Italy 2024 - Day 9 / Siena

Steps today: 22 995 / 15.16 km

Our second "stay put day"! no trains or day trips, just focusing on Siena.

We lingered longer than usual at the hotel for 2 reasons: breakfast was included, and it was 2°C outside!! When planning/packing for this trip, the temps were "supposed" to be over 20 so I was not really prepared for 2 - ugh!  10+ and sunny, fine, I could deal....  but not this!

We hit the road a little after 9AM when the temps had climbed a bit, and started with a pleasant walk to one of the gates in the city walls... 

...then vigorous walk to the old town. Our hotel just just outside The Wall and it's a 15-minute walk to the Campo - but Siena is hilly! I tried my best to take pictures that capture just how steep the road was, but the camera can't quite capture what your eyes see... or what your thighs feel! 

If you look at the thresholds of the doors and compare their height, you get a good idea. Turns out the cold weather was doing us a favour - we would have been sweaty messes after this hike!

I had a few things on my list of things to see that we had not done on our 2 previous visits, so we set off to check them out.

First was the Basilica of San Francesco

Chiesa di San Martino - the hotel from our first visit was nearby and we never got around to visiting the inside!

A rare tree in the city center!

Of course, we had to see the Duomo, but no inside visit for us this time, we've done it before so we just admired the ornate facade. (Love the lions being shot from a cannon! ha!)

Now, it was getting close to Aperol Spritz O'clock, so we headed to the Campo to sit an enjoy

Next on our list was the Porta Romana with some beautiful sights along the way....

The Porta Romana is so huge - that is not reflected in these pictures. It's like a fortress!

Cute light fixtures all over town

After this, it was onwards to the San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi Church to see the mummy.

When we left the church, there seemed to be some sort of gathering in the garden next door. I don't know if it was private - but I snuck in to get some panoramic shots of the city

We continued our wanderings with an eye on lunch, and settled on this place - we didn't want to eat in the Campo again this time.

Back to the list! next was the Fontebranda

Via della Galluzza where there is a view of lots of arches over the street

Yet another beautiful panoramic point!

Next was to climb up to a public garden near the Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico. No pictures allowed in the Basilica - but we did pop in to see the Saint's Head.

I loved this statue!

It was Campo Time after this! We relaxed for a bit while deciding what to do for dinner

I have a "no resto repeat" rule on vacation, but at lunch yesterday the pizzas at the restaurant we were in looked really good, so we headed back there for supper.  My pizza was PERFECT! totally worth breaking the rules for!

After supper, we swung by Nannini AGAIN for a night cap. (It's a nice place, but a three-peat? I should have stuck to my rule for this place)

And so that was it for Siena, the end of another wonderful visit...  when will I be back?