Thursday 15th September, 2011
Started the day early again by heading off to Siena at 8.00am for the 2 hour drive. Something didn’t agree with me yesterday though and I spent a lot of the night on the loo. Luckily whatever it was had gone by the time we got to Siena because as I think I’ve mentioned before there never seem to be many public toilets around. Makes it a bit difficult at times! A little bit weary as was Kim cause every time I got up she woke up as well. We arrived in Siena, found a park and walked into the town centre. We wandered around town for a bit but we have to say we weren’t as impressed with Siena as we have been with other towns.
We wandered into Il Campo which is a huge piazza with an assortment of restaurants on the outskirts and that contained a building with a rather high tower. We’re actually not sure of what the building was but I said to Kim that I thought we should climb it to get the benefit of the view of the surrounding area. Off we went to stand in queue and by listening to others found out that you paid when you got up to the first bit. We also found out that they wait until everyone is down from the previous one before letting the next lot up. There is nobody at the bottom of the steps but a sign telling you when to enter or when to stop. The line started moving so off we went but I didn’t count on them being quite so small and narrow and claustrophobia set in!! I quickly called Kim back who was ahead of me and said I couldn’t do it much to the dismay of the people behind me that I was trying to push out of my way. Maybe because there was a sign warning people with claustrophobia, breathing problems, etc. etc. that they shouldn’t do it. Should’ve read that first!
We walked off and I was feeling really disappointed in myself that I couldn’t do it but after walking around a little more and with much discussion we decided to head back and if the queue wasn’t too bad we’d give it another go. There weren’t many in the queue so in we got. Finally it came time for them to let some more in and it was agreed that Kim would follow me and slow people up a bit so I had some breathing space and didn’t feel too crowded. This worked and the steps got bigger toward the top of the first bit so it was easier. Then we paid the 8 euro each and threw our bags into a locker as you weren’t allowed to take them with you and headed on. We got to a landing that had a couple of stairs leading up and not a very good view. To my dismay there was another doorway to the left that had more steps, I think even smaller than the first and the tower was huge. Kim went in to check it out and said she’d probably struggle on those one’s as well but that was probably just to make me feel better. Anyway we thought well we’ve blown that money and headed back to the locker where we told them we couldn’t do it. The man told us it was only about the first 25 steps that were narrow and then they got bigger. We discussed it some more and decided to give it a go. There was another couple heading up at the same time and the woman was a little bit funny with it also but was very encouraging. I kept my head down and just marched up with Kim following and we eventually managed to make it all the way to the top to see the most stunning views of Siena and Tuscany countryside.
Next stop was San Gimignano which is another walled city. On the way there we passed through more Tuscan countryside which is everything everyone says it is. We wandered through the streets again and took many photo’s and after buying a couple of things headed back home. We felt that San Gimignano had a real vibe and more atmostphere than Siena, but each to their own.
We managed to fill another full day because by the time we arrived back home it was 6.30pm. Paola was out the front and greeted us as we pulled in. We were starving hungry so we walked down to get a pizza and when we got back Mirco was lying on his roof and called out that he had something for us to try. He came out with some homemade bread, which is fried. Sounds disgusting but it was really light and tasted great. We wandered up after dinner to pay them up and spent a while up there chatting and having a good old laugh.
Getting ready now for another big day tomorrow…..cooking class in Firenze. Ciao for now.
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| Siena - Tower accomplished! |
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| View from top of tower |
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| Another view from top overlooking piazza |
Now isn't that interesting. I found Siena to be so much better than Florence for example and, like you, I loved San Gimignano (as well as Siena). Guess it all depends on how you find it on the day. Perhaps the lack of sleep took the edge off.
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