{Edible Cities} Siena, Italy, with Melanie Biehle from Inward Facing Girl

Meet Melanie Biehle, a lifestyle blogger and creative consultant living in Seattle. On her blog, Inward Facing Girl, Melanie shares her life and obsessions, which include her family, design, photography, travel and more. In 2011, she decided to take her creative career a step further and built on her many years of experience writing for major motion picture studios and technology leaders by opening a consulting business that offers marketing, social media, blogging, writing and graphic design services to companies, publications and business owners. Her modern and straightforward style set her apart, and she’s a regular contributor to a host of major blogs and publications such as Get Born Magazine, Design Mom, and SF Girl by Bay. Here’s Siena, in her own words. 

My Edible City

Siena, Italy. Drew and I got married on April 23, 2009 and decided to forgo a wedding for a two week honeymoon in Italy. While we were there, we visited the Amalfi Coast, Florence, Siena, and Rome. Siena was our favorite. There was something special about that small city, something beyond its beauty. There seemed to be a sense of pride without arrogance.

While I was in Siena I found myself interested in things that I usually wouldn’t care about, like history. I wanted to learn more about Il Palio, the twice yearly horse race where the contrade compete and the winning horse is a guest at the final Victory Dinner. I wanted to know why there were so many she-wolf statues. I loved sitting in the Piazza del Campo on a Sunday morning, watching the children play after the excitement of a Contrada patron saint day parade. And I loved the food.

My Favorite Place

Pesto gnocchi.  Italy is a dream destination for vegetarian travelers. I had so much pizza, pasta, and red wine that I was sure I’d be sick of it by the time I got home. Wrong. One of my most memorable meals was our first one in Siena. We had taken a bus from Florence, dropped off our bags, and stopped for lunch at the first place we saw. We sat on the patio of Il Masgalano right before it started to rain, and then I devoured a delicious bowl of gnocchi with basil pesto and declared myself in love with the red wine from the Maremma Toscana region. We were tired and hungry from our trip, and it was so relaxing to sit and watch people walk in the rain from our cozy spot underneath the covered patio. I always love pesto gnocchi, but it was especially awesome that day.

Useful Links

• See the gorgeous pictures Melanie has taken during her stay in Siena.
• Learn more about one of Siena’s most famous celebrations: Il Palio di Siena.
• Siena’s a great place to learn more about Italian cooking with many cooking schools offering classes in English. Here are recommendations by the USA Today, and some more by Food & Wine Magazine.
• Learn how to make Siena-worthy potato gnocchi with the help of this step-by-step recipe.

Also: Follow Melanie on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Next Week on Edible Cities

Next week, Ania Krasniewska Shahidi, lifestyle and travel blogger on The New Diplomat’s Wife, is taking us to Vienna. Don’t miss it!

–

Photo Credits: Siena’s picture and Melanie’s portrait by Melanie Biehle; pesto gnocchi picture by SkinnyMinhy.