Siena

Well, I almost didn't want to write a post since I got home late tonight, but since I have such loyal readers...

It was a long day today, but lots of fun and a good change of pace. We caught an 8am bus (which was hard...several of us couldn't find the bus station, since it doesn't really look like a station and doesn't really have much of a sign) and went to Siena. Siena is a nice medieval town... the architecture is very different from all the Renaissance stuff in Florence. It is also much smaller and makes Florence seem like a really big city. It's not nearly as touristy as Florence (or maybe it was just the rain) so it seemed much less hectic and more relaxing to walk around in.

Anyway, we started with a little walking tour and went to the main piazza ("il campo") where they have their famous horse races. We went into the museum at the main government building there, which I don't remember having done before. It was pretty amazing...every room is covered in beautiful frescoes...and the non-religious artwork was a nice change from what we've been seeing. I snuck some pictures, again.

Then we walked over to the Duomo which is very ornate and very different from Florence's. The floors are all mosaic and everything is very decorated. The best part was a little side chapel/library which had on display huge illuminated manuscript music scores. The room was also covered in more wonderful frescoes.


Then, we had some free time and I got to wander the streets and do some window shopping. We saw an old Roman public fountain and another church which has on display the remains of some saint Francisco Patrizi....unfortunately the pictures of him didn't really work.

All the hills in Siena afford some nice views.

Then, the best part perhaps, we had dinner at a little trattoria called trattoria della torre (since it's right next to the main tower) and which had been recommended to our professor by a bus driver. I was a little skeptical of this recommendation, but it was probably the best meal I've had in Italy. They had no menu, you just sit and the owner comes over and tells you what kind of fresh pastas they've made recently and what types of sauces they have and that's that! (And luckily our professor is bilingual so there weren't any problems or surprises.)

We were too full to order a main course after that, but we still had room for dessert, and I got some of the best tiramisu ever, with chunks of chocolate in it! We barely had enough time to make it to the last bus going back to Florence.