ALLA SCUOLA E AL LAVORO

Scuola Leonardo de Vinci

Off to Novartis

It was our 1st day of school and work. We were like 2 kindergarten kids, getting on the bus for the first time, holding hands and giggling; all smiles and waves as Bob got off first near Novartis, and I continued on to the centre of Siena to my language school.

There are 3 other adult students in my beginner Italian class: Yukido from Japan, Ulrike from Switzerland and Gene from New York. Our "insegnante" Lucas only speaks to us in Italian, and we all eagerly respond. My language gaffe of the day was when Lucas asked if we had any "domestico" at our homes. I promptly responded "io sono solo domestico", thinking that I was saying "I'm the only servant at our house", and wondering why Lucas was laughing. But, oh dear, "domestico" means "pet", not servant.

Siena is a small city, only 50,000 population. It is like a small Florence, with all the charm and history, but without the crowds. It is an old, medieval, walled town that was decimated by plague in the 14th century and stopped developing, frozen in time. It is a maze of small cobblestone lanes all spiralling in to the enormous town square, il Campo. The Campo was made famous in the last James Bond movie, where the annual horse race, il Palio occurs.

Enjoying the winter sun in the town square

Il Campo

 Navigating the old town reminds me of entering a corn maze, trying to find the scarecrow man at the centre. No street runs in a straight line, and many streets just end at a square or old building. Then you have to backtrack and find another little side street, that might move you along in the general direction you hope to go. If successful, you emerge out of these tiny, dark lanes into the brilliant light of the huge central square, il Campo.


After 4 days of exploring we are only getting somewhat better at finding our way in and back out.  But if we get tired, we just stop for another delicious espresso and cream bombolone.



The city bus runs outside our villa and only takes 15 min to the centre of town. Walking takes 35 min and is a lot of uphill. Good for anticipating the next "bombolone" reward.
Returning home Sunday , we were met by the wonderful play of colours that is Tuscany, as the light and shadows change and bounce off the hills, villas and cypress trees. "Ah" we say, "la bella Toscana".

Home Again!