We took a 9:10am bus to Siena today and wandered around all day in the rain. The Fort was closed and the Duomo (“Duomo” means ca thedral, not “dome” as we cognate whores assume) was covered with a giant billboard showing what it will look like after it’s refurbished, but so what? The old part of Siena retains is medieval shape and a lot of its medieval stones. The streets are wider and not as warren-y as those in other medieval towns I’ve visited. Well worth the beautiful ride and the rainy day.

We came back in time to sneak a visit to the inside of Florence’s Duomo. It’s a huge empty space; the one euro audio kiosk did not explain why it’s sparsely decorated and furnished. In fact, the audio kiosk didn’t explain much. The inside of the dome depicts what heaven might look like – remarkable ( especially the foreshortening), but it pales compared to Michelangelo’s vision of the last day in the Sistine Chapel – the Duomo’s seems static compared to it. Of course, that’s a pretty tough act to follow.

Time’s up at this Net cafe…

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