Tagliatelle

Our Seminar met just down the street from Trattoria La Torre whose wonderful food Ron and Bill had praised. It took me nearly 6 weeks to get there-a mistake that I hope future visitors to Siena don't repeat. You'll want to eat here your first night in the city.  You should make reservations by stopping by earlier in the day (via Salicotto, 7-9) or phoning (0577 287548). It is a small trattoria with a menu out front-but "Signor Torre" will also tell you what there is to eat. It was no struggle for me to decide on primo as this is what greeted us on entry (thanks to Sarah Chan for her wonderful photos!):

Fresh Tagliatelle and Pici Noodles (tomato, spinach, plain)

The sauce choices were ragu (a typical tomato meat sauce), cinghiale (wild boar). Naturally, we all ordered the cinghiale. Though other contorni do exist, the owner has particular ideas about what to pair with each dish. We were brought potatoes with a light red pepper sauce-tasty but I think a salad would have been a better accompaniment to the rich sauce.

We were going whole hog so we each ordered secondi.  You want a really stout appetite to eat in the Italian style of four courses-and we brought ours. Ossobucco  was the clear choice here. Each of us received an enormous portion. The meat fell off of the bone and melted in your mouth-and the marrow was sweet and velvety.

I have recently pulled out Marcella Hazan's 1962 The Classic Italian Cook Book  which was weeded out of my Aunt Anita's impressive cooking library. I think I'll try to make some tagliatelle of my own tonight-or maybe some ravioli stuffed with goat cheese and parsley. It sure won't be able to stand up to Trattoria Torre fare, but it may bring back the spirit of the wonderful evening.

Paradise lost

Masaccio-1420-Adam and Eve in the Garden

This will be my last post from Siena, barring a late-night burst of energy. Our final dinner is this evening and we will meet tomorrow for our last reading of the poem. I am three Cantos from the end-trying to linger and prolong the experience.

I plan to smooth out some of my posts as I continue reading at home. In addition I still have some dinners to blog about!  The above picture was taken this past Saturday at the  Brancacci Chapel in Sta. Maria de Carmine, Florence. Like many of my experiences here, this one was unexpected. We walked into the tiny chapel and there it was-a gloriously beautiful chapel that we had almost to ourselves. It is a reminder as well that I will be finding treasures like this for a long time to come-little text references that passed me by at the first reading-experiences not yet processed or fully digested to nurture future studies.

Firenze-Spanish Chapel

Thomas Aquinas Educates the Heathens

The experiences that most reach out and grab you might just be those for which you were least prepared. This is certainly the case for my trip last Saturday (July 29th) to Firenze. Ron Herzman (whom I can now confirm is not human-he never tires, never needs to pee and never forgets a detail from medieval history), had offered to go with whomever wanted to the Spanish Chapel of Sta. Maria Novella in Florence. The frescoes in this chapel are in what was the Dominican Charter House, the monastic equivalent of the secular Good Government room in Siena's Palazzo Publico.

The frescoes were done in 1365-1367 by Andrea di Bonaiuto and show the triumph of Christian doctrine and education over worldly goods. Ironically, in this very room in around 1335, the Dominicans condemned Dante's work for using poetry to convey theology. Pretty ironic given that every scene was like an illustration of Cantos 11-14 of Paradiso. Read Dante (via Bonaventure) on Dominic:

"Poi, con dottrina e con volere insieme, con l'officio appostolico si mosse, quasi torrente ch'alta vene preme, e ne li sterpi eretici percosse l'impueto suo, piu vivamente quive dove le resistenze era piu grosse."

Then, with doctrine and with a will, by apostolic license he went forthe like a torrent fed by a deep spring, and his attack struck the thickets of heresy most strongly where the resistance was greatest. Paradiso 12: 97-101. 

The educated triumph

While the frustrated devils are thwarted!

Montaperti-the Battle Won

Our destination-not reached

Montaperti is a small hamlet just 8 km from the city of Siena that figures prominently in 13th century history and in the Commedia. Several of us had wanted to make a pilgrimage there and perhaps pour out libations to the fallen and we got our chance this afternoon. After 6 hours of Dante class, we were ready to stretch our legs and so covered the several blocks to the bus stop quickly. Bus #5 to San Piero or Montaperti arrived promptly at 5:24 and about 12 of us hopped on (the bus leaves from Via Garibaldi just across from the Vecchia Dogana Pizzeria).


