Day 6 & 7: Siena
Since we arrived late in Volterra the previous day, we had a quick walk around the town before we packed up and hit the road to Siena. Starting with a height advantage helped, but the overall trip was still long, and it was a brutally hot day at times. We stopped for a break at the medieval fort of Monteriggioni halfway along the route to Siena. The road up and through the town gate was so steep that it had ridges created by interleaving the paving stones to give extra traction! One of the gates into Monteriggioni. The fort/town is one of Siena's defensive structures built around the 13th century to protect trade routes against attacks from their rival Florence. In fact, this is where the Dante Alleghieri hid out after he had angered some powerful Florentines with his caricatures of them in his Inferno. It still has all of its tall walls and 13 turrets intact. Main square of Monteriggioni Siena is possibly a challenger to Florence, in terms of having impre...