chazzarelli

Annhig - for accommodations, it all depends on where I am at. In Italy, I long ago decided that I wasn't going to be spending much time in the hotel at certain places (Rome, Siena, Venice), but in Bellagio or Positano, I would want a better room. Still, I feel that my time in hotels is limited really to just sleeping and showering. So why spend a ton of money on a room when I know I'd rather spend that money instead on things to take back with me or activities that I'd want to do?

TDudette - Yes, the PJ's are monogrammed with my initial of my last name.

txtree - so do I, I'm hoping to have them for many years.

More to come later today...

ekscrunchy

Well now you've sealed the deal with me! First the silk pj's and then the comment, "I usually hate doing things with other people." And then a cooking class! Italian food! Stuffed squid (which by the way, I have tried to make and been disappointed with the results; undoubtedly the product you were using was far superior!)

You are reeling me in, Mr. C.!

LowCountryIslander

Chazzarelli...

This is definitely my kind of trip!

LOVE all the food/meal descriptions. I think I passed the hotel in Siena years ago when I attended a local football (soccer) match...it was so crowded after the match ended the throngs of people just moved us along the street and I remember looking up at a lovely building facade thinking, I'd like to stay there one day!

I can completely relate to your feelings on your friend shopping. I have come to realize I must select my travel companions very carefully. It may sound heavy-handed but if someone says they want to come with me on a trip, I now explain to them how I like to travel and if they cannot accept my travel "conditions" I kindly let them know I don't think it would be a match made in heaven.

I'm leaving for Bologna & Rome in 3 weeks and you're report is making me even more anxious to get my trip started!

chazzarelli

Ekscrunchy - it's funny, reading all your posts and trip reports made me think the same thing - that you'd be great to travel along with, although I think you are a bit more daring than I am with trying some foods out. BTW, I'm headed to Thailand over Thanksgiving (who needs turkey?) so I am going to prepare by reading over your previous trip report for there. I also have been to Burma, I went almost 2 years ago with my ex, who is from Myanmar.

LowCountry - You are exactly right. I think finding the perfect travel companion is paramount to a fun and less stressful trip. I had a different friend that traveled with me last year to Hawaii, and she was much easier to travel with. I think it's harder to find someone compatible to travel with than it is for me to find a girlfriend! haha

chazzarelli

The plan the next day was to go to Florence and possibly Pisa. However after much thought, we had decided instead to skip Florence and to just enjoy Siena and see the sites there. In my previous trips to Siena, I hadn’t been inside the Duomo, so it was something I wanted to do also.

I needed however to send some things home, as already I was starting to realize that my purchases were starting to weigh down my suitcases, and I still had almost 3 weeks left. So I gathered up a bunch of things, some clothes that I wouldn’t wear again on the trip and proceeded to the local post office. If you plan on sending packages, make sure you have some time to do so, as it took a while to do this. You also need your passport to ship stuff. I sent 3 medium boxes back to Doha, which lightened my suitcases.

I am a notoriously bad packer, as I over pack all the time. I had planned on trying to fit everything in 1 suitcase, and then would have a 2nd suitcase available for everything that I would buy. So once I knew I could fit everything into 1 suitcase, I distributed it to 2 suitcases. Only problem was that I kept adding things that I thought I might need or didn’t want to be without.

Ok, time for another confession, I usually don’t pack my own bags. I have a cleaner that I hire before I go on vacations, I have her over and she properly packs my bags. I just lay out what I want to take and she folds/organizes it into my suitcase for me. She’ll tell me that I’m taking too much and I usually listen to her, but with the rush I was under due to work, I didn’t have time to arrange for her to come over and do this for me.

Anyways, after the few hours at the post office, we walked into town and proceeded to the Duomo. We purchased tickets that allowed us into the Duomo, into the museums, and to the panoramic viewing location. You should definitely do this if you are in Siena. The inside of the Duomo is breathtaking. The floors are amazing to look at, as I was told that they don’t normally have all of the marble floors open for viewing.

After that we decided to do some walking around, grab lunch and then would head up just before sunset to the panoramic view. When it came time for lunch, I started looking for places to eat, but my friend had decided that she didn’t want to eat lunch just grab pizza, but I wanted to eat a normal meal. I didn’t want to eat pizza or a Panini again. She had decided she wanted to do this because she was watching her money.

Look I know I can’t complain because I understand her financial constraints were different than mine, but to tell me to go and eat at a restaurant on my own while she goes elsewhere to eat a slice of pizza upset me. Add this with the events from yesterday and I was longing for the vacation to include only myself. Again, I’m not very patient and I can be selfish at times. The thing is, I even offered to pay for the meal and she didn’t want that. So I gave in and just had a slice of pizza with her. I get over things easily though!

