7-14-09

"I have no talent, I'm just passionately curious" - Einstein

Today we visited Siena. A tasteful town that lies and hour and a half west of Cortona. We had no trouble finding the town, but parking was another story. My dad and Charlie dropped all of us off by the side of the road saying, "Just a minute! We have to find parking." So we waited, and waited. We entertained ourselves by playing the category game (where you pick a category and go through the alphabet and try to come up with names within the category starting with the corresponding letter of the alphabet). The Google Maps machine ghosted by us on its never-ending quest of world documentation. I waved, but the others were too stroked out they simply reposed on the curb like zombies at a vegetarian potluck. Finally, after 45 minutes of waiting in the hot Tuscan sun, Charlies white tuft of hair was seen glistening as he labored up the steep Italian cobblestones. But he was alone. He told us Lee had split off to find parking in some other section of the city. I said, "Knowing him, he's already found a restaurant and is halfway through his second beer." So we began walking to the main square.

Once we got there, I spotted my dad sitting at a table sipping a beer and looking as cool as a cucumber. He greeted us as we sat down and ordered drinks. I looked out into the square that was lined with red-bricked buildings separated by cobblestone walkways which fed the open space with a steady stream of sightseers and sleepy souls. We ate our assigned appetizers ardently assuming that afterwards we'd ascertain some awesome-tasting entrees. Which we did. But as the conversation waned my appetite for gelato grew. So Cam and I quickly made our way from the restaurant to the parlor where we ate scoops of scrumptious frozen treats and talked to tribes of titillatingly tantalizing head-turners. But soon it was time to go, so we met up with the rents and left Siena as we found it: A somber, sunbaked city swirling with smiling strumpets and series of century-old stringent stores full of lip-smacking sweets.