​Day 8 - Friday 2018-10-12 Castellina to Siena

Day 8 - Friday 2018-10-12 Castellina to Siena return-59.3 km. 902m assent.

We started early as it was a big day planned to go to Siena via the walled town of Monteriggioni.

Karen would drive the car to rest her legs and to bring the spare batteries. It also allowed us to lighten our load.

We started on a twisty descent on the main SR222 via Fonterutoli. This is the direct route from Florence to Siena. We then turned west and followed the scenic SP119 via the hamlets of San Leonino and Lornano. We were still descending until we took a short gravel road, crossed the railway line, under the freeway and had a short climb to the walled village of Monteriggioni. I had cycled past in 2008, so put it on the list for this trip.

We cycled all the way into town square, where we met Karen. She was in the car today, and fortunately being out of peak the parking was available- judging by the amount of bus and RV Parking it appears to get busy in peak times.

We shopped for sovereigns (T-Shirts and olive oil jugs), and enjoyed the recuperating power of Italian Gelato.

The ride to Siena was 15km and a few wrong turns in the medieval roads, we met in the busy Piazza del Campo. This famous square hosts the crazy horse race twice a year. We had climbed the Torres del Mangia on Monday and it was much busier today.

We enjoyed lunch at an outdoor cafe just out of the busiest strip. We ordered pasta dishes to refuel the bicycle legs.

We then took Becky and Charlie on a Siena walking tour and admired the majestic Duoma Church with its striped construction on white and jade colored stone.

After changing the ebike battery, the ride back was generally uphill  via Badesse and Lornano and up the stunningly scenic SP119.

Karen had food shopped in Siena and we had a good picnic on the Villa Terrace. It was an enjoyable end to a good day’s touring.