Siena

A very quick trip to Siena today; three hours at most.

Time to admire the main piazza, the Campo, where the annual bareback horserace - the Palio - is held. Siena is flying the flags of the many contrade who compete in the race each year, the turtle, the unicorn, the lion and so on.

Another kind of race is taking place today, with vintage cars tooting their way through the Campo as they begin their rally. We visit the Museo Civico and admire Martini's Guidoriccio da Fogliano, Captain of the Sienese army, riding victorious against the Montemassi. The fresco stretches the entire upper wall of the room and the landscape of Siena is barren against the midnight sky. On the opposite wall Martini's Maesta of the Virgin Mary enthroned is all gilded arches and blazing blue and rose tints.

Our last stop is the amazing facade of the Duomo; carved saints, angels, animals, flowers and fruit jostle for space on the green and white marble surface. The belltower, banded in black and white and rightmost in the photo, was completed in 1313. This church is massive and impressive - as my guidebook says, Siena had defeated Florence 80 years earlier and the city was 'feeling its oats'. Siena was by now its rival's equal as a middle-class ruled republic.

Siena has a brief and sharp downpour as we head back to the main stazione and our last evening in Montepulciano. Tomorrow we travel up to the north of Italy, and the Cinque Terre for the last leg of our trip.