In order to read our Italy 007 travel story from day one, click here.
Monday 27 July 2015
Late last night 007 Travelers (Pirita, Mika and Little Agent Traveler) arrived in Siena.
Siena
About:
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Accommodation
Hotel: Al Mercato B&B
Address: Via Giovanni Duprè, 11, 53100 Siena, Italia
Booked: Via booking.com
Price: 110,00 EUR / 1 night
City tax: 2,50 EUR / person / night
Breakfast: Included
Wi-Fi: Free
Parking: 25,00 EUR / night, Private parking 1 km from the hotel, pre-booking needed
Check-in:15.00 - 19.00
Check-out: 06.00 - 11.00
Room type: Triple room, with balcony and city view, 20m2
B&B is located in the medieval center of the city, so inside the Traffic Limited Area (ZTL zone) special permitt of 30 minutes to enter for leaving/carrying luggage is needed.
ATTENTION: GPS doesn't work properly inside the historic center! If you want to get inside the ZTL please inform B&B in advance!
In case you are coming in Siena by car, see these solutions:
PAYING PARKINGS:
- private garage inside the ZTL 18 EUR per night (small cars 150 meters
distance, big cars 400 meters distance). RESERVATION IS NEEDED!
- parking IL CAMPO (inside gate Porta Tufi) 400 meters from B&B. 25 EUR per
night.
- outside Porta Tufi (in Strada dei Tufi: exit Siena South, direction porta
Tufi) in the BLUE LINES in the street: 1,50 EUR per hour from 8am to 8pm. The
night is for free. Distance 500 meters on foot.
FREE PARKING SPACES:
- free parking lot in Strada Dei Tufi. Bus 54 on the opposite side arrives
in Piazza del Mercato in 20 minutes. Distance 2 km.
- free parking spaces in the WHITE LINES close to the Fortezza Medicea
(viale Vittorio Veneto). This is comfortable if you do not have very much
luggage. Distance 1-1,2 km by foot.
We got our room key from the B&B´s office, Anisa was very helpful and also interested in James Bond.
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Mika / 007 Travelers
at B&B´s door at Via Giovanni Duprè, 11, Siena
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Al Mercato is a family-run B&B in Siena's historic centre, overlooking the Torre del Mangia tower. It offers rooms with wood-beamed ceilings and has a restaurant serving local dishes on the ground floor. The B&B is just a few steps from Piazza del Campo and Siena Cathedral.
Our room was number 1, which is one of the seven rooms of this B&B.
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Triple room, with balcony and city view, 20m2
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Yesterday we had our dinner in Ristorante Pizzeria Malborghetto at Via di Porta Giustizia, 6, Siena. But we did not try jumping on the rooftops like James Bond and the double agent Mitchell (Glenn Foster).
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Making of "Quantum of Solace" in Siena, Italy
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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Double agent Mitchell escaping Bond
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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Ristorante Pizzeria Malborghetto
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We had our breakfast at this breakfast room.
This beautiful view was waiting for us when we looked out of the window.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
After breakfast it was time to explore Siena´s Bond places.
First place to visit in the morning was this interesting square called Piazza del Campo. On this square Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" (2008) was partly filmed.
Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At the northwest edge is the Fonte Gaia.
We were here in the morning and already at 8.00 it was +27C, hot!
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| The Fonte Gaia ("Fountain of the World") was built in 1419 |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race that is held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards. The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Just southeast from the Piazza del Campo we found the entrance of the safe house which is seen in the movie.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Actually there is a service tunnel and we were lucky to see it was open.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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Bond driving to safe house
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
We also took photos of the street where James Bond (Daniel Craig) walked.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Look how beautiful Siena is!
After checking out we walked towards the parking hall and saw the location where Bond with his Aston Martin arrive in Siena.
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
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| Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
This is the spot where the camera crew was when filmed the scene.
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Making of "Quantum of Solace" in Siena, Italy
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Then it was time to drive to Florence where we were going to visit Hard Rock Cafe. We tried to find a place to park our car and we had to drive couple of times around the corner. No parking place but later in back in Finland there were two tickets waiting for us due to unauthorized driving in two different streets. Damn!
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| Florence |
So it was really an unpleasant surprise. The tickets expires in five years in Italy, but if you have not paid and travel again by car in Italy, and the police reaches you, they will raise the amount of the ticket and you have to pay it at once.
We continued towards Ferrari town Maranello, read the next day here.
