Siena was a particularly special place to visit because my dad was the person who had recommended that we go! Back in the 70s when he was traveling around Europe, he made a stop in Siena and, despite the horrible weather during his entire stay, he fell in love with it. It was fortunately very sunny for the majority of our stay, until our last afternoon when it absolutely poured. Apparently it only rains in Siena when there's a Neidhardt in town!
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Wearing the same backpack that my dad had brought
to Siena! |
The tiny city did not disappoint. It reminded me so much of Salamanca - a small university town with a large central plaza! Just substitute Salamanca's sandstone buildings for the brick ones and you've got Siena!
The main plaza, Piazza del Campo, was a great spot to sit and people watch. The only major flaw with it was that there wasn't really any shade and the direct sunlight got pretty unbearable - under the Tuscan sun indeed!
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| soooooo pretty |
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| Chillin' in the square with my Italian scarf! |
Siena's cathedral was among the most impressive buildings I've ever seen - the inside was so ornate it was bordering on ridiculous! Mosaic floors, zebra-striped columns, Sistine Chapel-esque ceilings...
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| wait for it... |
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| kind of overwhelming... the photos don't do it justice! |
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| amazing mosaics! |
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| coolest ceiling ever |
The main sights were relatively crowded with tourists, but once we got off the beaten track and wandered the adorable streets, we had the city to ourselves (and the locals, of course)!
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| We found some amazing views of the Tuscan countryside |
While we cooked the majority of our meals in our hostel kitchen (yay for budget traveling!) we decided to splurge one night with dinner out! Delicious pasta, wine, tiramisu...
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| Local Tuscan wine! |
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Our waiter was very proud of how he decorated Meredith's dessert.
He was also super flirtatious - so stereotypically Italian! |
Maybe the coolest thing we saw in Siena was this random art museum across from the cathedral (no photos allowed). The building used to be a Catholic hospital, and they still had the original frescos on the walls. Things got creepy, however, when we went downstairs to the dark catacombs of the hospital. Down there we saw secret meeting rooms (not sure what they used them for - the description was in Italian), an almost pitch-black chapel (creepiest place ever to pray for sick people!), and the bottom of the pit where they used to toss the corpses! It was such a strange museum!
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Parting shot: Italian flags are EVERYWHERE in Italy!
Almost literally hanging from every window. I've never
seen anything like it! |
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