Day Five: Siena

It was no coincidence that we chose to come to a smaller, sleepier city like Siena between our visits to Bologna, Florence and Rome. It was our fully-intended refuel point before the madness that Rome would entail. So this morning was strictly R&R time: late breakfast, sunbathing on the terrace, drinking beer and playing cards.

After establishing that we were both terrible at shuffling cards and remembering the rules of Rummy (we got there in the end!) we freshened up, feeling somewhat energised by the 32• heat.

Te Ke Voi? or ‘Whaddya Want?’ in English was where we headed for lunch. Can you believe we haven’t eaten pizza on our trip until now!? We soon righted this wrong and shared a pizza with ricotta-stuffed crust and pistachio pesto – delicious!

We then followed the signs (Siena seems really well signposted for the main attractions) for Siena’s Duomo Di Santa Maria Assunta. There are a few ticket options, we took a punt on a 3-day ticket called the Acropolis Pas for €18 each. It allows entry into the Cathedral and Piccolomini Library, the Museo dell’Opera and its Panorama (i.e. view over the Duomo), the Baptistry and the Crypt.

What made Siena’s cathedral more incredible was that we had no preconception of what it was like until we rounded a corner. There it was. It’s black and white stripes so clear and unusual. Legend has it that the two founders of Siena arrived on horses, one black, one white, hence the distinctive striped marble.

Inside is pretty breathtaking and as grand inside as it is outside. Much of the 14th century artwork and sculpture on display is reminiscent of our visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Another steep climb to another spectacular view awaited; it has become a recurring theme for us on this trip but it is such a great way to take in a whole city and beyond.

From the Panorama dal Facciatone, you can see the Piazza del Campo, the Duomo and the Tuscan hills. Again, it is absolutely worth it! Afterwards we stumbled (another phrase I seem to be overusing!) upon a modern pizzeria called Piripi with an astonishing 64 pizzas to choose from, as well as, a selection of salads and fried foods. So having had our first pizza of Italy only hours earlier, we proceeded to have our second and slip into a pizza coma thereafter!

Not fully satiated, we ambled back in the direction of home, trying to seek out a wine bar or ‘enoteca’ that we had spotted earlier. The bar, Trefilari, means business and it’s selection of wines is extensive. You know you’re in good hands when you order 2 glasses of Barolo and the barman has to go down to the cellar to fetch it! Setting us back €30, the wine was accompanied with some delicious aperitivo dishes and although it was more expensive than our drinks so far, the quality was great!

Tomorrow we have a vineyard tour and wine tasting, so expect more of the same!