Europe trip (Part 10): Lost in Siena

I forgot to mention that while in Florence, I picked up a small sketchbook and some water-soluble pencil crayons at one of the many art supplies shops in the city. Throughout the rest of the trip, I had fun doing quick sketches of objects, scenes and people around me, sometimes in ballpoint pen, sometimes in coloured pencils.

It's a different experience to sketch with paper and pen than on the computer. Most importantly, you can't erase mistakes. I figured it was good practice for me. :-) I will probably use some of these sketches and photos as the basis for more polished pieces.



I've also been tweaking my trip reports as I post them, usually because I've realized I've forgotten something, or want to add a link. I've added a mention of our visit to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit in Florence, for example, and the Etruscan ruins in Fiesole.

A survey for all you trip report types out there (and yes, filk conventions count): Why do you post trip reports? For me, it's partly wanting to share my experiences and photos with other people, but also for my personal archives.

Sometimes I'll go back to my reports of trip to Japan or our canoe trip down the Nahanni River out of nostalgia, or to look up something I've forgotten. I love getting letters from people who have enjoyed my reports or found them useful in some way. And I get a huge kick out of e-mails from people who have seen the photo at at the bottom of this page, for example, who canoed down the Nahanni and saw the small paddle that my group hung in an old cabin in Deadmen Valley.

But back to my Europe trip report, which is nearly at an end.

Part 1 (Paris) - Part 2 (more Paris) - Part 3 (Fonte de' Medici) - Part 4 (Montalcino and Montefiridolfi) - Part 5 (La Petraia) - Part 6 (Florence) - Part 7 (more Florence) - Part 8 (Cinque Terre) - Part 9 (Pisa, Fiesole and Volpaia) - Part 10 (Lost in Siena) - Part 11 (Siena) - Part 12 (Rome) - Final



One of our favourite places during this trip was the city of Siena. The first time we visited was by accident.

I'm not a driver but as far as I could tell, it's pretty easy for a tourist to get lost in Italy. You definitely need to get the most detailed maps you possibly can before setting out on road trips; we found that out the hard way. :-) Maps all tend to indicate numbered roads, but you rarely see signs with those road numbers. Instead, major intersections will have town signs pointing in different directions...hence the need for the detailed maps with town names. BUT these will also often be mixed in with other signs, like restaurants, spas, post offices, grocery stores, farms, hotels and other points of interest. There also seems to be no standard colours or design to the signs, so it's sometimes difficult to pick out the relevant signs when you need them.

You may be happily cruising along a road, for instance, then suddenly find yourself confronted with an intersection of signs like this one:



Because of the cars waiting impatiently behind you, you only have a few seconds to choose a direction. Once we came to an intersection where a sign on one side of the road said that Siena was 2 km ahead, and a sign on the other side of the road indicated that it was 22 km ahead. Here's a good site on how to navigate the roads and read road signs in Italy.

All this preamble, of course, is a feeble explanation of how we got lost on the way to Montalcino and ended up in an area of Siena that was supposed to be closed to outside traffic, finding ourselves in a state of growing panic as we drove down streets that seemed to be getting narrower and narrower, barely large enough for Ginny's car to fit through:



We couldn't turn around. There was nowhere to pull aside and check our inadequate maps. And as we got closer to the center of town, the number of tourists wandering down the streets increased, making it even more difficult to navigate.

Finally Ginny asked help from a trio of older Italian gentlemen who were chatting on one corner. None of them spoke English, but she managed to convey the fact that she wanted to go in the direction of Florence.

"FLORENCE?" one exclaimed in obvious horror, slapping his head and rolling his eyes. I can imagine what was going through his head. These silly tourists had somehow managed to get themselves lost in the center of Siena, and how on earth was he going to explain how to get out of the city if we didn't know each other's languages?!?

It would have been SO easy for him to shrug as if to say, "Sorry, can't help you." Instead, he told Ginny (who fortunately knew enough Italian to understand) to stay where she was, that he would get his car. Then this sweet man patiently led us through maze of narrow streets through Siena and back out to the highway. We would never, ever have been able to find our way out on our own. I'm sure we'd still be sitting there now, dehydrated and sun-baked, slowly mummifying in the Tuscan sun and eventually becoming part of an exhibit warning unwary tourists of the dangers of setting out on a day trip inadequately prepared.

But I digress.

As we followed him, we desperately tried to think of a way to thank him but in the end, there was no opportunity. I did write down his license number and kept my eye open when we did come back to Siena, in the small chance that we ran into him again.



This event happened on our second day in Italy and ended up, in a strange way, being one of the highlights of our vacation for me. I know this man was only one Italian, but his generous action definitely helped set the tone for the rest of our trip.

And Siena will always be one of my favourite places in Italy. :-)

More about Siena in my next Blathering...

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