Whenever I got to Volterra, as happy as I am to be in it, I’m also dead keen to get out of it too. Not for any qualitative reason, but just to explore new places. I tend to forget, therefore, why first-time guests are always keen to stay in the town rather than move about. Volterra alone will command your attention for 4-6 days, especially if you’re a thorough bugger. Admittedly less than that if you just want to see the highlights. She is also very beautiful, and all you would rather do is chill, then is no better town for that.
Anyway, my point here is that our guests wanted to hang about the town for another day, rather than go on an excursion, and so we obliged them. Niamh and I must have done very little of note in the middle of the day. I quite possibly sat in and played CyberPunk 2077 while the ladies went out shopping. Having said that, I did go start the 28th with a nice walk.
Look at that lighting and sicken yourself with jealousyThe stacks in Larderello
The sky was unbelievably clear and the light to shadow ratio on the rolling colline (hills) was as good as it gets. Such a clear view of the geothermal stacks in Larderello in that last pic. You could see as far as Corsica, and I was unsure if I could even make out snow on its mountains. I’d seen photos of that before, but wasn’t sure if it was snow on mountains or distant clouds.
I walked around as far as the steps at Docciola and nearly killed myself by walking up all nearly 200 of them. I needed the XBox to sort myself out after that (any excuse!).
For lunch we did something new, at least – and had a sandwich somewhere different. This time, it was Al Vicolino‘s turn, and it was quite yummy.
It was our guests’ last night, so we took them one of our favourite restaurants: La Vecchia Lira, who change up a lot of their menu, based on season. Apart from one moment on insensitivity from me, the night went pretty well! I too often think that folks have the same sense of humour I have, and that used to get me into trouble a lot more than it does these days – but I do have the occasional slip. Apologies again, Maire, if you’re reading this!
Thankfully the food was on point more than I was!
A typical Tuscan ragu – no tomatoNo tomato in this ragu either!
We went home, suitably stuffed. We most likely got soundly thrashed by the young lady at pool on the XBox and went to bed disgusted.
Next morning, and it was time to see our lovely guests off on an afternoon flight from Florence airport. That’s right: Florence. We’d never driven to, nor seen, Florence airport, so it would be an experience! However, first: to (quickly) show the ladies around Florence. We parked at our usual spot, and took the tram in. 10-12 minutes sees you into the central train station (Santa Maria Novella) and a 7-10 minute walk to the cathedral.
The frontage of the Cathedral in particular has so much fine detailThe Gates of Paradise – doors of the baptistry. Extraordinary detail on them.
As much as we take the same route in Siena, it’s even more so. Usually, we fly in by tram, then it’s Duomo > Piazza della Republica > Piazza della Signoria > Ponte Vecchio > eat in the Oltrarno > a quick look at the Palazzo Piti > a quick explore of the lanes of the Oltrarno > gelato > back over the Santa Trinita Bridge > through the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella > tram > home. This was only slightly different. After we’d taken the ladies across to the quieter side of the Arno we had to have an early lunch, due to the ladies’ flight time. We broke our own rules by stopping at a restaurant with pictures galore of its food – it was one of the few places open – and had some pizza.
I seem to remember a lot of salt in the food. Ah well… you get what you pay for sometimes. We travelled the rest of the route and took the ladies to the airport.
You can see a video of this day, plus the day in Siena we had the previous day.
We had to negotiate one of the few tricker highway junctions in order to get to Florence airport. I couldn’t get over how tiny it was! We drove in, got our little parking ticket, said goodbye and had to validate on the way out. There seemed to be just one guy guarding the carpark. It’s so tiny. Anyhoo, we did so and took the tricky highway whorls out of the town, and (eventually) home.
I treated myself to a gelato from L’Isola del Gusto, and had a moment over a pet rock that was left behind by the younger of our two guests.