The ride was breathtaking-small neighborhoods gave way to freshly hayed fields and thick sunflower crops. Soon we were amidst steep  hills and deep-cut valleys and I found myself imagining the hardships of fighting and holding positions in such a place.

Two years of political maneuvering brought Guelf-controlled Florence to this site on the morning of September 4, 1260. They were an army of 30,000 including men from the towns of San Gimignano and  Orvieto. Ghibbeline Siena, though strengthened by King Manfred of Sicily and his German mercenaries, had only 20,000 troops. But Siena managed to hold the field with superior strategy. Here is wikipedia's take for all you battle geeks out there: Battle of Montaperti

In one of his most memorable mentions of Montaperti, Dante writes traitor Bocca degli Abati into the 9th Circle of Hell for his treacherous betrayal at this battle. Bocca, a Florentine with Ghibbeline sympathies, crosses his own comrades by hacking off the arm of their Standard bearer. Without a flag, the Florentine troops effectively lost sight of their battle leader and were thrown into confusion.

Storm clouds-Montaperti is 2.1 Km walk from this stop

As we approached our stop, dark clouds bristled with lightening and a  storm spread out on the horizon. We were forced to turn back-but not defeated. Our backpack picnic provisions-and their bearers- found their way to Ron's apartment-with its spectacular views of the Torre Mangia and Duomo towers.


We were fortified by Vernaccia, Chianti, Sangiovese and Vino Nobile wines. Grana (a less elegant cousin to Parmesan that I prefer in the same way that I prefer Grade B maple syrup to Fancy) and asiago cheeses, along with sweet cherry tomatoes and rich breads fed us. The culmination of the afternoon was a show of Italian standards to rival any flown in battle-these in the from of Ron's Marinella ties. To paraphrase the great tie-maker himself (Eugenio Marinella): It is the total of the particulars that win the day.

The Standards

Why do we travel

St. Jerome in the Capella della Madonna del Voto by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Travel is on my mind lately-not least because of the Commedia and its tale of an epic journey. Today we read the diptych Cantos 26 and 27 about the physical voyage of Ulysses (Dante came up with his own version of Homer's Odyssey) and the "spiritual" journey made by Guido de Montefeltro. Both are placed in the 8th bolgia of the 9th circle of Hell-a place reserved for those who counsel fraud.

These two Cantos just came alive in discussion today. It is interesting as much of what Dante condemns in these two travelers was underscored by experiencing the inverse. Both characters travel for personal gain and out of an individual desire for knowledge. Dante's Ulysses says " neither the sweetness of a son, nor compassion for my old father, nor the love owed to Penelope, which should have made her glad, could conquer within me the ardor that I had to gain experience of the world" (remember that this is WAY different from Homer's guy who is fiercely motivated to get back to his family). 

Guido is likewise driven by personal gain- a spot inside the gates of Heaven."I was a man of arms, and then I was a Franciscan, believing so girt, to make amends"  he says with the air of one whose deal fell through. (Both Guido and Dante's Ulysses souls are in hell for counseling others to do fraud as part of their self-centered journeys). Neither repents of the duties shirked or people injured along the way. 

It kind of reminds me of those climbers in Jon Krakauer's account of the 1997 Everest disaster. Dante's journey is just the opposite. He can't sidestep the hardships to get to the good stuff, he relies on and is grateful for the help of others, and he shares what he's learning on the way. It strikes me that reading this poem is a similar journey. It involves personal preparation and struggle, but is also dependent on others. 

After our 3 hour reading discussion, we went to the Duomo-the main cathedral-in Siena. The entire experience was just spectacular. I especially loved two 15th century statues done by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The one above, St. Jerome, is in the Capella della Madonna del Voto. Two Dante themes here-St. Jerome (347-420 c.e), who traveled quite a bit himself, is best known for translating the Bible into Latin. And the Capella is dedicated to the Madonna del Voto whose miraculous protection the Sienese credit for their victory against huge odds in the Battle of Monteperti- but that story will have to be taken up another day. A glass of wine and Purgatorio call me!