We found our way to the bus station, and bought tickets. It was one ticket per person per ride, so we bought four tickets, to get us to and from Siena.
It was a nice comfortable tour-bus sort of bus. With seat belts. This little icon was attached to the back of the seat in front of me.
Another beautiful day in Tuscany! Here we go....
Crossing the Arno. I believe that tallest tower, on the left, is the Palazzo Vecchio.
Between the glare on the window and the reflection of my nice shiny silver camera, the pic isn't all that clear. Can you see the waterfall? I had wondered why I saw no boat traffic on the Arno (especially after seeing so much boat traffic on canals in Venice). I bet the presence of waterfalls explains the lack of boat traffic here.....
Tuscan trees against a bright blue sky.
There is another surface on the stone wall -- apparently for the purpose of affixing posters..... (Note olive trees at the top of the image....)
I didn't catch a sign which told me which town this is....
Love this building with all the trees and plants.
Informative sign, with bus schedule.
Via di Spugna is (according to google) Sponge Street. It helped me identify this town as Colle di Val d'Elsa. I asked Google maps where to find Via di Spugna, and it offered me the one in Colle di Val d'Elsa. I did a little walking in the street view, and found the building above with the plants on it -- a definitive identifier!
Note the mention of Poggibonsi in the lower right corner, above -- we went right past it on our way here.
And speaking of things I didn't know we went right past.... The little green A marker, on the right, in the top right quadrant of this next image, is on the agritourismo where we spent the night of the 10th -- 11th, with the sunny patio overlooking the amazingly quiet valley! The yellow road is the autostrade between Florence and Siena............ I had no idea we went right by our agritourismo, until I saw this map!
It was a fluke that I saw it at all. I had looked up the location of agritourismo Castello della Panaretta a few days before I wrote this post, and the tab with the map was still open in my browser. I asked that tab (which still showed the A marker you see below) to show me the way from Florence to Siena. It did so, leaving the A marker, and then I realized how close we had come, on the 13th, to the place we stayed a couple of days earlier.
I think I need to make a paper copy of a map, and draw on it, to show myself all the places we went, and all the ways we traveled between them........................
Leaving Colle di Val d'Elsa. Look at the sky! The clouds, disappearing toward the horizon......
Wow.
We have arrived in Siena, which is crammed with tourists (and cars).
I haven't seen as many dogs in the last few days as we saw in Venice and Bologna. Dachshunds, enjoying Siena.
Our host for the day picked us up in Siena. We walked with him through a small part of Siena as we walked to his car.
This is the oldest bank in the world. Monte di Paschi began in 1475.
It was Saturday, and this doesn't exactly look like a welcoming door, and I don't suppose it is the kind of bank where random tourists are welcome, but I'd like to have walked into the oldest bank in the world, just because!
This is Sallustio Bandini. The page I linked to is in Italian. It says he is a religious, a politician, and an economist. I bet he had something to do with the bank.......
I didn't notice the curly things on the buildings above until I saw the image on "the big screen."
I'm guessing they are flag holders..... This must be quite a sight, when there are flags in all the flag holders. I am imagining a lot of color, snapping in the breeze.....
The Siena Cathedral.
The magnificent and the mundane -- dwellings huddled against the hill on which stands the cathedral......
Zooming in -- laundry and gardens, a stone's throw downhill from the dome of the cathedral.
This tower is part of the Palazzo Pubblico -- town hall.
I believe this is San Domenico.
In order to facilitate chronological traversal of these posts, here is a link to the next post.
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