Getting to Siena

Even though my extra sight-seeing in Florence left something to be desired, I still left town with a bounce in my step. (If you recall, it was this particular afternoon I returned to my new favorite restaurant for my first meeting with panna cotta; and that certainly left NOTHING to be desired!) Besides that, I had successfully found the bus station, bought my ticket and boarded the right but - a major success considering my main mode of inter-city transport has, prior to this, been exclusively trains.

The bus ride to Siena was uneventful, other than the fact that I remembered that I CANNOT read or write in a moving vehicle. Often my travel days provide ample opportunity to reflect, and sometimes jot down a few notes. However trains are quite smooth rides and buses are...well buses. They jolt and jostle you all around and that seems to be especially true in Italy; they dart and jerk and frequently "change direction" unexpectedly.

Eventually I had to acknowledge that, like my Dad, me and motion just don't get along.* In the end though, it was a good thing my nausea forced me to put away my pen and paper, the drive was quite beautiful - especially since the sun was just beginning to go down.

Thus I arrived at the Siena bus station at dusk and in a light rain. Nevertheless, I was able to find my bus to the hostel with relative ease and check in. I had arrived at what I like to call the "no mands land" portion of the day: between about 3:00 and 7:00pm. In Italy, nearly EVERYTHING shuts down during this time; even the biggest cities become relative ghost towns. You can't eat, enter churches or museums, hardly any shops are open...it's simply dead.

As such, I decided this was a good opportunity to take a little nap before dinner. The last two nights sleep had been sparse and I was worn out. I settled into my two-bed room (no roomie - yes!!) and was quickly asleep. When I woke up it was 3 am! I had slept for eight hours! Whoops. I guess I was tired. I laughed at my "nap," did a mental shrug, got in my jammies, and settled in for 5 more hours of sleep; Siena would still be there tomorrow.

*Oddly enough, this does not apply to roller coasters. Which is weird, but in terms of Siena neither here nor there.