One of the great things about visiting Siena, Italy, that quiet, sun-kissed Tuscan town, is that you have to work for it. You may arrive by car or by train, but you’ll still have a walk ahead of you, as the main train station is located outside the walled city, as are the parking spaces for tourists.

By the time you reach the old city, you’re rewarded with the sense that you’ve entered an out-of-the-way locale. It’s narrow medieval streets, churches, and squares await.  

We don’t mean to suggest that Siena is some undiscovered jewel. After all, more than one million tourists visit each year.

But there are plans afoot to expand a nearby airport, once used for military purposes and recently converted for civilian use. We enjoyed yesterday’s piece in the New York Times about the locals who are fighting the proposed expansion of the airport, which could open it (and thus the entire area) to low-cost carriers, as well as major airlines.

Siena’s city planners expect that the change could bring an additional 500,000 tourists a year to the town. With the new tourists, the locals fear the arrival of related services, such as outlet shopping malls, hotel chains, and restaurants. That would be the part of Tuscany you would crop out of the photo.

Alas, we will wait to see how this plays out. We’re cheering on the residents of Siena — even if it means still taking the train from Florence. And then walking…

Jet2holidays is currently marketing a £274 package (per person, based on four people sharing an apartment) departing from Leeds Bradford on May 31. The package includes a round-trip flight on Jet2 (from Leeds Bradford to Olbia), seven nights at the Residence Le Conchiglie in Budoni, transfers to and from the hotel, and taxes. The package gets more expensive later in the spring and summer—£274 for May 31 departure is the cheapest it gets.

Meanwhile, and in a completely unrelated development, Ryanair released its November passenger stats today. Passenger numbers in November were up 23 percent over last November’s numbers, at 3.89 million over last November’s 3.16 million. Load factor lagged slightly, falling to 78 percent from 79 percent. Load factor designates the percentage of seats filled relative to the number of seats offered for sale.

Turin, Italy is the latest city to hop on the free/cheap bike-sharing phenomenon sweeping Europe, according to Budget Travel’s “This Just In” blog. Turin is reportedly ready to place 1,300 free bikes on city streets, docking them in 390 stations, in early 2008. Now that’s a great way for Turin’ the town!

As our blog readers know, we’re big fans of the programs and have been monitoring their popularity, especially in Paris, where the Vélib program has been a hit with residents and tourists alike.

A few food-related articles and posts that have caught our eye over the last few days…

1. Kevin Gould’s “Eat like a local…” Budapest feature in last Saturday’s Guardian. Mmmm, coffee and cake, and lots of it.

2. In the Telegraph, Gill Charlton’s guide to Naples, with its mention of ultracheap, ultradelicious pizzeria Vesi.

3. David Lebovitz’s France archive.

4. Nordljus’s riveting images of Istanbul, many of which are of things to eat.

Calling all Puccini lovers. It’s time to make a pilgrimage to Lucca to experience the 53rd annual Puccini Opera Festival, to experience opera as the master himself wanted to hear it. Started in 1930, following a 1924 letter from Puccini exclaiming his wish to hear his opera in the “open-”air,” the Puccini Opera Festival attracts 40,000 opera lovers a year to hear the music they lave in Lucca’s open-air theater just steps from where Puccini lived, worked and is buried.

This year’s festival is going on now, through August 16, with shows of Puccini’s greats, from Tosca to La Boheme. Puccini and beautiful Lucca. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Here. There. And Elsewhere.

1. Europe A La Carte Blog warns of delays at UK airports. Partially to blame: Spain’s new security rules for air passengers, which seem to us to flirt with violating the spirit of Schengen.

2. Italian somewhat low-cost carrier Volare is hawking a €10 discount on all July flights, if booked by July 2. Worth checking out.

3. UK travel gourmand site Black Tomato tell us about Yotel.com, a new airport-based pod-like accommodation featuring tiny cabin-like rooms with en suite showers. A Yotel is about to open at Gatwick’s South Terminal, where rates will begin at £25 for a four-hour stay in a “standard” cabin. The earliest date taken by the Yotel booking engine is July 1.

New, nasty, and noteworthy.

1. Polish wonder LCC WizzAir announced this week that they’ll open their 7th base in Poznan in January 2008 by launching new routes connecting the western Polish city to Doncaster, Glasgow Prestwick, Malmö, and Oslo. Hot on the heels of that press release, the Wizzers announced today that they’ll inaugurate a Dortmund-Sofia route on October 29.

2. It looks as though cellphone conversations will soon flavor the air in planes zipping across the European Union. We can’t friggin wait.

3. June 30 sees La Notte Rosa celebration sweeping through various towns along Italy’s Adriatic coast, from Lido di Volano north of Comacchio in the north to Cattolica in the south. “Pink Night” also extends inland to the Republic of San Marino. La Notte Rosa literally turns everything pink. Pink balloons, pink candy, pink cakes, pink flowers, pink flags will all crop up. These towns will be awash in pink. There will also be a massive range of cultural events, concerts, and other public events.

Photo by Zé Eduardo

Ethereal truffle ravioli that melt in your mouth. Heavenly mascarpone sprinkled with bitter dark chocolate shavings. Dreams are made of such things.

At Drogheria della Rosa in Bologna, jovial owner Emanuele Addone keeps you smiling all night. After all he did take home the prestigious San Pelligrino Cooking Cup. If his contagious enthusiasm doesn’t hit you, the continuously flowing wine certainly will.

Drogheria della Rosa’s cellar has several hundred choices of vino for every budget. Second piatti range from €9 to €15 per dish. Each dish is simple, made from the freshest ingredients, and prepared to perfection. Be sure to reserve a table ahead of time. During the summer months, we recommend outside tables.

Drogheria della Rosa is located at Via Cartoleria, 10. Telephone: +39 51 22 2529. Hours: 12:30 p.m. until 3 p.m., and 8 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Photo by Pe_Tah

Could it be? After years of Italian influence on the American coffee scene, the tables have finally turned. The latest coffee craze in the country that practically invented the stuff: Eraclea espresso drinks, available in three sizes: €1.10 for a small, €1.90 for a large, and €1.50 for a takeaway.

It appears that Italians have woken up to the joys of caffeine to go. And of course, they’ve done it right.

Dark chocolate sprinkle, white chocolate cream, hazelnut cream, and marocchino (mini-cappuccino) are getting rave reviews around town. While these babies cost a bit more than your standard €.70 caffé al banco—that is, espresso quaffed while standing up at the bar—they provide a refreshing treat for less than €2.

Photo by John Barnabas

The Financial Times’ Weekend section contained two travel articles that particularly snagged our attention.

Our favorite piece: Dan Hofstadter’s ode to Ferrara. We’ve been fans of Emilia-Romagna ever since we ate our way through the region’s exquisite restaurants one autumn not long ago. Hofstadter’s description of misty cobbled streets engulfed by cyclists served as an enticing reminder of the region.

Over a page, Claire Wrathall’s love letter to the Suffolk town of Aldeburgh (see above) also intrigued us, perhaps even enough to prompt us to visit the quiet seaside dorf as a sidetrip.

And, as always, Simon Kuper’s Sporting Life column delivered the goods. This past weekend, Kuper wrote about larger-than-life Surinamese-Dutch soccer player Clarence Seedorf.