You don't see that every day...

Ahh...Siena. I was so tired when I arrived, I actually regretted coming to Siena. Il Campo, the Duomo, the cathedral, and San Domenico are lovely, but I was just too damn tired to appreciate them. And, on top of it all, my feet freaking HURT. The only time they don't hurt is after a long night's sleep. Once I'm up and moving, they hurt again...oh the perils of travel.

Anyhow, I got up this morning thinking that I would just take it easy. For my feet's sake and for my mental well-being. I wandered to Il Campo (about a block from my old, kind of grungy but utterly charming and typical Italian hotel) to sit on the square and have my croissant and cappucino. The square was blocked off - strange. Stranger - there were people doing something technical in the square. Once I found someone who could actually speak English, I found out that scenes from the new James Bond movie (Quantum of Solace) are being filmed here. They've hired a ton of locals to scream and shout and wave flags while Daniel Craig runs through the crowd. Apparently, the scene involves the twice-a-year death-defying Palio horse races (riders are frequently mortally wounded during the race, but only the horse has to cross the finish line to win - the riders are just for show). Palio only happens during June and August, and it's impossible to get a room anywhere near Siena during these times, but I get to see a little bit of it today, So what if it's just staged for the movie?

Sneaking around the perimeter of Il Campo, I actually saw Daniel Craig! He was being misted with water and had a ton of makeup on (he looked pretty beat up, and bloody). I was about 20 feet away when I finally got a picture. Security made me leave the square, but I got to keep the picture!

Anyhow, watching them shoot the Palio scene over and over and over was boring, so I wandered through Siena. At the cathedral, you can climb up, up, up to the roof through a claustrophobic spiral staircase. It's an amazing view of the Tuscan hillsides! The guardrail/brick wall is only about 2 feet high, though (with signs to not lean over the side - no shit!). It's a bit disorienting to be that high up without much of a barrier against a long drop.

Finally, I just booked my hotel for Venice. I'm skipping Florence this time (not enough time to really appreciate it, although I'm already regretting missing the Accademia...and David). I bought a phone card and with my broken Italian, I managed to reserve a room in Venice near (maybe on?) the Grand Canal. Yay me! Although tomorrow will be another travel day, I'm still pretty proud that I got up the bollocks to call a hotel directly and stumble my way through completely foreign territory! If nothing else, this trip has taught me that I can do just about anything I set my mind to.