the medieval wars continue

Why, hello again.

Where to begin? I am amused and pleased at how many emails I received from folks who read my last posting and thought that I was coming home to the states on July 1st. I guess I should have been more clear, eh? I am here until Sept 14th...I am a nanny for 2 little girls in Badia Petroia, but for a week, I went to work with another family (the Tirabassis) in a town called Radicondoli, near Siena. By "home," I meant that I would be returning to Badia Petroia. Sorry about that.

As a brief overview of my week with the Tirabassi family: I am in charge of Oscar Claudio Tirabassi (!), one of the most energetic 2-year olds I have ever encountered. My job is to keep him from getting hit by a Vespa during Florentine rush hour traffic. Not easy, this, as he is terribly uninclined to remain in his stroller. The places I have visited - Firenze, San Gimignano, Siena - I have told you about before, so I will spare you the rambling. I will say this though; Siena is rapidly becoming a favorite town of mine. And here is why.

Firenze will always have a special place in my heart; it is the first Italian city I ever saw. The first time I saw Ponte Vecchio, the morning sun breaking over the top of it in the cool March air, my heart stopped. That was in 1997. I was 16, there with my best friend in the world, and thousands of things have changed since then. But Firenze hasn't, at least not for the better. During the day (at least in the summer), the town is such a madhouse of tourists and traffic that it is hard to resurrect the feeling of wonder. You can only handle so many brash American voices not even attempting to order in Italian before you crack. I don't know how the locals manage to mainstain their stiff smiles. However, when the sun goes down, it is easy to remember why I love it so; once the crowds have cleared, the air has cooled, and the trash sweepers are sucking up the thousand wrappers that litter the curbside...then I remember what took my breath away so many years ago. When the fading light falls on the giant dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, and children chase each other around the gilded Baptistry, you can hardly help but forgive this overcrowded tourist mecca for the state of things. After all, people came to her, unbidden; and the soft gray evenings are the reason that people return.

The problem is that I am rarely there at night, so I see the insanity. Siena, on the other hand, is medieval and a bit more preserved as such; the Benettons and Prada stores are built straight into the old medieval structures, so much so that you don't even notice the store until you are upon it. The buildings rise high on either side of the street, blocking out light and making sound bounce all around you. The streets are clean and, comparatively speaking, it is uncrowded. The churches are lovely and the Campo is one of the best piazzas in the world - a huge open space, full of light and energy and only lacking in greenery. Siena somehow has managed, at least for the time being, to maintain her dignity a bit better than other cities around her (certainly more so than San Gimignano, where every sign is printed in English, Italian, and German). What is equally amusing is that Firenze, quite jealous of Siena's hilltop position and wealth (the world's first bank was started here in 1287), made many (successful) efforts to conquer and re-conquer Siena throughout the years. I suppose the Florentines did win the war; but ultimately I think that Siena somehow snuck away with a victory. I recommend that, when you come to Italy, you let me take you there. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Have to be off now, but there is more to come, including a posting later in the week about house concerts and my third, as-yet-untitled, album.
ci si parla dopo,
vanessa