What a treat to stay in Siena for two nights. We were hoping to sight see and do a little shopping with a trip to the Post Office the following day….

Day 1: We had a long walk into town – about 15 miles. And since we had been walking 8 days with no break, we were tired. Laundry in the BnB seemed an easy solution, but it took much longer than expected to complete.

Our evening plans had included a simple dinner (pizza) and an Italian Opera concert – The Three Sopranos Night. The concert started at 9:15 pm, and it was now 7:45 and the laundry was still going! Since Stephie and Linda D were handling the laundry, Tracie and I ran out for pizza takeaway. We also managed a little shopping on the way which left fewer things to do the next day.

Pizza finished, we put on our best clothes, aka hiking attire, and headed to the opera venue for an hour+ of soprano women. There were 3 sopranos, very good, funny and skilled. At one point one of the Sopranos came up the aisle from the back of the Venue and literally opened her mouth to sing just as she was passing me. I nearly jumped out of my seat!

Day 2: Slept somewhat late (7) and it felt good. Had a nice Italian breakfast at our BnB and headed off for shopping and looking for sites. Our goal today included two items: shop to fill a box to mail home, and a 2:45 pm walking tour with a visit to the Duomo.

Shopping first. In general I was just looking for gift items that I didn’t think could be found later in Rome. In addition to purchases I had a few items I decided I could do without to make my backpack lighter. We were fairly successful in finding a few fun items and decided that before heading to the city tour, we would put our things into a medium sized bag so that we could bring them to the post office and toss into a box. It all seemed so simple.

3 of us wanted to mail items home so off we went with our bags in hand. We knew the wait would be long since we had earlier visited the PO and saw you had to take a number and then wait your turn. The final toll at the post office… 1.5 hours and a 43 euro cost. The woman who helped us was so great and patient. She even packed the box one item at a time while she recorded what was going into the box for customs. There was a 3 kilo weight limit which we were apparently approaching so I didn’t quite get all my items in, however, my pack will be a little lighter in the morning!

Then she realized there was a second box to mail. She shook her head, smiled and got busy! This one went a lot quicker because she had all the steps fresh in her mind. She needed a passport, several documents to fill out and then to pack the box. It’s quite a process! Next time we will have the process down!!

Back to the afternoon tour. Our tour began at the Piazza San Dominico. It was a little disorganized because the tour guide in charge had taken on several people from a bus tour and arrived at the start of our tour a little late.

Once we were checked in we were assigned to Paul, who I dubbed Dapper Dan as he wore slacks, sport coat and wing tips. An older slender gentlemen with a slightly crooked smile and teeth.

Anyway, as he continues to flirt with a couple of the women in our large group we started walking. With an ear piece and radio we could hear him quite well so he could tell his Siena stories with history as we walked. As we approached the Cathedral or Duomo of Siena, we walked inside the massive church. After telling a few facts he advises that the tour was complete and we could take our radios back to the start and to enjoy Siena. What the heck?

We are 5 minutes from our BnB and 20 from the start. Out of the group of 20 there were maybe 7 not part of the bus group going back to the start. The guide even gave his radio to someone in the bus group and asked her to return it. I contacted the tour company and told them we would leave the radios in our BnB and we thought Paul’s assumption we would return to the starting point was unacceptable.

I will be reviewing this tour. It was informative, plenty of good info about the architecture, the fact that banking as we know it today began here, and the Bank of America previously was known as the Bank of Italy. The building is shown below.

Dinner was a table in Piazza del Campo where we shared 2 pasta dishes, a calzone and a nice spinach salad with pine nut, pomegranate seeds, pears and Granada Parma. Delish. I like that the assumption is olive oil and balsamic is enough for the dressing. It’s good for me anyway!

Back to the room for pre packing, and a good nights sleep. Morning always comes too soon!

Siena is a wonderful city, filled with interesting architecture and lots of people, tourists and locals.

#viafrancigena2022