Day 8
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| © A Product of Silence |
Today we set off for a tour of two Tuscan towns. The first was San Gimignano, where we picked up our tour guide for the day, a man who was incredibly knowledgable and at times quite funny. San Gimiginano is an old town set in the side of a hill, with narrow, steep streets and beautiful old buildings.
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| San Gimignano © A Product of Silence |
The next town we visited was Siena. Here we had lunch in the square where they hold the Siena il Palio. This is horse race that takes place in the main square of Siena twice a year, on July 2nd and August sixteen. The horses that compete come from the seventeen neighbourhoods of Siena. The inhabitants of these neighbourhoods do everything they can to make sure their horse wins. Our guide told us that this race is all about the horses rather than the riders and the winning horses have been known to be ridden into the buildings of their neighbourhood as part of the celebrations.
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| Siena © A Product of Silence |
After a lunch spent imaging the horse racing around the stone square we commenced what became the longest tour of our lives. Having already spent the morning walking, this tour started at 2.15 and finally finished at 6pm and involved continuous walking up and down the steep streets of Sienna. We visited some amazing buildings, including Siena Cathedral where, we undertook a hair raising climb up the inside of unfinished Nave wall. It involved a long, tight spiral staircase and was the first time I've ever felt slightly claustaphobic. However at the top we were rewarded with the most incredible view over the city at dusk.
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| Siena Cathedral © A Product of Silence |
After such a full day, heading out of Siena, all we wanted to do was sit down. However this was not to be. On leaving the city we then undertook a further half hour walking tour as we searched for our missing bus.
On board at last and off our feet, we headed back to Florence, stopping for dinner on the way. Now I have to say that meal consisted of some of the most delicious pizza I've ever eaten, but I’m not sure if this was actually due to the pizza or because by then we were so exhausted and starving anything would have tasted good.
Arriving back at the hotel at ten o’clock, we gratefully fell into bed.
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