Aargh Siena!

Dear Medieval Funsters,

Siobhan has been carrying a cold since leaving Venice but has gallantly soldiered on and I start to weaken but we head to Sienna - an incredibly preserved Medieval town, about 45 minutes away. Lots of people have raved about Sienna so we were rather excited.


At the risk of giving offense, we would have to say we found it extremely underwhelming. It was not overrun by tourists so that was a great bonus, but it had no vibe or atmosphere to it - kind of like the Docklands!!!! It felt like you were wandering through a stage or film set with no genuine evidence of real people living their daily lives there.

The Duomo or Cathedral is a genuine sight to behold. Inside is this amazing marble floor and black and white striped marble pillars so the effect is quite extraordinary. That is certainly worth seeing. The other thing well worth doing is to climb this tower attached to the Museum and it affords you great panoramic views of Siena. We were fortunate enough to go on a not too busy day but also during lunch time when many abandon sightseeing in search of food so we only had a short wait and we climbed the many many stairs to the top! By the time we came back down the queue in place was at least a two hour wait to get to the top. Timing is everything!

We headed to lunch after some wandering around and went to a place recommended by the usually very reliable Lonely Planet - well this has either had a change of management since publication or the usual chef was off this particular day because it was so ordinary. To make matters worse we had our first rubbish wine since arriving on Italian soil- bloody ghastly and too think this was in Tuscany which prides itself on being a food and wine Mecca was most unfortunate.

We mooched around abit more but the sense of being underwhelmed by Siena remained. We got some supplies of ham, sundried tomatoes, pesto, bread and cheese and settled in for a simple platter and some bloody good vino we brought at a nearby Enoteca. We met a lovely British couple who had just arrived, on their honeymoon no less! It was great to be able to have a joke and a laugh without the need for interpretation or awkward pauses while the penny drops. Sometimes the divide between the Australian and the American sense of humor is too simply too broad a gap!


Good eating and drinking Folks


Siobhan & Kelly