Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/MarkSNewell/SienaTheRoadOfTheBlackCock#
We arrived in Siena on Tuesday (9/29) 
afternoon. After a hilarious adventure on bus 3 getting from the train station to the city center, we climbed up to Piazza del Campo, the heart of Siena. The plaza was filled with people enjoying the sunny afternoon. The plaza is unique so far in that it has a gentle slope, making for a dynamic view.
We found relatively cheap accommodations in the Albergo Tre Donella, just off the del Campo, at e49 for a double. The accommodations were the recommendation of tourist office that is right on the Plaza, who has been most helpful and friendly. Dara and I explored the city and had a romantic pizza dinner with a view of the Duomo, the primary church of the city. It's a funny thing how most of the waiters in central Italy seem to have a distracted and disengaged air about them. Maybe they are just tired of dealing with tourists like us who don't speak any Italian.
Siena is especially wonderful at night. The winding, ancient streets are quiet and the weather is that perfect 70-75 deg. F. It seems there must be a tremendous amount of day visitors that leave the center after the evening. The exception for us was Saturday night, perhaps because of a big celebration that took place in the main square. Oh, the window shopping is pretty entertaining as well; well lit shoes, bags and purple clothing.
We've had a special guest, Cyn Taylor, with us for the past four days. We've spent three of those days bicycling in the Tuscan countryside. Our plan was to ride from winery to winery over the rolling country side. What we've found has been fairly steep to very steep hills, and very few open wineries. Still the Chianti region has been spectacular and we have had a wonderful time and we managed to taste at least one winery a day. The first day we bussed to Castellina in Chianti, 30-40 minutes from Siena. Castellina has a wonderful tourist office that rents bikes for e10 for a half day. We rented bikes, had an amazing picnic from a gastronomica (a deli), including some pesto that was to die for. From there we rolled down a steep hill to our first winery, Castelari. Being in Chianti country means that we have Chianti Classico (Chianti that's from the Chianti region) and Chianti Classico Reserve, a slightly different blend that is aged for two years. The other big wine in the area seems to be the Super Tuscan. I love how the Italians say Super – 'Sooupair', it sounds so…exciting. Super Tuscans were big wines, though not all the wineries we tried were overly successful with their efforts. After wandering through a few closed wineries and up a long 'white road', a quite rough, un-paved road through grapes and olives, we completed a loop and our first day of cycling in Tuscany.
The second day we rented bikes in Siena and bussed out to Radda in Chianti. We picnicked in the park just outside the old city wall, then did an ambitious loop starting with a fun ride down from Radda in to a valley, up one mountain, across to another, then back down the valley and back up to Radda. It was tough work but oh so worth it, despite the strange road rally racers in Mitsubishi SUVs. Near the top of the first mountain we stopped in at Volpaia, a fortified village built in the 1100s. This village apparently has continuously produced wine, honey, grappa, olive oil and vinegar since its founding. We tasted the wine and olive oil. I give their Super Tuscan high marks. We explored the tiny village and got to see some of the grape crush in action, or at least grape skins be ejected from the extractor in to a cart headed for the grappa making part of the village. After another white road experience to gain further elevation, we traversed over to another castle/estate. At that point we were short on time (to catch the last bus back to Siena from Radda) and worried about the climb back in to Radda, so pictures had to suffice. We made it in time for the bus, and even had a few extra minutes to grab gelato and more yummy discoveries from the Italian deli (Cyn got a little carried away).
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