Just a ickle one“Rocky Too”
With the guests gone, and our appetite for more Italian food on the wane, I had the great idea of going to one of the Chinese/Japanese places in Cecina. We drove to the carpark near the train station, and walked to Sushi Queen. I checked Google, and by golly, it was open! Except it wasn’t. We walked up to it, and it looked open. People were busy moving furniture around and rushing between rooms. I walked up and asked them if they were open, and they replied no. ”But Google said you were,” is what I wanted to yell at him, while shaking him by the lapels. But I just walked out disgusted, Niamh following behind less disgusted. I was on a crusade and wrote a scathing review afterwards (I have since removed it).
Here’s the thing restaurant owners: if you don’t have a website and have your times on Google, please update the bloody things when you’re not actually open. It could save people a round trip of disappointment if they travel to your place of business to find it shut. I was annoyed, as it’s a round trip of over 80km.
It turns out that there is another Chinese/Japanese place about 100m away, so that sucked the anger out of me somewhat. So thank you, Sushi Giapponese Tokyo for being open! We ordered a fair bit of food. It wasn’t bad – especially the rice, dim sum and noodles, but as usual we still haven’t fully found our Chinese Shangri-La, so to speak, with the stir-fried dishes. But it was a different flavour profile, and enjoyable… and the staff were really nice.
YumNiceVery nice indeed
We drove home, played each other in pool for some lesser championship and went to bed.
I hope you enjoyed this blog. Let me know what you think, or if you have any comments.
To Siena, then, to continue our guests’ intial foray into Italy. I prefer Siena to Florence, but acknowledge that I have not explored it fully enough. We frequently end up doing the same cycle when we visit: same car park, up tons of escalators to the Basilica di San Francesco, a game of spot-the-peek-a-boobies, circular or back-and-forth around the shopping streets until we hit the Piazza del Campo, a trip around the Cathedral square, a spot of lunch, gelato and maybe on the way back stop in Cannoleria Ke Cassata to grab some arancine for a light evening snack.
We pretty much did that, but skipped Ke Cassata this time around – they may have been closed, or moved to their main shop indicated by the link above (do try them if you’re in the mood for a snack, though).
We had to get there first, and so we stopped off to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the amazing countryside surrounding Staccioli’s ‘O’, just outside the town.
We didn’t walk down to the sculpture itself, because we made that mistake already in wettish weather in April 2019. Now, I know it doesn’t look wet in the above picture, but the above soil is super-loose, potentially damp (yes, it rains seasonally in Tuscany!) and you stand a chance of destroying your footwear. If you really want to ‘gram the ‘O’, do call later in the year, when the soil is far dryer. If you’re visiting before May, then you can still park near it as we did and admire the incredible views.
Anyhoo, we got to Siena, and once up and past the Basilica, we started shopping for a handbag. I can’t remember the specific brand, but I remember it being important to the ladies. We popped into one bag shop, had a quick look-about and asked the owner if he knew of a place which sold <BAG-BRAND>. He said he didn’t, so our long search came to an end. Instead, we spent 30 or so minutes in a make-up store. I can’t say I was in my element, but was happy that the ladies seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Once done, and with a growing sense of pride, we led the guests to the Piazza del Campo, all ready to show them what, in my opinion, is Italy’s greatest square. Others think of St. Peter’s in Rome or St. Mark’s in Venice, but they were designed to make you feel small and insignificant – Piazza del Campo is more secular, warm and welcoming. ”So, here we go! Ta-daaaaah…. uhh…?” Except that today, the lighting was flat for that little while we were there, and the place looked like a building site. Shit.
Ugh. You did me dirty, Siena. Can I ever forgive you?
Lunch was next on the cards, and we knew of a place at the bottom of the hill down from Siena’s Cathedral – past the catacombs. We brought the ladies to the main Cathedral square, so they could have a look at its incredible facade.
At last they were suitably impressed. We were just giving them a taster of the town, so we didn’t go inside – but in the square you can go to the ticket office to buy tickets for the catacombs and to enable you to explore the roof – definitely worth a bash if you’re in town and have some spare time. Anyway, we hunted for the restaurant, and for the life of us couldn’t find it. We instead found a place (Ristorante Osteria Bonelli). There were a couple of other groups in, so the service was a little… weird… at times – I think we had to change one of the plates. In fairness, it might have been one of the first days of the season for them. Some of the food was nice enough, though.
