Built in the Middle Ages as a garrison for Spanish troops occupying Siena on behalf of the Florentines (I hope I am remembering my history - those were complicated times), during the time that I spent three summers in Siena in my early twenties La Fortezza had a much friendlier aspect, housing inside, during those summer months, a "Luna Park" and around the outside on Wednesday mornings, a huge open air market. Although I was there to play the music of Rossini and Stravinsky and Richard Strauss and many others, I also have fond memories of strolling through the park on silky evenings listening to Milva's San Remo hit "Stanotte alla Luna Park" on the speakers hung in trees.

This picture was made on a more recent visit - over a decade ago now, too long a time to spend away from such a warm and friendly and beautiful town - on a Leica IIIc which I parted with as it became too difficult for me to read the small numbers on the dials - but what a fine precision tool! And, I know they are just pieces of glass, but the Leitz lenses seem to me to somehow have a poetic quality to them along with the excellent sharpness.

Fortezza - Siena