Day 30 - Last Days in Florence

Since I'm already a little behind for not updating yesterday, let's jump right into the update.

• Spaghetti. That was the best batch of spaghetti sauce I've made it yet. I was a little worried I'd make another crappy batch like I made in England. There's just no excuse for bad pasta in Italy. Sadly, though, my own pasta is the best I've had since I've been here. I think
• Siena. I would never have thought of going to Siena, but Marc was going, and after banging my head against closed signs all day Sunday, I was happy to blow town for a day. Siena has some nice old buildings in it. It was definitely a good photo day. Marc likes to climb stuff as well, so we went up the tower in the center of town. It was only 83 meters tall (pfft), but it was the tallest thing around, so it had to do. From there we got lovely shots of the six or seven churches (for a town with only 60,000 people). Of course the stats on Italy are probably something like 80% catholic, so I guess that's a reasonable ratio. It was pretty sunny out, so I think I did a good job of maintaining my sunburn. I should be thoroughly freckled by the time I return.
• Museums. It worked out well that it was rainy and cold this morning, as I didn't have to think twice about trying to catch one more museum. The archeological museum here has absolutely nothing on the British Museum or Louvre, but there were a few interesting items, and I don't have to wonder what I missed.
• Lunch. After my success with the spaghetti, I decided to try my luck and roast some garlic for lunch. I put the garlic in the oven as it was heating, then let my brown and serve baguette cook along side it. I think I'd give the garlic five minutes more of a head start next time to make it truly spreadable, but it was still really good. I guess Italy just brings out the chef in people. I also picked up some orange and carrot juice at the store. It made a nice mild companion to the bread. I'm glad Dany (Hi Dany!) turned me onto it.
• Il Duomo. I'd already taken a quick trip through, but I wanted to get a few more snaps. The place was almost deserted. I keep wanting to go into a deserted cathedral and start belting out the choral music from Halo. (Hi Dany! ;) Maybe if I can get into the Sistene Chapel before anyone else.

So now I'm in the internet cafe getting ready to burn a CD of my pictures and UPS it, along with some other souveniers. I also need to get my directions to the hostel (Il Chercino, I think) written down. It's supposed to be right next to the vatican, so I may have to tell New Pope to keep it down if he hasn't stopped celebrating his election into the wee hours.