Off to explore Siena today! Our tour leader bought our bus tickets and helped us catch the bus there (about an hour from Florence, very easy to do) and then gave us a little tour, including the main square.
We were then left to our own devices with a return bus timetable and prepaid tickets. First ofF, we paid 12€ to explore all the parts of the cathedral and climb the facade. The views were beautiful from the top, overlooking both Siena and Tuscany. Damn all those stairs though! We were very lucky the rain cleared for about an hour and not only did we get the stunning view, we also got to go all the way to the top for the first time that day.
Lunch was another delicious Italian food experience at San Desiderio Ristorante near the back of the cathedral. B had penne with pork ragout and I had amazing braised beef. With drinks and a service charge it was only 30€ so not bad for such a touristy area. 
We then explored inside the cathedral and museum, which had a beautiful stained glass window from around 1200 AD that had been preserved during the war and never moved back to the church. The building itself is huge and is one of the largest cathedrals in Italy.
On the way out, we stopped and bought me some lovey Italian boots (yay!) as the weather is starting to get consistently wetter now and it was always my plan to buy a decent pair of ankle boots at this point in the trip rather than lug them around up to now.
We caught the bus back to Florence easily enough and had dinner at the Centrale Mercato with two other members of our tour….again. Can not recommend it enough….the pasta….omnomnom.
Tomorrow: Rome! The farewell dinner for our intrepid group is tomorrow 😦 it will be back to travelling with just us until we come back in two weeks. We still have Rome, Venice, Naples and Paris to go.
Mel
Mel's Travel Blog 