The church carved from humbug

The title is not an anti-clerical metaphor. I'm referring to the peculiar black and white striped boiled lolly. The cathedral in Siena appears to be carved from humbug.

Michal Osmenda 

Lyn woke this morning and declared that after 3 nights in Florence she was homesick for the wonders of Warrimoo. To shake herself out off this slough of despond she declared she was ready for an adventure. We decided a trip by bus to Siena was the cure.

She bought the tickets and then we got on the wrong bus. Thankfully, we realised our error before it left. The right bus, Siena Rapido, took us to Siena relatively rapido.

Siena was a great city which succumbed to second-rate status due to a combination of the Black Death and Florence. This case of late-medieval arrested development has earned it world heritage classification. Or, as Lyn explains, "Siena looks different."

It looked even more 'different' today because some strange artistic festival has seen the entire city decorated with brightly coloured plastic animals. We had cobbled alleys, medieval houses, Gothic architecture and orange meerkats.

We found Siena Duomo, the cathedral, and well - it is simply the most amazing building I have ever seen. The facade starts off as spectacular, all pointed arches and stuff, then they added paintings, gold leaf, sculptures in every niche and gargoyles and whatnots hanging off it in all directions. If it wasn't so amazing you'd laugh.

Inside, the humbug columns are downright distracting. There was the usual confection of an altar, exquisitely carved and painted choir stalls, some stained class, rows of carved popes on high, frescoes everywhere - the Sienese had nowhere safe to look.

Incredibly, at our feet was a greater wonder. Siena spent two centuries hiring great artists to illustrate the marble paving. They graduated from designs crafted from drilled holes and bitumen - to coloured marble. Hundreds of years of the walking faithful have worn them to the extent that they are all uncovered for only a few weeks each year. We got lucky.

Early type

Later type. Is that Gandalf?

We explored the crypt, the baptistery and the museum.

Madonna of the death stare

Library roof

Lyn discovered a plant growing in the sheer marble wall of the baptistery. Can you see it? And did you notice the duck earlier?

We rested from these explorations with lunch. I played safe with the lasagna and Lyn ordered a seafood tagliatelle. The seafood looked too much like sea creatures for her tastes so she insisted we swap dishes. I reluctantly complied. She then gloated about the wonderful lasagna. Then, a moment of realisation, "This is going to be in the blog isn't it?"

We visited the giant segmented campo, home of the famous Pallio, admired the very high bell tower, and then went in search of the bus station.

We missed the Florence Rapido by seconds and then it began to rain. Rather than wait an hour for the next Rapido we caught the Florence not so Rapido. We got to see some interesting Tuscan countryside and eventually got home in time for me to watch the last three quarters of Australia v Fiji.