Seeing Siena

We've certainly been on the move the past few days between travelling to Pisa yesterday and now Siena today. The weatherman anticipated that Siena would get snow and rain today, but of course when we got there about 11:30 the weather was enchantingly beautiful and only slightly chilly. It's a shame we decided to shorten the trip to account for all the snow, otherwise we would've had more time to explore the city.

We first walked up to the famous Piazza del Campo where the biannual Palio horse race and festival is held. The square was enormous and gorgeous to say the least - although I'm still not sure how exactly horses have the room to race around that area... it's certainly no Delaware Park Racetrack! The other comment I must make (with no intent of minimizing the beauty of the square) is that there were stupid pigeons everywhere... I really dislike those birds. This is probably in large part because of the wierd "bird-people" who enjoy feeding them and having them land on their arms as tourists watch disgusted. Once we took in the beauty of the stone paved square and the surrounding attractions we headed into a small restaurant on the square for a quick lunch. I settled for a simple pizza with sausage (the sausage here is really awesome and has a nice "kick" to it) just to have something that would fill me up. Of course I destroyed the entire pizza - I'm really worried that when I get home I'm going to have to order an entire small pizza for myself to get full now... not a pleasant idea!

After lunch we headed over to the bell tower to see the courtyard and statue of Remus and Romulus with their "She-Wolf" mother. I realized immedietly that this statue has been replicated many of times around the various cities we've ventured to so far: Pisa, Florence, Rome. We thought long and hard about climbing the bell tower to get a birds-eye view of the beautiful city, however we quickly decided against it after we saw that to reach the top we would climb more steps then we did for the Duomo in Florence (terrifying tought). Instead we decided to head towards the Duomo.

Of course on the way to the Duomo we ran into an adorable shoe store having a spectacular sale. All but two of us ended up leaving with another pair of shoes to (somehow) fit into our unforgiving suitcases. I personally ended up with a light brown ankle boot with a thicker heel for only 15 euro...score!

So once we ended our unexpected/successful shopping spree we finally made our way over the Duomo. While the building closely resembles the Duomo's in Rome, Florence and Pisa, I couldn't help but be taken back by its beauty. The spirally columns and doors were really unbelieveable. I thought that after seeing so much of the architurtural beauty I would tire of it - but I guess not. We stood in amazement snapping all kinds of photographs of the sophisticated masterpiece.

After fulfilling our "historic duties" in Siena it was playtime. We started on a mission to find a reasonable and satisfying wine tasting (which really wasn't that hard seeing as Siena is a Utopia for Vino's). We ended up finding one just up the street from the Duomo and on our way back towards the square. We got to try 4 1/2 glasses (2 white, 2 red) for just 12 euro - please the typical tasting treats.

Vino #1 - The first one we tried was the "famous" white from San Gimignano, my personal favorite! It wasn't too fruity or sweet and yet it was such a refreshing glass of wine.

Vino #2 - Next we tried a white that was a bit more fruity. While it was still delicious, it just couldn't compare to my first glass. Of course I still drank very last sip ;)

Vino #3 - This was a Chianti which was semi-dry. I am not a huge fan of dryer reds (I've been loving the house reds in Italy though!) but this one was pretty reasonable. Still can't stop thinking about that first white...

Vino #4 - This was a Chianti Reserve. A more expensive red wine which was personally too dry for my liking but certainly would've been appreciated by Vino's. I did enjoy it though. Who knows, maybe I'm starting to acquire the taste of reds? Maybe someday, not today. At this point I've already decided that I need to bring a bottle of that white back to Volterra with me. Steph and I decide to split it...good purchase :)

On our way back we (of course) stopped for some (pana cotta and vaniglia with nuts) gelato. You could tell this was the real-deal...homemade and delicious. Well worth the expensive 2,50 euro I had to pay for a small cup. Shortly after, the group all met up at Pizazza del Campo to head back to the bus for an enjoyable ride home.

Successful day in Siena.