Our campsite during this part of the trip was beautiful. About a 30 minute bus ride from Siena, we had a lovely alcove of trees under which we layed and relaxed the hot days away.
For our day in Siena, we didn't really know what there was to see so we just wandered the direction of the crowds. Walking by a wide variety of shops selling everything from clothes to toy Pinocchio's (he's a big thing here in Italy) we first came upon the beautiful pie-shaped and sloped city square _____. With a large church and tall clock tower at the base of the slope, this area was full of tourists and shops for tourists-but it was beautiful. Each day in town we grabbed a gelato from one of the many shops nearby.
The duomo here in Siena is stunning as well. Made of strips of alternating white and black marble, the church towers above the city, gleaming in its magnificent architectural beauty. Hundreds of people sit along the walls of the square in front of it to admire its beauty (often while eating gelato).
Siena is a great medieval city fortified atop sweeping hillsides. The views from the high points of the city show a hilly sprawl of vineyards and (currently dried) sunflower fields. The streets are small and winding, often careening up or down a steep hillside. Walking the town is wonderful! You see as many local flags flying from lamp-posts as you see laundry hanging from lines stringed across high above the streets.
Internet was my only qualm here as there is only one place in the entire city where one can find internet-an Irish pub near the central bus stops. I'd definitely advise only a day or two in the city, but if you have the means, drives/bike rides/runs in the surrounding countryside allow you to stumble on countless treasures; abandoned castles, old working brick farmhouses, vineyards beginning the grap harvest. It's a beautiful place.
The central square was the setting for the opening scene in the last Bond film "Quantum of Solice," if you recall...
ReplyDelete