Piazza del Campo Siena

Wow today has been AMAZING!!! So we woke up really early in Florence and had room service of Cappuccino & Croissants So yummy I can so get used to all this. We took the bus to the train station and met a girl who goes to University of California; Berkeley she's studying abroad for about a year. I'm jealous! We took the train from Firenze to …

Nach einem erholsamen Tag am Swimmingpool haben wir heute von unserem Hotel den Bus nach Siena genommen. Ein Grund für den Bus war sicherlich auch, dass unser Auto die lange Fahrt nicht ganz unbeschadet überstanden hat und nun nur noch maximal 110 km/h fährt, wenn es bergab geht. Auch die Werkstatt konnte uns nicht weiterhelfen. Mit den Mechanikern …

Our bus takes us into the hill towns. We stopped in Siena. Our guide is Elisa. It is a lot of walking up and downhill. I am exhausted when we are done. We visit the Church of St. Catherine of Siena. I light some candles. We see St. Catherine's relics, her head and her finger.
We visit the Siena Cathedral. The black and white cathedral is under …

A nemisis has been found...

So today we decided to take a day trip to Siena. Apparently it's a picturesque little town that has a beautiful courtyard that once a year has one of the most dangerous horse races ever. Thankfully, we're not going during that time of year. So we arrived at the Florence train station with plenty of time to spare …

Our tour begins at 8:30 but Laura and I walked to the train station, where we are to meet the tour bus, and arrive at 8am. The bus is practically full already! Everyone is ready to start their Tuscany tour. Our tour guide, Agata, was Polish and studied 15 century Renaissance architecture and Italian languages. She currently is continuing her …

Today, we left Florence for an overnight in Siena. It's nice, with lots of winding side streets and hills. We went to the Duomo here, and then relaxed in the main square for the afternoon. The picture of Kate is in front of the San Domenico Church, that heralds the Patron Saint of Siena (St. Catherine). We are now heading to dinner. Tomorrow: …

Since arriving in Tuscany we had spent all our time in Florence so it was nice to see another of the historic cities in the region. Leaving through the Porta Romano (which signals the beginning of the Via Cassia) we began our fifty-six kilometre drive to Siena. Our guide for the day, Alessandro, explained the pine and cypress trees in Tuscany: pine …

Ciao all:

Friday, April 27 was moving day. We ended our 4-day stay in Firenze (Florence), packed our bags, and jumped on a bus for the medieval city of Siena, an hour or so south.

But first, we had one more museum to see, the Duomo Museum that houses all the original paintings and sculptures from the cathedral for safe keeping, …

Bongiorno all:

We saw the entire medieval city of Siena on a 2-hour walking tour Saturday, led by a wonderful native Sienese woman from My Tours. Saturday happened to be the Feast Day of St. Catherine, so everything was decked out and festive.

We heard about the 17 districts in the city, the role Siena played as a pilgrimage stop …

... one of the main entrances to the city.  Walking in the other direction for about 7 minutes leads straight to Piazza del Campo, the main piazza of Siena.  It's a great location, with 3 pizza places within 30 seconds, one of which sells anything ...

... store or a clothesline of damp linens.     Take Siena. A tourist attraction now more than anything else, the Piazza del Campo charges for the view (they do live in a picture postcard, after all), and the Duomo charges entry. Men arrange ...

... , farmer's markets, and, of course, Il Palio, Siena's most famous horse race (more on these later).  Piazza del Campo is thought to be one of Europe's more beautiful and well-designed medieval squares.  It was established ...

... a beautiful town.    Nora will be featured in some more asian people's vacation photos. We walked to the Piazza del Campo, which is where they have insane horse races twice a year in July and August, which are characterized by numerous horses ...

... constricted and dense because of the walls that enclose it. Life centers around the centro (the city center) and the Piazza del Campo and everyone passes through it, eventually.  We now recognize many people walking the city streets, in stores, ...

... in Siena was pretty cool too. I didn't do very much but, on Mardi Gras almost everyone in our group ended up in Piazza del Campo.  Some of us went to a nearby pub and sat on the balcony that overlooks the Piazza.  People had some great ...

... After a wander around the Duomo it was off to the baptistery and one of the narrow Sienese streets down to the Piazza del Campo. Dodging the occasional car it still amazed me that some drivers would navigate down them with twists and turns obscuring any ...

... driver) had the right place. The Al Mercato is a wonderful little Bed and Breakfast literally a few steps from the famed Piazza del Campo. It (the B&B, not the Piazza) is owned and operated by Fabio and Carla Capanolli, a lovely couple who ...

... whole city is protected by Unesco as a world historical treasure.  The heart of the city is the broad and simple Piazza del Campo – shaped like a seashell  and slightly sloped – it is the home of the brutal bi-annual horse race ...

... in 1995. The hospital has a common grave for the plague deaths. I was able to see a classical music museum and the Piazza del Campo ( field). this is the center were the horses race and around the center circle of cobble stone is a dirt tract where the ...