Siena and Arrival in Rome

The breakfast at the Verrazzano Winery was truly amazing. We were the only overnight guests but the restaurant area had a full buffet with a very nice gentleman server just for us. The food consisted of two fantastic cheeses, lots of home cured meats, breads, cakes, jams, honey, yoghurt, fruit, coffee, milk...We ate a lot and at the close of the long breakfast, our server offered us a gift of a jar of their farm made honey.

Randy at the terrace of the Verrazzano Winery

Alice with the gift of farm honey from our obliging breakfast attendant

We admired the view over the Chianti hills from the winery, bought plenty of wine and farm products from shop, and then set off for Siena. It was a bit hard to find the central part of the town where we could park, but once that was accomplished (you follow the bulls eye looking signs), we were easily able to walk to the famed Piazza del Campo where the Palio takes place each year. This square is one of the most well known in the world and it did not disappoint. We were happy to see that Siena at this time of the year was not full of tourists - most of the people about seemed to be locals or Italian visitors (mainly high school aged students).

A view of Siena

The renowned Piazza del Campo

A double "Selfie" at the Piazzo del Campo

A detail of the municipal building at the Campo. Its tower is the tallest secular tower in Italy.

Two panoramics of the Campo

Detail on the municipal building at the Campo (Romulus and Remus)

Tower detail

Randy at the Campo - note the lack of crowds

We walked to the Duomo, also famed. The exterior and interior are breathtaking if a bit excessive. The marble and frescoes inside are spectacular and there is an unmarked Michelangelo statue inside (which we knew about thanks to the ever reliable Rick Steves).

Another double selfie - this time by the Duomo

The dome of the Duomo

The zodiac in the Duomo floor

The rear of the Duomo was also beautiful and impressive

The ornate front of the Duomo

The wondrous ceiling of the Piccolomini Library in the Duomo

One of the walls of the library

The unmarked statue of Saint Paul by Michelangelo in the Siena Duomo

On the way back to the parking lot, in the old town (which is pedestrian only) we found a wonderful shop called Il Pellicano run by an elderly lady who spoke only Italian. All the merchandise was family made ceramics. We bought so much because it was well priced, beautiful, functional and typical of Tuscany. As a parting gift, Signora gave us a small bell of her Contrada (the 17 districts of Siena that compete in the Palio). Each Contrada has its own symbol, usually an animal.

Signora wraps our ceramics purchases at the Il Pellicano shop

Randy outside this precious shop holding our bag of goodies

We drove to Rome with the help of our ever vigilant GPS, Clive. We arrived at our bed and breakfast located in northeast Rome, about a 15 minute walk from the apartment of our friends, Simonetta Clementi and Claudio Arbib. We had met Claudio last year while he and Alice were both visiting professors at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Simonetta came to visit one week to Ankara and so we also got acquainted with her. We were so happy to have friends in Rome to visit and tour with.

Claudio picked us up in his historic Fiat for the short drive to his place. We met their two cats (mother and son) and then headed to their favorite Sicilian restaurant. We had plenty of white wine and seafood themed pasta. A great way to start our three day stay in the Eternal City!