Veal. Yeah, I know… sorry.
We successfully negotiated our payment, as a large gaggle of students kindly stepped aside to let us go first. Each one was only paying for their own food, so I’m glad we dodged that.
We decided to head back to the car, but taking a slow route. We passed by one of the steep and stepped lanes to the Piazza del Campo, and I cast a wary glance at it, having already considered it a bit of a traitor this visit. And I gasped. And took one of the best photos I’ve ever taken. Lookit! It’s like a Canaletto painting!
Siena, I love you again!
All was well with the world once more, until the guests spotted Siena’s branch of Nino and Friends, which is a confectioner with branches scattered throughout the regions of Tuscany and Campania – with stores also in Venice and Taormina (Sicily). They’re are instantly recognisable, with their chocolate ‘waterfalls’ in the shop windows. Now, I don’t have a general problem with Nino and Friends. Their products are good, and you’ll have a fun time with the salespeople there, most of whom, I am convinced, popped out of the womb being able to smooth-talk the Inuit into buying ice. Anyway, our interaction went something like follows (I have taken some artistic license – also, apologies – I have no idea this will read on a mobile phone!):
I ALMOST DIED, a drama
Cast of Characters HAPLESS IDIOT: An overweight middle-aged man, with pattern baldness, Irish WIFE: HAPLESS IDIOT’s long-suffering wife, Irish FRIEND: A friend of WIFE for many years. Irish, but having lived in Scotland for many years TEENAGER: The daughter of FRIEND, current champion of the universe in 8-ball pool on the XBox, very definitely Scottish SALESMAN: The salesman in a confectioner’s shop, very definitely Italian
EXT. STREET IN SIENA, TUSCANY – DAY It’s bustling in the streets with the sounds of many accents and languages mixing in an excited babble. HAPLESS IDIOT is filming a sweeping shot on is iPhone, while WIFE, FRIEND and TEENAGER look excitedly towards a store.
TEENAGER Ooh, look – a sweetie shop!
WIFE and FRIEND (together, longingly) Chocolate… waterfall…
TEENAGER, WIFE and FRIEND walk into the shop, as if spellbound. HAPLESS IDIOT finishes his sweeping shot, spins around some more looking for the three ladies who have seemingly vanished into thin air. He then spots them in the store, and spends the next half-minute trying to turn off his phone, muttering curses under his breath. HAPLESS IDIOT then walks into the shop.
INT. NINO AND FRIENDS, A CONFECTIONARY STORE, SIENA, TUSCANY – DAY
SALESMAN (seeing HAPLESS IDIOT and indicating TEENAGER) …and we can try some. Ah! Is this the Pappa?
HAPLESS IDIOT (incredulously, indicating TEENAGER) Of her?! Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous.
SALESMAN gives HAPLESS IDIOT a quick appraising look up and down.
SALESMAN Ah, yes – perhaps not.
Quick cut to to HAPLESS IDIOT, frowning.
Cut back to SALESMAN producing a tray of several types of spherical candies.
SALESMAN (indicating a pile of yellow candies) So, maybe we start with this one.
Everyone takes a candy, places in their mouth and bites down.
FRIEND Gosh, there’s quite a bit of booze in that, isn’t there?
TEENAGER (puzzled look on her face) What is it?
WIFE Ah, Limoncello!
HAPLESS IDIOT Yummo!
SALESMAN Yes, Limoncello. Nice, huh? Try this one.
SALESMAN proffers another corner of the try. All 4 take a sample and bite down. The 3 adults look a little more disappointed with it.
SALESMAN This one – just lemon, no alcohol.
TEENAGER Yum!
There is a beat.
FRIEND Do you have any more with booze?
SALESMAN looks thoughtful, before reaching towards sample bottles of liquour.
SALESMAN These are cream liquours. Like limoncello, but creamy. Maybe you like to try melon?
SALESMAN pours pours out samples of the creamy orange liquour into 4 tiny paper cups. (Screenwriter’s note – due to my upcoming trauma, I can’t remember if TEENAGER partook in these samples, but for the sake of added comedy value and given her Scottish heritage, I am assuming she did. When in Rome, etc.). All 4 grab a cup and sip the liquid back. There are murmurs of appreciation from all 4.
