Siena was worth my free day. We spent a little extra money on a ticket that would give us access to the Domo, Art Museum, Baptistery, and Crypt and it was well worth the money. The Domo was arguably one of the top cathedrals I've seen in Europe.
Siena's colors are black and white and the entire domo was covered in bands of black and white stone, some marble and another I wasn't sure about.
We learned of Siena's legend that it was founded by two twin brothers who were raised by a wolf.
After the domo we went to the art museum and up an old portion of the church which looked out over the entire city and miles and miles of Tuscan vineyards, definitely my favorite view of the entire trip.
We also saw the crypt which shows the progression of churches built on top of one another all the way back to the 11th century, most of which are now in ruins, but it was still neat to see how far down they went. they had glass floors in some sections so you could see the spaces beneath you, and I had a difficult time walking on them, The crevices are so deep and dimly lit so they look as if they go on forever, I felt like Indiana Jones in Quest for the holy grail where he has to take a step on an invisible bridge.
The entire day we snacked on huge green grapes fresh from the vineyard, that were delicious but the seeds were much too large and bitter to chew, so we had to find discrete places to spit them. The main attraction in Siena is the Square where the horse parades are held
The races have been going on for century's and seems to have become like a religion, the people take them so seriously. Don't quote me on this but I think they may even have an annual race dedicated to the virgin Mary. The day before we were in Sienna their team had won the race, and a parade was held in honor of the victory through the square. We had a great vantage point for viewing the drumming boys and flags, after the team and boys come their wives and daughters come behind singing a victory sign, it was quite a sight to behold.
On the way back to the station we stopped at a specialty olive oil and balsamic vinegar store, where the vinegar was aged so long it looked like syrup, if it hadn't been so expensive I'd definitely have taken some home with me.
We also met some LDS missionaries as we were leaving, making Florence the only city we haven’t crossed paths with them. 
No comments:
Post a Comment