 |
| Siena's Piazza del Campo |
Thursday’s weather forecast was
dismal, the worst since we came away; we were due to wake up to rain and for it
to stay all day with the occasional thunderstorm. As it turned out, we had very little rain,
but it was the first day that we haven’t seen the sun since leaving the boat
over 50 days ago ☹
Even though the weather was better
than expected we decided to stay put and do those things we planned to do
anyway. The main objective was to find
out more about a no deal Brexit and how it could impact our move to France next
year. Ironically, more is known about
the impact of a no deal Brexit, than an exit with a deal by 29 March next
year. In a way that’s obvious otherwise
we would know what the terms of a deal are and the impacts those terms would
have on us.
At least if a deal is struck then the
main impacts won’t affect us until the transition period is over at the end of
2020. With a no deal then the impacts
start affecting us in the next month or two, so we need to get into action ☹
The outcome of these
investigations is that, as well as shipping the boat out of the UK by 28th
March, we need to:
- Get long-term visas for France
- Obtain international driving permits
- Acquire a Green Card (many of you will remember that this is something we used to have to do before driving abroad to show proof of third-party insurance cover)
- Set up our boat Wifi and at least one phone with French providers (as surcharge free data roaming would no longer be guaranteed)
Buddy actually presents
the most problems. Currently, although
the UK isn’t a Schengen country, we are treated as one for all intents and
purposes. After Brexit we will be
treated as a ‘third country’ and, as far as pets are concerned there are three
different scenarios depending on what grade of third country the UK is
considered as.
- Listed part 1: No change but a very unlikely scenario
- Listed part 2: Need to register at a point of entry in France to show proof of rabies injections etc. Buddy will have to have a blood test (titre test) three months before we leave to prove there is enough rabies antibody in his system. We need to do this in December then!
- Unlisted: The most unclear scenario. Government advice is to visit the vet four months before departure ☹
Clearly, these aren’t the
only things we need to do, but it’s enough to be getting on with, especially as
we haven’t dealt with all the practical boaty things yet.
Friday saw us leaving
mid-morning and heading for a day out in Siena.
I don’t get that emotional about things, but I would say that Siena is
the most moving city I have ever been to so I was really looking forward to
returning and also sharing it with Karen as she had never been before.
Even at this late stage of
the season the tourists were out in force so thanks goodness we went on a
Friday and not the weekend. Of course,
we went to the stunning Piazza del Campo where the Palio horse race is held in
July and August and then walked around many of the side streets and other
piazzas. It was an amazing feeling
knowing that many of the buildings were over 600 years old.
There were very few signs
of the last Palio and nearly all the flags hung in the streets in the lead up
to the races had been taken down. Each
contrade, or district, has its own flag and I think there are 17 contrades in
Siena, compared with the three in our local town, Castel del Piano. Even though their last palio was over a month ago, the flags there have only just been taken down this week.
Unfortunately, dogs
weren’t allowed up the Torre di Mangia so I went up on my own. After walking around and visiting a few other
places we stopped back at Piazza del Campo for a quick beer – it would have
been rude not to at any price (it was more than double what we have paid anywhere
else this holiday). We then joined the
throngs in the square itself and had our picnic lunch sat on the herringbone
patterned brick paving which was laid across the square in 1349.
We finally managed to get
Buddy to drink from running water. Until
now he has always been too frightened to get near it. Karen encouraged him by cupping her hands and
letting him drink from them and slowly moved her hands away until he was
drinking straight from the water stream.
 | |
|
 |
| Torre di Mangia |
 |
| Looking down on Piazza del Campo |
 |
| The Escher-like steps of the tower - over 400 of them |
 |
| Looking down on the duomo from the top of the tower |
 |
| The duomo |
 |
| Buddy resting on the herringbone bricks laid in 1349 whilst we have our picnic |
 |
| Many of the bleachers aren't put away but they're not available for sitting on either. A misnomer I expect because I imagine these would be expensive seats as opposed to the traditional cheapest seats in the stadium (the original meaning of bleachers). |
 |
| Gelatos - even though it was Thursday - we are tourists after all |
 |
| On some marble steps - looks like we think we're in a dog show |
 |
By the way, after today’s
visit I would still say that Siena is the most moving city I have been to. I mentioned earlier about also being moved by
art and the only time art moved me was 20 years ago at the Monet
exhibition held at the Royal Academy.
Over 80 of his paintings had been collected from around the world and
exhibited for three months or so – it was spellbinding as well as breath taking
as it made me gasp out loud several times and my chest kept tightening too.
It’s Saturday today, so probably a quiet
day with a walk in the mountains.
A couple more shots of Siena from the top of the tower:
 |
| Looking down on the cathedral (duomo) |
No comments:
Post a Comment