HAPLESS IDIOT Wow! It really tastes like melon!
SALESMAN Yes. It is made from melon.
HAPLESS IDIOT Yeah.
SALESMAN Yes.
There is another beat.
SALESMAN (excitedly) Pistacchio! Let us try pistacchio!
The process begins again. The SALESMAN fills the same 4 tiny paper cups with a creamy green liquid. Again, the cups are raised, but the faces are different after the first sip.
WIFE I like pistacchio, but I don’t like this.
FRIEND Yes, it’s not great is it?
TEENAGER …
HAPLESS IDIOT I prefer melon.
SALESMAN You like pistacchio! Un attimo. Eh, moment, please!
SALESMAN dashes off for a moment, while the 4 take a casual look at the goods in the shop. SALESMAN returns quickly with a short, wide jar of something.
SALESMAN Crema di pistacchio! Very delicious. Like Nutella, you spread it, but it’s pistacchio.
HAPLESS IDIOT So, it’s pistacchio, then.
SALESMAN Yes.
HAPLESS IDIOT Yeah.
WIFE Yes, we’ll try some.
SALESMAN gets 4 little tasting sticks and opens the jar. One by one, he places a generous topping on the green cream onto each stick, offers it to the ladies first, before ending up with HAPLESS IDIOT. Each person tries it and indicates through sounds of approval how yummy it is.
HAPLESS IDIOT Wow! That’s delicious! I really…
There is a gagging sound, as the cream slides down HAPLESS IDIOT’s throat, and gets caught there, seemingly blocking his airway. He is still breathing, but his larynx feels like it has just been sandblasted, and breaths come in gasps. His voice turns into Brando’s Godfather’s.
SALESMAN Sir, are you alright!
HAPLESS IDIOT (in Godfather voice) I’ll be ok in a minute.
Tears are streaming down HAPLESS IDIOT’s face while he simultaneously coughs as he fights for breath. SALESMAN grabs a fresh mini paper cup and adds creamy meloncello. FRIEND and TEENAGER have grabbed a few more limoncello candies from the sample tray while SALESMAN is distracted. SALESMAN hands the cup to HAPLESS IDIOT who knocks it back between gasps. It does not have the desired immediate effect.
HAPLESS IDIOT (in Godfather voice) Need… water…
HAPLESS IDIOT turns away from SALESMAN, and is quickly joined by FRIEND and TEENAGER, leaving WIFE standing by SALESMAN. Quick cut to WIFE looking thoughtfully at the jar, and back again to the other 3, who are standing in a row. HAPLESS IDIOT fumbles for a bottle of water in his manbag while FRIEND and TEENAGER are popping limoncello candies. HAPLESS IDIOT finds the water and unscrews the cap, while looking at FRIEND and TEENAGER. He seems FRIEND and TEENAGER red-faced and shaking with laughter, tears also streaking down their face – but not in sympathy. Oh no.
TEENAGER We’re walkin’ oota here pished!
Cut to a close up of SALESMAN and WIFE. Coarse coughing and hacking and squeaks of feminine laughter can bear heard in the background. WIFE hands the jar to the SALESMAN.
WIFE I’ll take one of these.
Cut closer to WIFE, who is now uplit from below, giving her a sinister appearance.
WIFE (sotto voce) Yes, that ought to be enough.
FADE OUT
THE END
I hope you enjoyed that. I certainly didn’t.
We walked out of the store with some sweets and a jar of death-cream in the end. In fairness, this was an unfortunate fluke – their pistacchio cream is absolutely delish. But our taste for sweet treats didn’t end there. Oh no! We passed by a very tourist-choked gelateria. I had a fair idea that it was not going to be the best, but I also didn’t want to argue, as I thought any gelato would soothe my throat. The gelato was piled high in troughs – almost always a bad sign. I got a couple of flavours, and it was incredibly sweet. Too sweet, in fact. For the first time ever I didn’t finish off a helping of gelato, but chucked about a third of it in the bin.