I found a fantastic shop, Cravattificio Di Siena (La Cravatta s.r.l) that sold ties near the Duomo and I picked out 3 new ties there. I added my name to his mailing list and he said he would be sending me info about new ties and ways to order through him via email. I’m learning that many places in Italy still haven’t mastered the concept of online shopping but I feel in the next couple of years, this will happen.

We made our way back to the Duomo and proceeded up to the panoramic view. Wow. Amazing! The view from up top was second to none. You could see the sprawling countryside, the Tuscan hills/mountains, and the city of Siena. And with sun slowly setting, the view and pictures were amazing.

I had planned on going to Cane e Gato for dinner, but for some reason the Chingale was etched in my mind. So we went back to Papei for another dinner. One of the waiters recognized me and sat us immediately even though there were others waiting for a table. I normally don’t do this, but I wanted to have the chingale again. So this time, we split the caprese, I ordered the chingale, she ordered the pasta con ragu con conglio (rabbit) and I ordered a main of grilled Tuscan sausages. These were so good. The chingale didn’t disappoint either, but it wasn’t as good as the first night. Still very good, but the first night tasted better (if that makes any sense). For desert I had the pana cotta, which was a great end to a wonderful meal. We again had a liter of the house wine.

Margaretlb

bookmarking

jent103

Just found your trip report, chazzarelli. Entertaining, informative - and I can't wait to see pictures of those pjs.

ellenem

Still enjoying our report and your meals. Because I, too am a fan of wild boar, I feel must correct your spelling. I want others who travel to Italy to recognize the word on the menu.

wild boar = cinghiale

chazzarelli

Thanks Ellen for the correction- it is a fantastic dish!

aussie_10

Great trip report, really enjoying your experiences and taking notes for my trip next year. Looking forward to the next instalment.
I wrote a trip report about my trip to France last year and it does take time to get everything down with correct details, but it is very fulfilling when finished.
I appreciate your time and effort.

ekscrunchy

Oh, the perils returning to a restaurant for a certain dish. I know them well! One of my favorite food experiences happened during a weekend stay in Pedraza de la Sierra, north of Madrid. I had two long lunches in the area--in Pedraza and in nearby Sepulveda--that I will remember until the day I can eat no more. (The specialty is lechazo, suckling lamb andI wrote about this is a trip report). Now I will be in Madrid again in a few months and the temptation os great to return. But so afraid am I that the experience will not live up to the memory, that I will not dare to do so..

But more important, I am just about seething when I read about the little annoyances with your travel companion. That is why I like to travel alone! Or travel with someone who will let me do all the planning! One of these days we will meet over a great meal!

I wrote two trip reports on Bangkok so be sure you read both of them for the food information. The trouble is, though, that Bangkok was the first stop on both of those trips and I am so jet lagged for the first few days that I do not have my usual thirst for exploration. Do try to get to Chote Chitr for lunch if you have not been there..

Ok, where to next.....??

TDudette

DH and I were very lucky traveling together-we just split up if compromise was not an option-but usually were on the same page. It do make a difference.

Great report. Thanks for the MF! Hope you stay friends.

chazzarelli

Oh we will absolutely stay friends. She just moves over to my "not a travel companion" list or maybe the "think long and hard before traveling together" list.

ekscrunchy - Sometimes repeating meals works, sometimes it doesn't. As for me, I'm much better when I travel solo and when I work at my own pace and do my own agendas. Next summer scares me because I've committed to flying my brother and his wife out to Italy, along with a friend of mine (traveled with her previously so no issues there). We are also going to be joined by my brother's sister-in-law and her boyfriend. I'm going to play host, since none of them have been to Italy (or for that matter out of the US. I'm a bit concerned that I might go crazy but I'll just have to expect it and then it will be fine.

on a more serious note - I'll put the final installment of Siena up in a few minutes.. re-reading and doing some editing now.

chazzarelli

Our final day in Siena was one to be spent driving around Tuscany and then making our way to Florence to catch a train to Rome. Yes, we probably should have gone south of Siena and taken a train to Rome instead of up to Florence but to me, it didn’t matter either way. Besides, I had wanted to drive through Chianti instead.

