Siena, Parts Uno e Due
Thursday, we ran errands before attempting to go to Siena for the day. We got halfway by bus, then had to turn around because return busses don’t run often enough. The bus ride was well worth our fare of a couple Euros, which we made stretch for the return fare as well, wink wink. The scenery riding through the Tuscan countryside was relaxing, though it eerily reminded us of home. At the very least, we memorized the route toward Siena.
That night, we returned to our campsite and met our neighbors, a charming family (Rob, Karrin, Puck, and Eva) from Haarlem, Holland. We chatted all night about differences between our countries before they invited us to share in a delicious home-cooked meal including wine and a variety of cookies straight from Holland, the best dinner we’d had since Nice, part deux. We’ll post pictures just as soon as Rob emails them to us☺ The hospitality they extended to us made Volterra that much harder to leave.
Driving: 1, Bus: 0.
Thursday night was also the night Rob convinced us to drive to Siena, rather than take the bus – very good advice indeed. We got to sleep in on Friday, go lay at the pool for a few hours, go to the first aid place at the hospital so Jennica could be x-rayed, pay for our first aid bill at the post office (Italians are weird), go to the farmacia to get her antibiotics, and get some gelato, a cappuccino, and pizza before heading to Siena. Driving: 1, Bus: 0.
The drive to Siena was quaint and quick, it was easy and free to park just outside the city’s walls and walk into town. The city was calm, quiet, and had a tolerable number of tourists. Even the one of the missionaries we ran into (what are we – Mormon magnets?) was Italian, unlike the other 7 we’ve met on this trip. We much preferred Siena over Firenze and would love to return to watch the big horse races in the center piazza. We got back to Volterra in time to get some gelato, have a nice chat with our next-door neighbors (who shared candy this time), and take really long hot showers…because we could.
