like me to make them for tonight?"

"Yes, I would appreciate it."

As you can see, the restaurant is really interesting. It had three levels. The main floor, seen to the right, the little cave like alcove you see to the left, and then there was a wine cellar like area down one more flight. We ate on the second level.

The waiter brought some champaign and a small appetizer to have while we looked over the menu. We both ordered fish, and it was fantastic! Then, they brought some little candies to eat while looking over the desert menu, and a small glass of a desert wine. Very potent!

Anyway, the service was fantastic! The food was fantastic! The ambiance was amazing!

The next morning I was able to tell the owner he was correct, the place was amazing, and the reservations were greatly appreciated! And I did it without waving my hands! But, it wasn't easy to be so restrained...

While walking around Sienna, we found the place where, in 2000, we shared lunch with two friends we met in Italy, one from California (now living in Pittsburgh), and the other from Australia.

We each had a bowl of Ribollita, an Italian soup that is REALLY tasty!

The picture to the right is one I took during a day trip to San Gimignano, the city of Towers. At one time there were over 100 towers within the walls of the city. Unfortunately, many of them are gone now. This was the city where the movie "Tea With Mussolini" was filmed. These are the types of places we look for to eat at when we travel.

While in Sienna, one afternoon, we sat in the plaza and had some bruschetta and a glass of bianco vino (white wine). Very nice. Very relaxing... Oh, to go back there....