We toured the Duomo Friday morning and meandered among its distinctive zebra-marble columns. The alleged arm of St. John the Baptist was nowhere to be found, but we did find some amazement in the beautifully carved pulpit intricately depicting various Bible stories.
One disturbing aspect of visiting churches in Italy is that most of them charge admission, but they must due to declining attendance. One of our guidebooks said admission to the Duomo is free; we found that's the case no longer. And once you're inside, you can get nickled and dimed for audio explanations of every significant piece of artwork. While the ticket booth clearly stated that the admission fees were to go to the church restoration, which was obviously under way as evidenced by the crane and scaffolding outside, it still didn't feel quite right that you were being shaken down to enter a house of worship. The story of Jesus and the moneychangers immediately comes to mind.
After a struggle to get out of Siena due to confusing street signs, we finally made it out and onto the Autostrada for the last leg of our Italian journey.
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