This morning was an early start, we had to be back at the railway station at 8:15 for an 8:30 departure. We aimed for the first bus at 7am, and had no problems (we were a little cautious about relying on the buses after yesterday!). We had left the hotel too early to have breakfast, so did the unforgivable, and went to McDonalds - at least you know it is fresh. It is forecast to be 34 degrees today, but humidity is not too bad.
We boarded the Walkabout Tours bus, and met our guide Steffano. Our first stop was in Siena. We were met there by a local guide who walked us through the main features of the Medieval town. This is the home of the famous Palio horse race (I remember it being featured in the movie 'Under the Tuscan Sun'). We walked through to the Palazzo del Campo where it is held. This is ranked the third most beautiful square in the world (though the guide did not know who had done the ranking!). It is the only square we have seen that is not flat. It was built as a political venue, so slopes down to a centre at the town hall.
Siena is a beautiful town with narrow streets lined by stone buildings, built on and around 3 hills. Sometimes there were arches across the narrow streets that help support the buildings either side, sometimes walkways underneath buildings.
And for the arty ones among us, I have been told this is the home of burnt and raw siena.
We walked through to the Duomo, that, from the outside, looks like a smaller version of the one in Florence, the green and white stripes of local marble were very popular, and Florence and Siena were rivals, possibly trying to out do each other. The church boasts one room that is full of beautifully coloured frescoes that have never needed restoration. Apparently the room was intended as a library/writing room. This would have required centuries of candles and associated smoke, but the books didn't show up, so the room was never used and the frescoes were never damaged. There were also hand written books (safely behind glass) dating back centuries, way before printing was an option, let alone photocopies!! No photos in this room.
The main body of the church features the most amazing inlaid marble floor. The floor was covered for years so that it wouldn't be damaged, but someone finally decided that was a waste, so, each year they uncover it during September for viewing, but the panels of marble are roped off so no-one walks on them.
Siena was on the path that the pilgrims took in their ancient travels. As well as the church, who welcomed and fed travellers, they also had free medical help, which was very unusual, so the pilgrims often stayed for a while - medieval Siena was a popular place!
From Siena, we moved on to a winery at San Gimingnano. After a short tour of the vineyards and cellars, we had lunch overlooking the Tuscan countryside - life's hard some days!! The lunch was good, and accompanied by wines made at the vineyard. It was delightful.
It was a short trip on to the town of San Gimingnano, another beautiful medieval town - there are just so many of them! This was a walled town, and the wall is still there. We didn't go into the church this time, but walked the ancient streets, and went to the edges of the town wall where the views over the countryside were superb. By this stage, it certainly felt all of that 34 degrees. From a distance, the most outstanding feature of the town is its towers - it looks like a modern city with skyscrapers (see photo above).
The trip to Pisa was over an hour, and most took advantage of the air conditioning to catch a nap. We were met by a small electric train that took us into the town of Pisa. We saw the Leaning Tower, and the Duomo next to it. This was our least favorite town for the day - apart from the tower, there was little else that interested us. Once back on the train, we did a tour around a few of the streets before going back to the bus, and back to Florence, arriving just after 8:40. Our guide had been great, we would recommend Walkabout Tours to others.
Then came the fun of finding a late dinner and making our way back to the hotel. We picked up a light tea at the railway station, after all, we had eaten well at lunch time. Then after some fun, worked out the bus back to the hotel. This is the hardest public transport we have experienced - it is hard to follow, there don't seem to be any timetables you can have, only boards up at bus stops, in fact, the timetables seem to be 'more of a guideline'!! But, we made it. Had a cold drink, and a shower- feeling much restored after a very full, enjoyable, and HOT day.
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