And now to Siena

Friday, October 24, 2008
Travel from Florence to Siena and around Siena, Italy

Some of the scenery I managed to see before I went to sleep.

Well I boarded a Tran bus today in Florence and took it to Siena. Actually not a bad ride at all. Took just over an hour and buses here are pretty much the same as tour buses back home. Unlike the train, the bus not only ran on time…it actually left a minute early. Just a few stops in and around Florence and then it was straight out to the highway. I did take a few moments to catch some of the Tuscan country side, but let’s be real..…I slept for most of that short trip.

On arrival in Siena, it should have been a very short walk to the hotel I had chosen. Once again, no planning ahead and picked one I liked out of Lonely Planet. The little map in the book was pretty good and I managed to get to the information centre to get a bigger map. Let’s just say the map I got from them was no help at all and actually sent me in the very wrong direction. I ended up walking up a hill, down a hill, around a few blocks….to end up right back where I had started from, in front of my hotel…...just one road over. I did find the internet point and a few little restaurants along the way so all was not lost…however I would have preferred not to have done it with a 18 kilogram (around 40 pounds) back pack on.

One of the random streets I found along the way in Siena.

I got checked into my hotel which is quite nice....very small but nice. Only about 7 rooms above this little restaurant but a good size room and a nice clean bathroom so no complaints. No TV though so I guess I will have to use the street to create some background noise.

The stairs that lead up to the Duomo

The hotel is just off the main plaza in town known as Piazza del Campo (Il Campo for short). Mostly it is a big open area with restaurants around the outside. There always seem to be people just laying out in the middle of it. Europeans can apparently just lay around anywhere...…very strange.

The Palazzo Pubblico. The Torre del Mangia (the tower you can see) was completed in 1297. The building houses the Museo Civico and a few other things. It lines the one side of Il Campo.

Anyway, Siena is a pretty small place but still has many things to see and a great atmosphere to go along with it. I am hoping to head out on some sort of an area tour tomorrow so I figured I would see as much as I can today. I got here by noon so I had plenty of time.

The front of the Duomo

So already having seen Il Campo I headed to the next big thing in town....the Gothic Duomo (cathedral).

A close up of some of that detail on the outside of the church. I like the lion. He looks cute.....and furry.

All the little towns in Tuscany are walled cities and usually have one big cathedral as their focal point. This one is great. Many frescoes and artwork throughout. I actually really enjoyed the library. A lot of old texts and books on display. Always so neat to see.

Inside the Duomo.

Some of those old texts.

From there I went to visit the crypt. The place was very neat as it was actually only found in 1999 when restoration to the floors above it revealed some art work on a wall. It took 3 years to empty the crypt which had been filled with rubble since around the 13th century. Of course no pictures allowed in this part of the church, or in the baptistery, which I am discovering are also focal points to many of the churches in the area.

Looking down at the crypt level. I couldn't actually take pictures while I was down there but I took this one from above.

I then decided to take a walk to check out the rest of the city. As we all know by now this means trouble for me. Like I said the map I got from the information booth was really quite useless. So I just followed some streets.

Some more random buildings I found along the way.

I actually ended up on the outside of the wall and could not find my way back in. I followed this road for a while (which was kind of scary and I think I am quite lucky I did not get hit by one of those little cars or a van). Eventually I came to a parking area, and a series of escalators that lead back up the hill and inside the wall where I wanted to be. Very nice.

A look at some of the things I was looking at while outside the wall. They are inside the wall....where I wanted to be.

I also did a little shopping. Of course there is no shortage of little shops here in Siena. I found a very neat little candle store that hand makes and carves all the candles. I bought a few. Not sure where in my bag they are going to fit at this point but I will worry about that later.

I had a great dinner sitting out on Il Campo. The area started out very quiet and then really started to get busy. Seems like everyone decided to come to the same spot I had picked out. I guess that was the hot spot that night. Very interesting how quickly the dynamic of the area changed, from quiet little café to loud little bar.

So I think I have seen most of what I wanted to see here in Siena. Hopefully I can get booked on a tour tomorrow afternoon.

Julie