Siena Saturday

This morning Janet, Marina and I decided that we should see a bit of tourist Tuscany. So, avoiding the Duomo-bound crowds in Florence, we jumped on the train to Siena. Said to have been founded by the children of Romulus and Remus, there are statues of the wolf and the children all over the city - including the one in the fountain which in this picture shows the wolf getting its teeth flossed by an accomodating pigeon!
Famous for the shell-shaped Piazza, the location of the annual Palio, Siena has a reputation for being beautiful. For us it was very nice, but not really of the same wow factor as Florence, maybe we are spoiled here!
We wandered around a bit and took the obligatory pics of the Duomo and the Piazza del Campo (its amazing how totally blase you can become about the history here after a while - oh look, its another thirteenth century construction....) then tried to grab some lunch, only to find everywhere closed. We ended up with paninis from a great salumeria with a boar's head outside the door, which we tucked into in a graffiti-filled alley sitting on someone's windowsill, next to an Ape truck. Not exactly a tourist's delight, but it was a mean sarnie!
Post-lunch we headed back onto the main drag, and after a lovely coffee and some of Siena's famous Panforte (literally strong bread - like a sweet dense fruit cake made of almonds and candied peel) we went to the Fortezza Medicea to have a stroll and take some pics.
On the way back to the station, we stopped at one of the main sights of the day - the Benetton 50% off sale- for a bit of retail therapy.
It is only about 6 euros to Siena on the city and one of the main selling points that it has for me is the relative lack of people. The Saturday crowds are pretty overwhelming here, and Siena felt sleepy in comparison.
it's a pretty place, but after this, my second visit, I am not sure that I would dash back. It just seems to be missing something to make it change in my eyes from nice to really special.
Although the Palio is on August 16th, and is said to be really awe-inspiring.. so never say never.