Siena Day 2

We woke, had breakfast and worked on the blog -- then set out about town. Without a map even a seasoned Sienese would get lost in this place! The streets wind all over, change names, go up and down (think San Francisco on a smaller scale) and are NEVER wider than 16 feet. The stones ("pavement") are many hundreds of years old and are worn in ways that make one amazed by the number of high heels being worn by the young women.

We will devote a complete posting to the Duomo, our main stop of the day -- a magnificent cathedral made entirely of local rare marbles.

Before going to the Duomo we worked or way through the streets to the once a month Antique Market where we found a magnificent collection of stalls devoted to -- white elephants. It was a total bust but fun to see anyway.

Feeling a bit hungry we went back to a tratorria that had posted a handwritten note "Soupe de Porcini Oggi" on the door. It sounded so good to us that we waited and waited, only to be told it was all gone. We managed a couple of substitutions and thne went back out to the Duomo and other destinations.

We walked way across town to Piazza Lizza to check on the logistics of taking a bus to Florence tomorrow and gained so much confidence that we went ahead and bought due billeretti per Fierenza per la Rapid 231R !! All we have to do tomoorow is get to La Lizza withour suitcases!

At one point on the way back to the hotel, we came across a group of musicians enjoying a couple of beers and entertaining the crowds. They were clearly good and clearly having a good time.

We took in the sunset on the hotel rooftop before going to a near by locals dive for a fantastic dinner -- one of the best so far. Up on the roof, we met a couple from British Columbia, two sisters from Cape Town, South Africa and a photographer who works the Lonely Planet publications. Dinner included Porcini soup (at last), fried green tomatoes, and a couple of other excellent recommendations from our waiter. We forgot our little dictionary and so are still unsure as to what it all was, but it was great!