Siena, Saturday 24 May, Day 31

A nice slow start this morning, to catch the 11.10 train to Siena, and just äs well because we were both a bit fuzzy when the alarm went off. There was a very noisy group of youths hooting and hollering at the Irish pub down the street last night, and I think we might not have slept so well.  But by the time we'd had breakfast, packed, said goodbye to signora in a carefully rehearsed Italian, got to the station and had our espresso hit, we were feeling pretty good. Here is Anne on Florence railway station waiting for our platform number to come up, looking like the well seasoned traveller that she is.

We are really enjoying the Italian trains so far. The trip from Florence to Siena was gorgeous, lots of rolling hills, vineyards, veggie gardens, Tuscan farm houses, plus the occasional mouldering castle or hill top village clinging to a rocky outcrop. All beautifully green, with blue sky and fluffy clouds, almost picture book. The fellow passengers are often good value too. 

A series of escalators gets you up the hill from the station to the outskirts of the old town, just as well as it would be a fair hike otherwise. Our hotel is lovely - a little balcony and very quiet. The crisper air and the quieter pace are very agreeable after the crowds of Florence. After a restorative siesta we walked into the main Piazza down the winding narrow streets, to the famous Paleo where the annual horse race is run.  The traditional flags hang prominently from the buildings of each ward and the feeling of Siena's long and distinctive history is impressive.  We had an excellent dinner at an outside table watching the Passagio of dogs, babies and expectant mums. The Italian families in these smaller towns seem to be very relaxed and happy.

We are now more than half way into the trip, and we're really conscious of how fortunate we are to be able to do what we're doing. Tomorrow we will have a quiet day, to rest up before Rome.