We got back to the car, and I felt that we had enough time to have a quick tour of the nearby tiny walled village of Monteriggione. We just missed grabbing a free carpark spot. We didn’t spend too long there, as we also missed being able to walk the walls. Sure, any one of Volterra’s panoramic views beats those!
You can trot it from end-to-end in 30 seconds, but it’s so lovely in the sunshine, that’s it’s really worth the visit! There was a brief(ish) stop in a jewellers; little knick-knacks were bought. Sadly, the Pratesi store there wasn’t open yet.
Home for some much-needed relaxation.
Later that evening, we had a little bit of hunger on us, and so I was sent forth on a quest for pizza we could share. I went to La Mangiatoia and the chef there was working on a larger order (I opted for a burger and fries instead of pizza), so I made ours and sat down to have a beer and a chat to kill the time. They’re so nice in there.
Wearing my jacket. It can get chilly in Tuscany!
Afterwards, we relaxed and before bed I was once again soundly thrashed by TEENAGER in pool.
She has the socks of a baby angel, but the eyes of a ravenous hawk
Cheerio for now – I hope you enjoyed this read. Let me know what you think!
Niamh’s sister had never been in Siena before, so after we’d been up a couple of hours, we drove to our usual go-to carpark: Parcheggio San Francesco. We got there handily enough, and queued for maybe 2 minutes before we were let in. Once there, it’s a 500 meter walk (if that) to the long series of escalators that will take you up to Piazza San Francesco, without you having to wreck yourself by climbing up hundreds of steps!
I took a few shots on the way to the Campo.
I always take a shot of the lady with the boobie.
Parts of Siena are quite hilly!
We wound our way through some streets so we could show Niamh’s sister the glory of Piazza del Campo!
We didn’t hang around long, as we were hungry by then, and left the piazza immeditately in search of a good place that locals favoured. Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos of the food, nor of any of the surroundings, but after a little research on Google Maps, I think the place we settled on was Osteria degli Svitati. We were sitting outside on a bit of a slope and the menu was hand-written – so I think it was this place. We had unpretentious pastas at good prices, and they were good!
Afterwards, we had a stroll around the shops, and bought a table-runner and bread-basket thingy in one of the craft-stores dotted around the town. The lady who owned the place had a really cute little doggy who ruled the roost! Then we visited the Duomo. It’s both beautiful and impressive, and it could have been a beast, if the Senese had not succumed to the plague. Parts of the once-planned transept are now a gigantic carpark.
I love this defiant tree!
Sexy shot
The detail!
Due to Covid queues, and a hot day, we decided to cut short the visit and head instead towards Monteriggioni. On the way, we stopped off at Ke Cassata, a place with Sicilian owners who make arancine (filled, deep-fried rice balls) and cannoli. I got to chat with the owner, and was able to flex my Italian a little, which was cool.
We got to Monteriggioni, and managed to get into one of the free carparking slots that had just been vacated.
It was sweltering by then, so our first stop was at the gelateria, and then on for another stroll around some of the craft and jewellery stores. I insisted on going into the branch of the Pratesi shoe store there. I grabbed myself a pair of nice salmon slip-ons, that I left over in Volterra – one less thing to pack for my return! Yay me!
We had a quick peep inside the church here, but didn’t go into any of the museums. It’s a cute place, but small. We’d visited before, and then we’d paid to climb onto the walls, but not this time.
Then back to Volterra, where I did the necessary after such a long, hot and thirsty day!
These ladies, though!
Granita time!
Beer O’Clock!
We had a lighter meal of the arancine we bought in Siena (delicious and filling!), cold cuts and yummy pecorino aged in rosemary! So good with truffle-infused honey!
The ladies were hot and exhausted after a long day out, but I still had cortisol (and beer, gelato and granita) to burn off, so I decided to go out an capture Volterra during the evening golden hour. I do this so rarely, so I really enjoyed the experience. Here, unsurprisingly, are some photos!
This view! And no trash bag!
The cathedral and its bell tower.
I love the light and shadow in this shot.
The obligatory Vicolo degli Abbandonati shot
Handsome devil.
