Siena

Today was David and Annabelle’s 31st wedding anniversary, which was very special. David celebrated by joining us in catching the 4.19pm bus into Sienna and leaving Annie behind at the hotel without a room key. I think, judging from Annie’s subtle body language in evidence when she later caught up with Dave in the old city of Siena, was something that might have been better thought through by Dave. However, it must be acknowledged in Dave’s defence, one can’t expect to have everything together after only 31 years of marriage. These things take time.
We explored the old city of Sienna, and visited the piazza and the Duomo. We also had dinner in a delightful little restaurant in a side alley in the old city.
Just in case you were wondering, the repeated representations of the wolf and two baby boys on many major city landmarks are a reference to the fact that Sienna was purportedly founded by the son of Remus; the same Remus who was killed by his brother Romulus, the father of Rome.
Just after dinner, the winning horse in the most recent Palio race was being paraded through the old city, accompanied by drums, banners and Sienese people dressed up in the colours of their contrata, or neighbourhood.
We caught the bus back to our hotel to ensure we had a reasonable night’s sleep before leaving Siena for Florence tomorrow morning.En savoir plus