Siena

Kristen and I took the bus to Siena yesterday! Siena is only an hour and 15 min away, and much smaller than Firenze. Some roads are a bit steep as the city sits on a hill. Vivaldo told us that in the medieval times, Siena was an advanced city because they managed to transport water up and, without a river running through in like here, it was much safer. It was so foggy and cold in the morning, but it eventually it got nicer.

This is a loooong post, but it isn't even half of the pictures I took (all of them are on Picasa):

Piazza Salimbeni

Pictures of the Palio di Siena, a horse race they have 2 times a year in the Piazza del Campo. Eveyone has their own team they root for and it is an important tradition here.

Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Pubblico in the Piazza del Campo

Fonte Gaia, a small fountain in the middle of the Piazza

The pigeon was thirsty

The Piazza is divided into 9 parts representing the Council of Nine that ruled the city

Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers in the legend who were raised by a wolf and founded Rome

The "square" is shaped like a fan

A picture from this year's winner (I assume)

The entrance to the Duomo

Close up of the facade

The bell tower

We climbed up here to get an awesome panoramic view and pictures of the city

The Duomo

The Piazza del Campo

We were pretty high

Kristen looking introspective

We had to climb what seemed like forever in these circular staircases. I thought the staircase up to the first level was small, then we went up to the next level in ones that were even smaller. It made me dizzy.

Next, we went into the Crypt, which is below the Duomo. This is how many of the Cathedral's are designed, like the one with Michelangelo and Galileo's tomb's in it. So, the bodies are actually buried underneath the Church. It was pretty cool because they made a small part of the floor and ceiling glass so you could see up into the Cathedral.

The Baptistry

They had mirrors on the benches for you to see the ceilings easier.

The Cathedral

Siena is in the middle, Firenze is the lion on the upper left. You can also see Pisa, Rome, and Lucca.

I like the striped black and white marble pattern.

These books were huge.

Le tre Grazie

I got in one more picture when the sun came out before my battery died. I already took plenty of pictures of the Piazza del Campo though, in the morning before it got too crowded. I like this Piazza because the slope makes it nice to sit in and the huge size means there is plenty of room.

Siena