These alabaster rocks were lit up at night – pretty cool.
The ‘Irish’ bar
And back home again…
And that was our day. To telly-watch, then bed!
I captured a little of the day on video:
I hope you enjoyed the read and the media… leave me a comment to let me know what you think, or if you plan on visiting Volterra soon!
Ever since our trip to Monteriggioni last year, I’d been wanting to go to Ambra to gram some slinky shoes in the Pratesi outlet store. We decided to go there via Siena. The last couple of times we’d been there (I blogged just one) it drizzled with rain, but today it would be a great deal warmer.
I love Siena. It’s has all the charm of a typical hilltown, but on a much greater scale. It also contains, for me, the most wonderful piazza in Italy (if not Europe) – the Piazza del Campo.
We left later than usual – it usually only takes us 50-60 minutes. We drove past the O, Colle di Val d’Elsa and Monteriggioni – and onwards to our ‘go-to’ parking spot (Parking San Francesco). There was a short queue – maybe 5 minutes and we parked. It was early lunchtime when we went up the escalator and started taking pics!
Boobies
We explored a slightly more modern part of the inner town, near the post office, and I remember being in decent form, health-wise… I don’t think my anxiety was bothering me that much.
We stopped off in an inexpensive cafe-style risto (Il Pulcino). I had a decent Spaghetti all’aglio, olio e peperoncino – it’s hard to screw that up – but Niamh thought her dish was passable… I think it was some sort of ravioli, but I can’t remember (sorry). Anyway, it was pretty inexpensive and frequented by locals, so give it a bash if you want to avoid tons of tourists while in the area.
After lunch, we headed to the Piazza!
As we’d skipped dessert, we stopped off at Il Camerlengo for a large lump of gelato! It was tasty – maybe a 0.9 on the Isola del Gusto scale. There seems to be a serious lack of bins on the square, so keep your eyes peeled for getting rid of unwanted trash (e.g. gelato cups).
We went to the courtyard of the Palazzo Pubblico, but didn’t buy tickets to explore any farther (see photos above).
We explored the town just a little more before heading back to the car. On the way back we stopped into a tiny Sicilian streetfood place called Cannoleria Ke Cassata. We got a couple of arancine each to take away for later, and headed to Ambra.
I regret to say that I didn’t take any shots of Ambra – we didn’t explore, but parked at the back of the outlet store and just headed inside. Niamh bought shoes and a bag, I bought a few pairs of shoes…. one of them pretty… eclectic!
Home again for a rest from the raw heat. We then hit Volterra later that evening after eating the arancine we picked up in Siena (re-heated in the oven). They were setting up the outdoor cinema in the main piazza that evening. We should have bought tickets, if only to support the endeavour, but we didn’t… maybe next year, as it’s a superb idea.
After a shortish walk yesterday, we finally got our act together and left for Siena around 10:30. What we’ve found very useful is to aim for this car park. It is about 100m away from a series of escalators that takes you straight to the heart of the old town. It’s called Parcheggio San Francesco, but it’s not labelled as such in Google Maps, for some reason.
We got there around 11:45 and assumed that we might have to queue for a parking spot, but no – there there 20-odd still remaining. Off we went up the 5 or 6 sets of escalators.
The thing is, Siena is essentially a Super Hilltown – much larger than most you’ll come across – certainly the largest in Tuscany. Its medieval centre is at least twice the size of Volterra’s (except it’s population is far higher). It’s famous red-bricked buildings has given the name to a colour artists are familiar with: Burnt Siena.
Although it has fewer attractions for the ‘gotta-catchem-all’ tourist than Florence, I think it is a far more charming place, with hodge-podge streets and hidden arched alleyways, unlike Florence, which generally has wider roads and feels a little more open. Siena is also less infested with humans than Florence, which is a good thing, in my book. It’s still busy, mind you!
We started off by wending our way to the older parts, taking snaps. Note again, that we didn’t really enter any of the attractions, as we’d just been there in April this year, and had a more thorough explore last year, again in April.
