Siena 2025 - Day 8

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 – Day 8

Waking up before the alarm at 8. Off to Siena (as always, perfectly Italian parked at the last free parking spot in Parcheggio Stadio / Fortezza) and to Poste Italiana to send our postcards, giving them a better chance of arriving than last year. But first, please take a number. There are also nice stamps for that. Thus, the realization from the few past trips: As long as you can still send postcards, definitely keep writing them and then send them at the main post office. Just good “old school.”

At breakfast in the Bar Il Palio at the square, we overestimate ourselves and have to leave half of the focaccia behind because the chocolate croissant is more important and the best in the world. We then buy tickets for the Torre del Mangia, so wonderfully offline directly at the cash register of the city museum at the foot of the tower. Until the ascent, we wander around to the woman in the window, visit a Polish mass in the Basilica di San Francesco, and then marvel at 4 English Lamborghinis lined up in front of the church at Piazza San Francesco. It’s a little taste of what tomorrow holds.

So up we go to the Torre del Mangia – 400 steps and very, very narrow. After the obligatory photos, we head back down; it just had to be done. But if we were to rank our tower ascents on this vacation, the Torre del Mangia wouldn’t be in first place. In my view, the Facciatone is much better, as is the Duomo.

In our bar (Birra Bader), we refresh ourselves with lemonade and Negroni and good music. While strolling through the old city, we encounter a large contingent of police, all in Alfa Romeos – Giulia, Tonale, and Giulietta. Bravo! And finally, we also see a Vespa, then another one – even in beige!

On to shopping! Candy Lisa, Limoncello, wine, Grappa, pasta, Salsiccia, truffle oil, risotto, ragu, and various souvenirs. Packed and completely exhausted, we head home first, catch our breath, cool down, and jump in and by the pool. Enjoy the sun, read a book, and make a quick stop at COOP for a snack for the evening. There we meet the nice waitress from the super local and ask about their olive oil. The cook is supposed to be there tomorrow morning; we will stop by.

'Thank you, goodbye!'