Day 60: Siena, Cloudy then sun, 20°

A Slow Sunday In Siena

It was meant to be a slow day, right?  First things first though. I took a lot of grief in 2016 when Rob didn’t have his morning coffee, even though I went to extraordinary lengths to make this happen. So here you go. Now lay off!😂😂

From there it was a quick tour of the Campo. There was a huge bike race ready to start from here. It is Sunday, a day for cyclists all over the place in Italy preparing to torment pilgrims! 



We decided that this morning was a good time to start some slow sightseeing, so first up Palazzo Pubblico. 

Rob met a contemporary who was perhaps feeling  some lag as well! 



Some amazing frescoes as always. 

Still awake? It was very well presented and quite something that I got Rob into a museum! Almost as tough as getting Annemarie to visit one as well. 😬

We took advantage of the local high spots. 





We cruised over to the beautiful Siena Duomo, but we are saving this for tomorrow when hopefully it’s quieter and the sun is out. 







Then off to give our tired legs a bit of a stretch. Mostly we were dealing with Geoff’s tired legs!

Local sites!

There are 17 different areas in Siena, each with their own flag. Twice a year they horse race around Piazza del Campo, hard to believe. Last night the winning district of the second race paraded through town numerous times complete with a band and were treated to a huge dinner to celebrate. I’ll post a video below of what we witnessed last night when they went by our door. Notice their neck scarves. 

The 17 flags are hung everywhere. This has gone on for centuries.





Maybe later?

Yet another church. 



Flags inside the church as well. Huge deal here. 





My daughter Erin and her friend Maggie both have great memories of sitting in this little terraced pub and having drinks while looking out on to Piazza del Campo. Cheers!

And to end this post, the Camino does indeed provide. I was contacted by my friend Jen a week ago to tell me that she was travelling in Italy. Annemarie, Ken and I met and made close friends with Jen during our first Camino in 2013 (there’s photos in the blog). One thing led to another and we arranged to meet here this afternoon. What special friendships we made that fall!