Week beginning April 27th.
Justin was away for the weekend doing an install in Edinburgh, so to take everyone's minds off his absence, we had a mini break in Siena. The girls had Friday off and a half day on Thursday, so we drove down Thursday afternoon.
As expected, the traffic was bad in spots, but the landscape kept us entertained. It gets hillier close to Florence, a contrast to the flat plains of Milan. It turns out, the hotel we are staying in, Hotel Moderno, is the same one Justin and I were in on our honeymoon! I'll have to check if we were in Room 8 all that time ago. It hasn't changed much. We collapsed into bed that night, without dinner to prepare for the buffet breakfast in the morning.
We spent a lovely day on Friday wandering around Siena.
In the 1300's two thirds of the population here got wiped out by The Plague, which led to financial decline. The city was taken over by basically a dictator, who wouldn't allow building works, which means Siena is preserved as a fabulous example of a Mediaeval city.
The girls were feeling lazy due to the late night, so we had a brick picnic (Bricnic) for lunch on the paving at Il Campo.
The sun was out, every one was relaxing. Il Campo is the main piazza in Siena. In, June and August there are festivals where horses race around the perimeter, representing different areas of old Siena.
We did some shopping, the girls are thinking of buying Swatch watches (the eighties are back), we had a slice of pizza each for dinner!
Day two in Siena we weren't feeling much more energetic, but we did book in for two o'clock to climb the Torre del Mangia. Meanwhile we wandered around the back streets of Siena, and the girls purchased a watch each.
We ate at a restaurant that let you draw on the walls, so if you are dining at a tiny cafe somewhere, look for these pictures and comments!
Lexie's drawings are of the cast of Frozen, (the Disney movie, in case you have been under a rock).
We climbed the claustrophobic tower, after I had warned the girls to have at least one foot on the ground at all times. They love to climb, so I was a trifle nervous! Once we got to the top we could enjoy the view in all directions.
Siena at it's best.
We had hoped to climb the leaning tower, but had to postpone. The girls had school the next day and we couldn't climb until 5.30 pm. Next time, with Millie in June.
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