Based on advice given by other Fodorites, a few months back I contacted Luca Garrapa. I had exchanged a few emails with Luca and had told him I wanted to set up a full day tour and wanted to end up at S.M Novella in Florence (this would work out perfect since we would be able to check out of the hotel and we would have our luggage in the car with us on the drive). He gave me a few ideas and I told him I was open to anything and that I’d let him set up what he thought was best. I told him I wanted to stop at a few wineries, taste some wines and olive oil and to take pictures along the Tuscan hills. Unfortunately, he had a previous commitment that day, but said his partner would take us instead. I was fine with that as from my interactions with him and from others comments about his services, I knew he would do well by us.

www.hillsandroads.com

His partner, Alioscia picked us up at 930, and we proceeded to an old monastery, Pontignano, that is now controlled by Siena University. We viewed the gardens there and enjoyed some good views of the Tuscan hills. We then made our way to the first of our two winery visits in the Chianti area.

http://www.sienaonline.com/pontignano_carthusian.html

The first winery we stopped at was Dievole. The tour at Dievole is first class all the way. We walked to the back where they have a beautiful wine bar, a terrace that overlooks the vineyard and we sat down with a very nice newly wed couple from Germany. They brought us out a couple of glasses, some cheese, bread and olive oil. We began by tasting their Chianti, which instantly became a favorite of mine.

http://www.dievole.it/en/catalogue/productsDetail.aspx

Our hostess at the winery was Elena. She was very nice, knowledgeable and extremely attractive. Again, I was in a precarious situation because it looked like I was with someone but I couldn’t be more single.

We went into the wine cellars and Elena explained how they produce the wine, the processes, the restrictions to be a Chianti classico and other various tidbits of information. We taste more of their wines, the Super Tuscan, the Reserve and their Vin Santo. We also had some more of their olive oil, which was amazing.

Sadly, I am unable to bring back any wine into Qatar. I can drink in Qatar, I can purchase alcohol at the 1 distribution store in Doha, but can not ship or bring in any alcohol including wine. What a disappointment! So I shipped 2 cases of the Chianti Classico and 1 case of the Super Tuscan back to my parents. The last time I shipped wine to them, I had asked that they keep half the case for me and allowed them to have the rest. This time, I said 1 case of the Classico for them and keep the other 2 cases for me. I did however take back 2 bottles of olive oil.

As I was making my purchases, I flirted with Elena a bit, and she had asked where we were staying. When I told her that we had just left Siena and were going to Rome that night, she said that was too bad because she was going to be in Siena that night and would have liked to catch up and a have a few drinks. That figures! I will say I did consider changing the plans on the fly but between working out a new hotel, changing the reservations in Rome and everything else, I relented and marked it off as a missed opportunity!

After we left the vineyard, we stopped at a small farm that makes cashmere. The lady that owns the farm is an American, and she has been raising sheep and making cashmere for 30 years in Italy. Her shop is small and she specializes in hosting knitting classes and things of that nature. She had a few blankets and other items, however I didn’t make any purchases. It was cool to see, however it can be skipped, unless of course, you are into knitting and fine cashmere.

www.chianticashmere.com

We stopped for lunch while we were passing through Radda in Chianti. We ate at la Botte di Bacco. I don’t recall exactly what I ate for lunch (I didn’t save my notes for the next few days on my phone) but I do recall one thing we had there, Pettola, which are fried balls of dough. These are so good, and I was hooked after eating one.

Our next stop was another vineyard, Casa Emma. The vineyard was huge, and the guy who owns the vineyard was very nice. However I didn’t like the wines there as much as the ones I had at Dievole. I purchased one bottle from him and figured I could drink it one night later during my trip.

We then made our way to Florence, stopping for pictures in some of the small towns that dot the way to Florence. Once we arrived at the train station, we purchased our train tickets to Rome. We would be arriving in Rome around 7pm. I was excited because I really love Rome.

HappyTrvlr

Wonderful! Eager to read more Chazz.

LowCountryIslander

Looking forward to hearing about your Roman adventures. I'll be there in 4 weeks and can't wait to return to one of my very favorite cities...I am definitely a Romaphile! My mother thinks I was Italian in another life!

TDudette

LCI: do you think that's possible? It would explain why so many of us are in love with Bella Italia.

jdc26

Chazz, still enjoying your report. I also love Siena and looking forward to a return trip there someday. Also looking forward to your Roman adventure.

I too agree having the "perfect travel companion" is of utmost importance when you're traveling, it's one of the reasons why I choose to travel solo, because finding the right person to travel with is so hard.

jdc

annhig

hi chazz,

I think you missed an opportunity there - cashmere may not be much use in Dohar, but I'm sure that your new friend Elena would have appreciated something as a present!

Holidays are different from travelling, don't you think? hols are ok with companions, but if you really want to travel, the only way to go is solo.

looking forward to Rome!

chazzarelli

JDC - Most of the time I travel solo, and I always feel like I do more and have a better time. It's more relaxing when you don't have to worry about another person.

Annhig - I have a few cashmere sweaters, but your right, they come out for about a month here in the Mid East - they just aren't needed. I also want to say that a small throw blanket (100% cashmere) was selling for 400E. I guess when compared to my PJ's that really shouldn't matter except I just don't need blankets, and that would be one heck of a gift!