Then we entered the Piazza del Campo. To me, this is the loveliest square in Italy. Oh, there are others more famous, and possibly grander (St. Peter’s Square, St. Mark’s Square, Piazza Navona), but the Campo is the warmest. It’s unusual, in that it’s in the shape of the shell, and it slopes a little. Around its centre is a border of darker tiles, upon which, twice a year, sand is placed, so horses can race around it 3 times for the honour of their contrada in a race called the Palio.The contrade, or districts, of which Siena has 17, are represented by their flag and animal statue. In one of the photos in the gallery below the cathedral section, you can see the statue of flag of one of them: pantera (panther).
I’m loathe to give advice which impacts the business of others, but I would advise that, sure, have a drink in one of the many establishments around the piazza, but do try to look to eat elsewhere. There are a stack of restaurants off the beaten path which offer better value.
Yes, you can climb up that tower – I’ve never actually done that – will have to remedy that on another visit.
We had another explore and documented that.
We walked past the cathedral, and had to papp that too. Originally, it was designed to be larger than the one in Florence – measuring dicks was very important to city-states like Florence and Siena back in the day. In fact, you can actually see how large the building was supposed to be in one of the photos below. It is a side shot of the cathedral, with parked cars and pillars of layered marble. That entire carpark was supposed to be just one of the transepts! But two things happened: they ran out of money (being a perpetually warring city-state is expensive business) and people (during the construction, around two-thirds of Siena’s population was obliterated by the plague).
The frontage is still pretty spectacular, as you can see. There is a ticket office nearby, which enables you to purchase a ticket to visit several related attractions (the cathedral, the crypts and the ability to climb up to the roofs of the extended transepts for a great view of the city). There may be entrances to galleries you can buy there too, I can’t remember. Anyway, if it’s your first time in Siena, purchasing these tickets is a must.
We were hungry, and (apologies to those who want to see nothing but Italian food in the blog) were still on our oriental kick, so we went to New Shanghai, and took some pics on the way.
The food was ok… generally we have found that in Italy, Chinese restaurants are about on-par with average takeaways here. Japanese restaurants are reputed to be better.
The pantera contrada
With bellies bursting, we headed back to the car, taking more snaps, and then went home.
When we got home, we headed immediately to the Cathedral square, as we suspected that it was going to open for the first time in at least 18 months – we had never been inside, as it was under restoration. There were crowds gathered, not least priests and nuns from different orders. I went into the baptistry to see if there was a timetable, and found one. There was to be a procession from another church to the cathedral with the bust of St. Linus. It said 17:00, but we were unsure if that was departure or arrival time. We decided to was departure, and so went to a bar to get a drink and wait.
Upon arriving back, we were disappointed to see that we’d missed the actual opening of the doors. There were people here and there in medieval finery and wearing uniforms of office. There was to be a mass held, so we thought we’d pop in for a look, and maybe we’d stay through to the blessing of the new altar. But the place just filled up, and began to get uncomfortably warm. On top of that, we’d just come from Siena, and so were ill-equipped to go without bio-breaks (I think I put that as delicately as I possibly could!). So, we decided to head out, somewhat embarrassingly, against the influx of officials and more medieval folk.
We had an icecream instead at L’Incontro! We’ll go back today or tomorrow to have a proper explore of the cathedral, but I got a couple of shots. The roof, as gorgeous as it is, somehow reminds me of Windows 3.1 wallpaper! Anyone else old enough to remember those patterns?
There were additional pennants hung up for the occasion, and also (presumably coincidentally) new (and strange) art installations in the main square.
We did nothing else for the day, except screenwatch, and vainly throw socks at trolling, roof-bound mosquitos.
I got up and had took a short walk through the gloom this morning. There was some islands amidst lakes of cloud, and I’m sure I could have gotten some amazing shots with a decent camera and an optical zoom lens.
Our furniture still hasn’t arrived yet, so we’re giving them one further half-day to contact our representative, or this afternoon we’ll travel directly to the store in Navacchio to shout at the store manager a while. We’d obviously rather not have to do this: the drive is dull, and neither of us like confrontation, but it’s been 8 weeks since we ordered the damn stuff!
Our Man In Volterra 
