Pope/Siena - cont.

Stupid scrolling issue.  Ugh. Anyway, the Pope said stuff I couldn't understand, then said a prayer that included words I recognized (I think the prayer was in Latin?), and then said more stuff in Italian. As I said, I didn't understand, but the last minute or two of the address had all the hallmarks of a series of shoutouts!  He would say something that seemed like a name of something (the word university was part of one) and then a small pocket of the assembled crowd would cheer. I don't know how you get a Papal shoutout, but I want one. I'll even learn Italian so I don't miss it!

Getting out of the Square post-Pope was not as bad as I thought. The crowd dispersed surprisingly easily, or at least in a clumpy enough manner to allow me to get around and past lots of them. I had another yummy pasta dish and then set out for the bus station with my way too heavy bag. I wasn't sure I could pull off the journey and find the right bus station before the bus left, but I did it!  Phew. The bus was a great call. No one sat next to me and after 3 hours I was dropped off a block from my Siena hotel. Yay!

After checking in, I set to wandering and stumbled upon Siena's claim to fame where I had more pasta with a view. When I went to Germany a couple years ago, the abundance of yummy sausages was fun at first, but quickly grew old and left me craving any other type of food. No such luck with pasta. I still want to eat it at every meal!  Last night I wanted gnocchi, but went with Siena's specialty - pasta with wild boar. It was ok, but I think I would have preferred gnocchi. Oh well, gotta try new things!

Today, I braved morning rain to do more wandering and check out Siena's Duomo. The rain helped convince me to buy the ticket for the museum and cathedral (I'm not proud of how little interest I have in art when the alternative is wandering around a new place). That wasn't a mistake. The rain stopped for a bit so I could enjoy the view of the Tuscan countryside. The cathedral is really stunning and the little tablet they give you as a multimedia guide was really cool. The rest of the day brought more wandering, pasta, and wine. I am so much better at vacation than working!  Off to Florence tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!  Pics in next post...