“Ciao, mi chiamo Jasleen, sono Indiana, vengo dal Kenya.”
Introductions over, it was time to get cracking as I spent a couple of weeks in the historic medieval town of Siena learning Italian at the Scuola de Leonardo da Vinci. I could not have picked a more charming town in the heart of beautiful Tuscany or “Land of the Etruscans.” The atmosphere is enchanting with its majestic Gothic architecture and narrow cobbled streets lined with ancient brick and stone towers surrounded by rustic medieval walls.
Indeed, the homey accommodations where I stayed provided views of sprawling vistas with brick and stone houses set against Tuscan rolling hills. Views of Siena from the Terzi di Siena and of Florence from the beautiful In Piazza della Signoria were an ideal treat for the eyes while I gorged on Tuscan breakfasts.
Each morning was filled with intensive language classes taught entirely in Italian with the emphasis on the spoken word, followed by an hour or two of homework to fully reap the benefits.
“Ripetere, ripetere” (“repeat, repeat”) was the mantra of our teacher, Julia, and I discovered that I learned Italian much faster than expected when discouraged to speak in English. When learning a foreign language, it is advisable to immerse yourself in the entire culture of that region as I experienced through the culinary and wine tutorials as well as the historic tours delivered in Italian.
Culinary Highlights
“Inpastare a lungo,” exclaimed Chef Roberto at our culinary class in instructing us to beat out our handmade pasta. I learned to make lemon and zucchini tagliatelle, cheese tart on cheese fondue, and panna cotta dessert at his quaint, family-run osteria, Sottolefonti. Tiera di Siena’s culinary claim to fame resides in its preservation of Etruscan culinary heritage from ancient times. Indeed, it has been claimed that Tuscan cuisine originated in the province of Siena.
Needless to say, I sampled a whole array of tasty local dishes in the plethora of restaurants and traditional trattoria in Siena. This included typical Sienese dishes like Crostini di Siena, which is toasted bread spread with chicken liver, olives, and truffles; Pici al Cinghale, a special pasta unique to Siena in wild boar sauce; and la Bistecca Fiorentina, which is grilled Chianina beef savored in the charming, rustic setting of La Finestra restaurant.
I also sampled fine Mediterranean seafood like Scorfano (tomato scorpion swordfish pasta) and Milanzana alla Parmaiggiana di Mare (eggplant in parmesan with cuttlefish) paired with Italian white wines as part of the Il Menu di Pesce or the menu for wild fish tasting in the elegant ambience of the Tre Christi restaurant.
Fine Wining
I was fortunate to savor all of them at Il Masgalano where the restaurant owner, Guiseppe, paired Il Sambucco Chianti with the assorted antipasti or Tagliere Misto. He also pairs Fonterutoli Chianti Classic with Gnocchi in a four-cheese and truffle sauce called Tartufo, the DOC-controlled and guaranteed Vino Nobile de Montepulciano with Pappardelle al Cinghale or wild boar sauce, and the most recent Brunello de Montalcino from Antinori vineyard with Osso Buco alla Senese—a delicious veal-based dish in rich tomato sauce. (Note: The DOC, or Denominazione di Origine Controllata, is an Italian wine tasting committee that evaluates a wine before it can be bottled.)
Spending time at the Il Masgalano restaurant, with its outdoor terrace overlooking scenic views of the San Domenico church, proved to be a most relaxing way to spend the afternoon. After all, “â lentamenteâ” or “slowly, slowly” is how the Tuscan life is meant to be lived, I thought as I polished off the homemade Pinolata dessert coupled with a traditional Cantucci biscuit dipped in the dessert wine, Vin Santo.
“Wine appreciation is a subjective experience and it also depends on the style of wine,” exclaimed Francesco, the sommelier at Enoteca Palazzo Piccolomini. The palazzo is a 30-year-pld wine selling establishment in the heart of Siena where I attended a wine tutorial and tasting of my favorite wine, Chianti Classic. There are 600 wine producers in the Tuscan region of Chianti stretching between Siena and Florence, with wines made predominantly from the Sangiovese grape varietal uniquely found in Tuscany.
Excursions to Tuscan wineries and the countryside further enhance your appreciation of “la dolce vita” or the good life. I learned this while experiencing the Chianti and Brunello wine-producing regions with Tour My Tuscany experts on half-day escapades into the heart of the scenic rolling landscapes peppered with cypress trees, Romanesque churches, and castles which characterize the Tuscan countryside.
Brunello is regarded as one of the finest wines in the world, and the Il Paradiso Di Frassina winery on our tour incorporates an innovative approach to the winemaking process. They play Mozart’s music into their vineyard 24 hours a day through Bose speakers in order to encourage finer grape growth which, according to the owner, Giancarlo, is being researched at universities in Tuscany.
“Grapes that dance to the music of the vine give top vintage,” claims Giancarlo. This must be the luckiest winery in the world.
Creative Pursuits
For the aesthete, Siena’s rich architecture and figurative arts of the Sienese school at the Pinacoteca Nazioanale and the marble “illuminated Bible” mosaics on the Duomo's floor delight while Florence and its glory is only a bus ride away.
Since Florence is the capital of Tuscany as well as of Renaissance culture, you cannot visit it without venturing to the famed Uffizi gallery, Bargello sculpture museum, and Accademia to see Michelangelo's “David.” However, what I found most intriguing was the Palazzo Strozzi, a cultural exhibition space located in the prior residence of the Strozzi family.
“We are passionate about creating visitor experiences rich in emotional moments of potential transformation,” the director, James Bradburne, claimed. They do this while maintaining academic integrity in their creative exhibitions and innovative public programs and accompanying publications.
Currently on display is the exhibition “Galileo: Images of the Universe from Antiquity to the Telescope” to mark the 2009 International Astronomy year as well as the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s invention of the telescope. It encompasses a broad range of media from manuscripts of astronomical and astrological treatises relaying the history of astronomy to scientific instruments, including fine Islamic astrolabes and Galileo’s famed first telescope.
It is worth mentioning that Meridiana Airlines provides the most cost-effective daily flights from the central hub of the world, London, to Florence within two hours. Is the province of Siena the loveliest in Italy, as some proclaim? I found myself pondering on the return flight.
You shall have to visit and experience this region Under the Tuscan Sun, where culture has become an attraction and part of contemporary heritage, in order to decide for yourself. I, for one, have signed the Tierra di Siena charter for sustainable tourism to become an honorary citizen and ambassador of Tuscan culture.
Learn to speak Italian: www.scuolaleonardo.com
Tuscan wineries tour: www.mytours.it
Fine Dining: www.ilmasgalano.com , www.lafinestraristorante.com , www.trecristi.com
Jasleen Kandhari is a travel journalist and art historian. She has published numerous travel and culinary articles as well as exhibition reviews across Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America.
