Today’s adventure was a visit to Siena, a walled city within Tuscany not terribly far from Florence. today’s drive was not nearly as treacherous or long as any of the previous days. It literally took us about 10 minutes to get to our parking garage. we intentionally picked the Santa Catarina garage because of its location and proximity to the Duomo of Siena. We left the house around 9:30 knowing that the Duomo opened at 10 but our tickets were not until 10:30. There was a hike we still needed to make but the best part was the escalator. Actually it was more like six escalators, taking us up to the city where we still had a very healthy walk up hill.

This is what someone wrote about Siena: where medieval charm and Tuscan beauty converge. Famous for its stunning architecture, including the iconic Piazza del Campo and towering Siena Cathedral, this city invites you to wander its historic streets, savour local cuisine, and experience the vibrant culture of its neighborhoods.

Our first stop was the Duomo, and Mom described it as magnificent. Nothing like the Duomo in Florence. Unfortunately, there were some construction going on, and nobody loves a crane in their photos. We came during a time when the magnificent floors were uncovered. The extraordinary inlaid marble mosaic floor of Siena’s Cathedral were unveiled on August 18. The uncovered floor can only be seen for a period of six to ten weeks each year, generally including the month of September. The rest of the year, they are covered and only a few are on display.

When Ed and I visited, Siena, I took a picture of the face of a woman on the floor of the Duomo. As we were walking around admiring the floor art, we happened upon the same maiden. I assume she’s a milk maiden or carrying water. I was looking for her, but did not remember where she was or if she was by herself and she was just one figure in enormous image. I think we got lucky to find her. She listed below in the second row far right.

After visiting the Duomo, we decided to walk to Piazza del Campo to see this beautiful square where the horses race twice a year. Not horse racing like we are used to seeing, it’s only three laps around the square. Each horse represents a different neighborhood and each neighborhood has a colored flag as a symbol worn by the horse and the jockey.

The first direction we walked all we could see was steps, steps and more steps so we went another direction, which was more like a slow incline. The streets were all cobblestones, but not exactly the way we think of them. There are wider stones and bigger stones then what we think of it sometimes small square stones. We walked past shops selling leather goods, balsamic vinegar, wine, salami, and cheese and the well-known Sienese sweet treats, and gelato of course. I was hoping to buy some panforte. This is a baked sweet characterized by a mixture of dried fruits, honey, candied fruits and spices. Of medieval origin, the first traces of Panforte date back to 1205, when it was called Panpepato (pepper bread) because a large amount of pepper was used in the dough. Over time, Panforte became an increasingly refined dessert served on the tables of the nobility on important occasions, such as Christmas. Panforte was also made in the apothecaries, who became the solo producers following the 1772 ordinance that prohibited the production of the cake outside the walls of Siena. The recipe still used today for Panforte dates back to 1879 when Queen Margaret visited Siena for the August Palio. The cake was thus renamed Panforte Margherita and contained fewer spices and featured a coating of icing sugar, unlike the earlier version.

We happened upon a restaurant to eat lunch called Mugolone. It’s located in Via dei Pellegrini, a central, passage between Piazza del Campo and Piazza del Duomo. As an appetizer, we had tomato carpaccio with Barata cheese, and a basil sauce. It was quite tasty just not as thin, a slice of tomato as we expected. Mom had the sliced steak with porcini mushrooms and just a hint of brown gravy. They called it sauce, but it didn’t need anything extra. It was so good. I had the fresh tagliolini, Normandy butter, black truffle. The waiter, shaved black truffles on the top of it. Oh my God, it was delicious. I learned later that it was the Michelin star restaurant. No wonder it was so good.

When we left Siena we attempted to stop at a supermarket which was closed from 1:30 to 4:30. That is difficult to get used to. So we went home, did some laundry, and made some iced tea. We were full from lunch so we didn’t need dinner, but will snack on weird little tiramisu treats. At the last winery we we went to, there was a group of women who took a cooking class and made tiramisu balls. They gave us their leftovers. They look like truffles, but are more cake like. Mom has a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies that are more like English biscuits.

Tomorrow is a free day, so we’ll figure out what our plans will be tomorrow morning.