Crazy crazy day!

This morning we woke a bit late.  First order of the day was to pick up our rental car. The rental location was about 5 km from our hotel so we hopped in a taxi and tried to remember the route as we had to come back to our hotel.  Ha! Anyway we talked to the clerk at the agency about changing our drop off and at the end decided we would bring the car back to Livorno.  That settled we got in our Fiat, which Jeff has since declared a "hunk of junk"!!!! Graeme, the gears are ridiculous! As is the suspension, and this was an upgrade! Nuff said about the car.
We are using Graeme and Joanie's GPS which they have kindly lent to us and we could not get the gps to switch off of Sardinia, so in frustration we set off to find our way to the hotel. We later rememberd that the gps satellite takes time to register. We found ourselves down a narrow street and drove smack into a market......normally this would be a good thing. We pulled over to the curb while we thought about how we could negotiate through as there was no way we could reverse. Jeff is wrestling with the gps, I'm connecting my phone to google maps and there is a knock at my window. Yes it is the carbinerios! Fortunately he was very helpful and told us two right turns ...then go straight . He knew where the Hotel Gran Duca was.  Whew! Could have been a lot worse. He then proceed to hold back traffic and lead us to our first right turn. Amen!
Back at the hotel we had missed breakfast but there was a lovely coffee shop on the corner, not busy and the girl serving was very sweet....so a nice experience ! Now that we have decided to return the car to Livorno we have booked ourselves on a flight from Pisa (24km from Livorno) back to Paris on May 31st.
We packed up, checked out and were on the road, gps now operating in the correct part of Italy, by 12:30.
Our destination today was Siena and we were taking the coastal route. Livorno is quite large and it was taking some time to exit the city, the beaches were numerous and looked quite rocky. There were people laying on the rocks in every nook and cranny sunning themselves.  It being Saturday every square inch of space along the side of the road had a parked car or motorbike on it. People getting out of their vehicles loaded down with towels, food and libation.
As we passed the port we saw the fishermen with the morning catch, cleaning it in sheds by the road, seagulls everywhere waiting for the spoils. Fishermen carrying crates of fish weaving through the traffic to waiting customers on the opposite side. Traffic is going every which way...why do they bother with lines?
We pass through many small villages, Castglioncello, Casole de Elsa, an old walled city on a hilltop just 22 km from Siena......looks worth a visit.  The drive was through beautiful countryside, rolling hills, wine country, walled hilltop villages, unfortunately made less enjoyable by the insane motorcycles, who passed without caution or care for themselves or others on the road. It was quite unnerving especially for Jeff. Being Saturday they were out in full force.  We stopped at a roadside bar for a drink  and a rest on the covered patio with a magnificent view.  Another village Monteriggioni, ringd by a stone wall and we were close to Siena.  Entering Siena we had our eyes peeled for our hotel, we saw a sign with an arrow and followed it till the arrows were no more, round and round we went.....tired and thirsty. After way to much time we found ourselves at the same spot again......it was the entrance to the walled part of the city......yes our hotel was mere meters inside the walls!!!!!!!
We checked in and flopped for a few minutes then ventured out to walk up to the duomo It was an uphill walk and we were soon enticed into a bar whose chalkboard outside beckoned us for the view.
A wander around the narrow streets and many photos later we came to the duomo, which was closed to visitors.
Back in our hotel we made a reservation on our hotel patio for dinner .....it has a fabulous view of the surrounding valley laid out below.
The patio was quite full of diners, a young couple was seated at the table next to us.....the beautiful young lady was dressed fashionably in a very short skirt but what really caught my attention was her shoes! Black patent high heels with a gold strip on the heel and at the top of each heel there was a
small gold  padlock!!!!! Exquisite.  
Our meal finished we left the patio to walk down to an area below the hotel where a local Festival was in full swing.....many hundreds of people eating at long tables being served by young people who were delivering food from a large fired bbq. There will be a band and dancing afterwards. Tourists are  invited to join in but it seemed too much to deal with after our day.
We wandered  back to our hotel hoping the rain would be stopped at Roland Garosso so we could cach some tennis.
Bonne Serra! And Goodnigh!