Birds do not like me

5/21/12:

I'll just pick up where Carolyn left off last night:

After racing for the train (and making it), we relaxed on said train for about 1.25 hours. Now we'd done a little Pre planning and knew we would have to take the #10 bus from the train station to our hotel. Google maps told us it would leave at 10'ish. Walking out of the train we were greeted by some serious rain. And some serious cold. I was honestly upset in SE Asia that we were going to miss cold weather but Italy seems to have fixed that gripe. So we see a bus stop outside the station but the next (and of course last) stop is at like 9:45. Through hand signals and grunts we figure out that that particular bus isn't going the right way. So we consult our treasure map and guidebook and discover we have to cross the field of swirly twirly gum drops, through the 7 hills of candy corn and then go through the Lincoln tunnel. Seriously we had to cross a concrete field in the pouring rain, find a secret door with a secret elevator in order to get to the correct bus stop. We successfully completed that task and made it into the right bus. Our next challenge was figuring out where to get off. I had a map saved on my phone but it super dark out and raining. Luckily we get off at the right place an then walk the 400 meters to our hotel.

Checked in and went to sleep for about 10 hours. We needed it fo sho!

Since we saw most of the highlights in Siena yesterday, today was more of a wander around and get some souvenirs day. We did head over to San Domenico Church and see St Catherine's head and FINGER!!!!! Creepy but really cool. Her mummified finger was literally 4 inches from our faces!

We stopped in a cafe for a coffee from a guy with a certificate saying he was a certified amazing espresso maker. It was good but not the best. Had some of the best pizza we've had, got a couple shirts and a Christmas ornament.

Ended the day with a drink at a place called Bar Key Largo. They have an awesome balcony overlooking the campo (huge piazza in Siena). Carolyn had some serious hot chocolate and I had 2 glasses of wine. During my first glass I got a little note from a bird saying they don't like me. Translation: I got crapped on!!!! Luckily it was only my pants. I washed them off and then tried to enjoy my wine. 10 minutes later another feathered jerk crapped in my wine. Yukky. I'm not about to let a bird scare me off so I went and got another glass ... We moved to another seat and I kept my hand on top of my glass :).

Oh, earlier we stopped at the train station and discovered that trains don't go to Orvieto very regularly. So we had to buy a ticket departing at 0804. Which means catching a 0715 bus. Which means waking up at 0630. Which means we're already grumpy.

Anyway, had dinner at a sweet little place next to our hotel and if you can believe the horror, did not have our second gelato! Instead we had profiteroles!!!!!!! Friggin yum!

We did some recon action on the bus situation and eventually decided on a 0716 bus. Also grabbed a couple provisions for our ridiculously early trip tomorrow. Croissants and nutella!!!

So we leave Siena tomorrow for Orvieto. Siena was really nice but not a whole lot going on. The duomo was one of the best we've seen, the campo was so pretty and a great place to hang out ... And as weird as this sounds, seeing the relics of St Caterine was the highlight for me. We've done our best to see a relic in every town. So far we've only failed in a couple cities.

Pics:
1) storm clouds brewing over Siena.
2) Us on the balcony at bar key largo.
3) Carolyn in a mini door.
4) Storm clouds over the Mangia Tower and the Duomo.
5) San Domenico.
6) Storm clouds over the Mangia Tower.
7) typical street in Siena.
8) Me in the Campo.
9) Hot Chocolate and wine (after the bird crap incident) overlooking the campo.

Close calls

Today wasn't one of our finer planning days. We booked a tour thinking when we got back to Florence we could take a train directly to Siena, our next location. The trip we booked was making a stop in Siena but we wanted the tour for the wine tasting which was after Siena. We had the good sense to buy our train tickets ahead and bring our bags with us on the tour. We were supposed to get back around 1930ish and our train was at 2010. Normally if we miss a train it's no big deal, just take the next one but we realized our hotel only allowed check in until 2030, we contacted them and they said check in would be until 2330. That's fine IF we make the 2010 train. We told the tour guide about our train and he tried to wrap things up but we were already behind due to some late people earlier in the trip. At 1940 while sitting in traffic I start trying to figure out our contingency plan, the next train gets in at 2315, maybe we could have the tour guide call the hotel and then take a cab from the train to the hotel, Michael had said there was a bus to Siena but we didn't look up the schedule, what are the chances we can find the ticket booth and get on a bus that gets us there before 2300? We pulled into the train station, run to the train and pull the closing doors open as we hopped on, we made it!!! Thank goodness because it's been a long day.
Michael kept me up ALL night over three so called mosquitos. He claims he was getting bit all night although he can not produce any bites. After a very loud bug repellant application, (seriously only my husband could make a racket applying a lotion!) at 4am I finally got some zzzs before the alarm went off at 7. Up, shower, pack, breakfast, meet bus. We were exhausted. Michael said he felt like it was hell week at military training. My cold is moving around and it's currently in a place I don't like, my throat. It feels like I've swallowed razor blades.
To add to our glorious moods, it was cold and rainy today. First stop was San Gimignano where we promptly got hot drinks, took in the rolling green hills and then found the "The Gelato World Champion". It was a little early but how could we pass up such an opportunity.
Loaded the bus, next stop Siena. Had lunch, got a tour of city and visited The Cathedral which was stunning. They had a room with frescos from the 1400's unrestored and it looked like they were painted yesterday. Apparently the room gets enough light that candles weren't needed so it didn't get wax and soot residue. Then I found a million things to buy at the souvenir shops, our favorite toddler happens to be named Siena. Luckily I have tomorrow to really look. From there it was a quick stop at a Medieval Castle and then off to our favorite part, Chianti wine tasting.
This place was awesome. They make wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a few smaller things. It started as a hobby and finally this guy took a leap and started his own farm. We tried a dessert wine, Chianti classico and what he called a friends wine. It's one that takes time to drink and should be done leisurely in good company. Then we got to taste some absolutely amazing EVOO, truffle olive oil and the grande finale was vanilla ice cream with 30 year old balsamic vinegar. Doesn't sound like it goes together but it was wonderful.
We generally despise large tour groups with their umbrella holding guides, taking up entire doorways, side walks, restaurants but today we were one of them. Up until the wine tour we didn't think the tour was worth the money. We are good enough at navigating a city and seeing sights that we didn't need someone leading the way, plus we like going our own pace.

Pics:
- We didn't see any Tuscan sun but it's still beautiful
- Serious artwork that's 600 years old, makes you wonder why we are soon wrong these day
- ice cream and balsamic vinegar yes please
- trying to stay dry at the vineyard