Siena

We had a day in Siena. It's an hours drive from Greve so we drove in.
First stop for me was to get my hair cut. It had grown - well wild - and a cut was in order. I asked the lovely Andreea we met in a restaurant in Greve and I asked her advice where to go. She recommended Siena and rang and made the appointment for me which was above and beyond and much appreciated. She thought that the staff would speak English and all would be well. Not quite. We found a park relatively easily and I turned up at the right time and entered. The receptionist was very nice but told me in half Italian half English I needed to make an appointment - maybe tomorrow or the next day. They were very busy today. I held my ground and said - "no now" and pointed at the appointment book. She insisted she understood but I needed to come back - maybe Sunday etc. And so on we went for what seemed like about 5 minutes. Finally the hairdresser came and looked at the book and said - "Juzzie."  I said YES rather loudly I think whereupon the receptionist apologised in English and Italian for many minutes - not only for her not understanding but also her poor English. I decided not to apologise for my poor Italian in fear of confusing the issue but repeated it's OK and smiled throughout. So I was directed to sit and wait. I was somewhat alarmed when the lady in front of me - about my age and rather large took off a wrap and exposed her underwear before going to the back of the salon. I wondered if stripping was part of the deal! However I was given a wrap and put it on over my clothes and they didn't protest. The lady reappeared in a very smart white top and my guess is she had had her hair coloured and did not want to risk it getting dirty.
So all went well from there on and my hair was duly cut - I had little or no say in how but the results are OK and it was about 2/3 of what I pay in Melbourne.
Siena
Siena is a lovely walled town. It's heyday was in the 12th century and is largely Gothic in origin. About 2/3 of it's residents died in the plague in 1348 and it lead to a centuries long economic downturn. This also meant there was little reconstruction and it is now listed by UNESCO's world heritage organisation as "the living embodiment  of a medieval city."
In it's centre is the square - Il Campo. It's here that there's a horse race twice a year dating from the middle ages. Riders from 10 districts compete for a silk banner which is hotly contested. The horses are ridden bareback and the race lasts about a minute. To get a view, unless you're lucky enough to somehow get onto one of the lovely balconies, you need to take your place 4-5 hours

before and not move until it's finished. (A hint - don't drink too many fluids that day). We're told the price of everything goes up heaps during this time so for me I'm happy to leave it and watch the video even though I'm sure many have a great time and it's lots of fun for some.

The other amazing sight in Siena is the Duomo (cathedral) built in 1215 - 1300 and beyond. No picture I take could give it justice but these are my best attempts. It's exterior is built of marble of different colours - a real feast for the eyes.

It's marble floor inside is also famous. I was intrigued by the patterns.

Italians are very fussy about dress in their cathedrals. Women must not have bare shoulders. I had not seen these disposable wraps before which they now give women to put on to cover themselves up if they don't comply with the dress code - fortunately I did. I wouldn't call them fashion items at all as you can see. However I think when you can wear it with the panache of the girl at above you really have the "it" factor.

I generally find cathedrals to be sombre but this one is not. It is quite light and has these great black and white columns - the colours of Siena. I'm surprised that it's called Gothic because my usual experience of Gothic is very austere but I'm no expert. Hope this gives you a bit of an idea of what it's like.

We also visited the (wait for it) Complesso Museale Santa Maria del Scala. It is an old hospital built in the 13th century and cared for abandoned children and the poor. There are some wonderful frescoes depicting the care given at this time which are really intricate and interesting.
We were also lucky enough to find that they had a photographic exhibition on by Steve Curry. He is an American and took this famous photo of a young Afghanistan girl in a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1985 that many of you will recognise. He went back and found her in 2002 and has helped her and her family since. He takes amazing portrait photos and the exhibition was quite haunting. It was in the basement of the old hospital (I'm not writing the whole name again) and very atmospheric. It included the photo of this girl in 2002. She looks like she's had a hard life. Hopefully the exhibition will come to Australia one day.

    It was a hot day so we needed an ice cream after all that culture. They were dressed up Siena style!

                  You can't go to Siena without buying a Siena cake and we did - delicious.