Today we had our last day to explore Siena before catching the bus to Florence. For breakfast we stopped at a pastry shop and tried a typical Sienses cookie - ricciarelli. These cookies are fantastic - almond flavored cookies with powdered sugar on top. I thought they'd be crunchy, but they are really soft inside, almost like they're not cooked. We got more for our bus ride to Florence.
We walked through town to find the house of Saint Catherine, the patron saint of Europe. On the way to her house, we found a famous fountain - the Fontebranda - once a main source of water for the town for drinking, animals, cleaning, and all industrial needs. Nearby, we found Saint Catherine's house - she was the youngest of 25 children who started having heavenly visions at a young age and then in her twenties, somehow convinced the Pope to move the papacy from Avingon, France to Rome. Her house is clearly not as it was in the 1300's, and now has a church, chapel, and more.
Afterwards we went to check out an art gallery that had a show of photographs of the Palio (the famous Sienese horse race), but were only able to peak through the windows. Then we walked entirely across town again (luckily the town isn't too big, because we didn't really plan our the walking routes too well) to see the Basilica of St. Clemente, which wasn't too interesting. There were some great views of the city and the basilica was right next to a "clubhouse" of one of the 17 neighborhoods.
At this point, we'd basically seen the major sites of Siena and more, so we went to look for a place for some lunch. We found a cafeteria-style place which served some homemade food. You basically pick out what you want, the guy behind the counter serves you, and then you pay based on what you choose (not by weight, which makes the pricing a little suspicious). We had some really tasty food that was not your usual pasta/pizza. Barley with pesto, a chickpea salad, a fennel gratin, some bacon-wrapped roasted chicken and potatoes, and olives. Yum. For dessert we bought another typical Sienese item called panforte. Its sort of like a dense fruitcake, but mostly sugar, honey, fruit and nuts. And covered in powdered sugar. We preferred the ricciarelli, but this wasn't a bad treat.We went to pick up our bags from the hotel and made the long walk to the bus station. Here we caught our bus to Florence, just over an hour long. The bus stayed mostly on the freeway so there wasn't much too see except the leaves starting to change color on some of the trees (there might have been more to see but I fell asleep).
Once in Florence, we walked from one end of the city to the other with all of our stuff to get to our apartment. We're staying in a great apartment on the side of the Arno opposite the Duomo, for those who know Florence. The owner of the apartment met us here to check us in, and she was really great and chatty which is a nice change from some of the people we've been dealing with at other places we've stayed. We settled in and then went to the grocery store to stock up on some things since we'll be here for two weeks.
There are so many great things about Florence, but one of the reasons we came back here is because of a restaurant where we had a fantastic meal two years ago. Neither of us remembered the name or exact location of the restaurant, but somehow we picked an apartment that is literally down the block from it! We found it as we were making our way to the supermarket. Of course today is Monday, when the restaurant is closed, but now we know where it is, and we plan to eat here several times over the next two weeks.
Tonight we stayed in, cooked some dinner and relaxed. There is something about this apartment that it already feels like home.
We're definitely going to enjoy our time here!
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