June 7, 2014 – Siena – Florence.
From my journal: We were up and ready early. Breakfast at 7:00. We walked to the old city, just inside the gate, and saw the Sanctuary of St. Catherine, the Campo Piazza, the Public (civic) Building.
I climbed the Torre – spectacular!
We sat in a ristorante on the Piazza and got some spaghetti.
Walked the Duomo, and self-toured inside.
We walked past San Domenico (closed) and caught a bus to the train station . Ran to catch the 2:00 and made it!
In Florence! Took bus #11 to the end of the line and unexpectedly walked a road that went right into a wooded area with no homes. Ten minutes later we reached the hostel, home to an important Florentine family – est. in the 1460s (the villa, that is) and reaching its current shape about 1700. Amazing.
Restaurants were closed until 7:00 so we walked until we found an open kebab joint (The most prevalent fast food in Europe) where a Pakistani-Italian made us dinner.
Gelato Day 8: Right before taking the road back to the ostello. “I hope this is the worst gelato I ever eat.” It was the end of the week and the end of all but a few flavors. They sold us half tiramisu 😦 and half coffee :-).
About 6:30 walked back to the hostel, where an 8th grade graduation party was just starting at 8:00. At 10:30 it sounds like it’s still going strong. Eye shades and ear plugs tonight. 🙂 z z z z z z z z z …
The Free Range 