I actually managed to pack most of the extras. Decided the patatine (potato chips) were not worth taking up space because they would just be dust and I also left behind the shampoo. I will have to use hotel shampoo and hope it is of reasonable quality. I also packed some veggies for snacks although other fridge contents were sent to the compost bin.

I pre-booked a taxi because it was supposed to be rainy and I wanted a taxi at the door of the apartment building to avoid dragging my luggage in the rain. Of course, it turned out to be a sunny morning.

This was my route out of the apartment. First, the stairs to the door.

Then a short flight down.

Another longer set of steps which seems to have railing problems.

Past the chair lift with a sign saying private property. Whoever owns it is not letting others use it as a donkey to carry their luggage.

Then the tricky longer flight with a wobbly railing on one side and none on the other. Stopping to take photos was a good way to ease down all these steps carrying luggage.

You might think this is the ground floor with an exit door on the right, but you would be wrong. The door leads to another stairway which looked too dark, dusty and plain creepy for me to ever try it. I had no idea where it lead to.

So another long flight down to get to the ground floor.

There were somewhere between 83-85 steps. I tried to count but kept getting different numbers because I lost concentration, probably from lack of oxygen.

My taxi arrived early—unheard of in Italy! It took 8 minutes to get to Termini Station. I had planned to buy tickets when I got there but earlier I had changed my mind and booked through the Trenitalia app on my phone the night before. With almost an hour before my train departed, I wandered around and contemplated places to look into if I have time when I return. Mercato Centrale is located as part of the station building and has a lot of tempting lookng places to eat and/or drink.

We departed on time.

For the high speed Frecciarossa train, you can make a seat reservation. I took a single seat at the end of the carriage. This turned out to be a poor choice because the end single seat has no luggage rack overhead. It meant putting my backpack on the floor under the seat in front, like on an airline, except my backpack was overstuffed and would not fully go under. Since my legs are so short this only impinged a little on my leg space but for most people, it could be uncomfortable.

I tried sketching. It was a bit of a laugh trying to draw anything like a straight line. The effort made me appreciate how much lateral movement happens on a train.

The train arrived late because it had to wait for confirmation of its platform. I wondered if the train crash in Spain has had an effect on train operations. I don’t recall this happening before. When we were to leave for Siena, the train also had to wait for an okay to go.

The train to Siena is a regionale that stops pretty much at every station.

The trip between Rome and Florence was about an hour and three-quarters. The much shorter trip to Siena was an hour and a half.

The forecast had been for rain in Siena but when I arrived, it was sunny. Since I had not seen much of this area when I came to Italian school in 2024, I went for a wander.

I had been on this street before, Via Banchi di Sopra. Siena doesn’t have easy to find street signs showing the name.

I saw this square before, Piazza Salimbeni, in front of Palazzo Salimbeni, which was built to be the offices of one of the or possibly the oldest bank in the world, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The guy in front is some religious figure whose name I’ve forgotten. The palazzo has a museum that is rarely open to the public because there are still bank offices in the building.

I went into this little art supply store and got a small sketchbook in the hope that I will soon fill the one I brought.

This is part of Tuscany so lots of multicoloured stone.

The above must be a new build.

Since it was Saturday lots of people were out strolling.

This hotel has a glass elevator. I am not a fan of glass elevators. I may try the stairs.

I like the label but the price under €10 and the 2024 vintage was too scary to buy.

Instead I bought:

Since I did not have lunch, only snacks on the train, I went for dinner early by Italian standards. One of the restaurants I tried was full but I found another where it was just me and a family with a two-year-old.

Below: Tagliatelle con ragú chianina, spinaci and il calice di vino rosso.

Very traditional Tuscan meal and quite inexpensive.

The bread was traditional Tuscan bread without salt. It’s surprising how the lack of salt makes the bread taste like nothing. I ate it by swiping a chunk through the pasta sauce.