It was an early morning as we headed out the door to see some of the Vatican before the crowds arrived. We high tailed it to Saint Peter's and were in a short line by 8:15. As we walked in we noticed nobody seemed to be waiting to go to the top of the Basilica so 10 Euros later we were getting our morning stair workout. At the top of the wall (before the dome starts) there is a balcony that goes about half way around and is a great excuse to stop for a break and our first view of the interior of the basilica. From there up, the stairway narrows and the walls begin to curve as you actually ascend inside an arched gap between the outside roof of the dome and the inner dome that you can see from the basilica floor. Luckily, the walls are smooth tile so you can slide your hand on the downhill side and avoid losing your balance as you lean more acutely near the top. The view frome the top is quite amazing as you look across Vatican City, Rome and beyond. After getting our fill of vista views, we wound our way back down to the basilica floor for the more traditional visual experience.
You might think it goes without saying that the interior of Saint Peter's Basilica is amazing, but it must be said anyway. I am not Catholic, but the combination of being present in the place that is the center of one of world's largest religions as well as the supposed burial ground of Saint Peter is profound. Of course, the architecture and artistry is beyond description and it doesn't take long before it all becomes rather surreal.
We appreciated our efforts to arrive at the basilica early even more when we walked out to see the lines of visitors creeping across the square. Having worked up an appetite viewing all that ornate artistry, we wandered back to the flat for a very nice breakfast from Elisabetta. In addition to fun conversation, we had eggs, toast, pastries, and juice.
With breakfast taken care of, we quickly packed up and started our journey to Siena. As we stepped out on to the street, Sherrie noted the art supply shop across the way was open snd she wanted some watercolor paper. The other shop we noted was "aperto" was the gelateria just outside our front door. Between our early starts and late evenings, this was the first time we had noticed it open. It took a little arm twisting but Sherrie was able to coerce Mike into one last gelato before leaving Rome. We needed the strength to get us to the station and on to the next leg of our journey. Once we finished our treat we walked to the train station and checked for our train. It wasn't on the board but as we were early, we waited a while to see if it would show up. When our train number never appeared, we went searching for the information booth. We got some help from a local girl who makes money assisting lost tourists and got to the correct track. After giving the girl a small tip for her help, we were still perplexed by the lack of the correct train number. At the landing was a different train that was also going to the correct town (Grosetto) where we would hop the train to Siena. After some debate we jumped on the train just before it left and hoped for the the best. As it turned out, that was a great decision because we got to Grosetto, stepped off the train, looked around for about 15 seconds, and stepped on to the train to Siena. We figure we set a record for unhurried train connections as it was probably less than 2 minutes between exiting one train and sitting on the next train as it started to move. About an hour later we arrived in Siena, thanking St Peter and any other gods of travel kharma for a smooth journey. Getting from the train station to our place was very interesting. First, you walk across the parking lot and enter a shopping mall.....yes, a shopping mall. Then you ascend out of the mall and up a hill via a long set of interior escalators (and the only sloped moving sidewalk I have ever seen). After all that we emerged at the top of the hill looking at street signs. After walking up and down the same block a couple of time and staring at our maps for a while, we were saved by a local gentleman who took us in the right direction. As it turns out, much of Siena proper is inside a wall built during medieval times. You enter the old city through one a several very large gates called a "porta". We had seen the gate but had not considered going through as it looked like the entrance to a cathedral or park. Once inside it was a short walk to our place which is down a small side alley right next to an old church. As we came up to the gate, it buzzed open rather magically and we were officially welcomed to our new home for the next three nights.
Once we got situated in our room we took off to explore and find some dinner. Sherrie had a couple of recommendations from the guide book and we wound our way through the narrow streets until we found one of them. It wasn't open yet (despite what was otherwise posted on their door) so we did a little "window shopping" to kill some time. An hour and about 100 Euros later we were back and being shown to our table. The food was exceptional, our waitress very friendly and witnessing the locals seated near us eat and drink their way through their meal, created a most pleasant dining experience. After dinner we took a leisurely walk back to our room, snapping photos of picturesque roads and alleyways that were almost too perfect to be real.
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