We woke up around 8:30, ate a quick breakfast, and headed to the train station. The 10:10 train got us there at 11:40, and there was a grocery store above the station in Siena. So we got a muffin (yes, all we do is eat and walk) and headed to the center of town- about a 20 minute walk.
When we got off the train we had to go up all of these escalators to get to town. And then we saw the first view.
We kept walking and entered the city through the north gate of the old wall.
(Font change while I write out of wifi)
Our first stop was the main town square Piazza del Campo, which is shaped like a sea shell. This is fitting because people sit here like its a beach.
At the bottom of the square is the town hall, one of the symbols of Siena- the Palazzo Pubblico.
You can go in and see some museums, but we were interested more in soaking up the atmosphere. So we just checked out the courtyard.
This symbol was all over Siena, and we had no clue what it was so we had to google it. It is a symbol of one of the Siena contradas, or neighborhoods. There are 17 contradas, 10 of which compete every year in the famous Palio horse race in the town square. The race is twice a year, on July 2 and August 16.
After seeing the main square, we wandered in the direction of the duomo down little streets, past Italian families cooking meals that smelled amazing.
The Siena duomo is kinda striped.
And the outside is stunning, just like all Italian duomos we have seen.
This is the part where Rick Steves would be upset with me- we did not go inside the duomo. First of all, I was a total idiot and forgot to wear long pants, so I would've had to buy a cover or figure something else out. Second of all, it was €7 to see the cathedral or €12 to see the cathedral plus the chapels and stuff. Frankly, we were there to soak up Siena, not see another duomo, and €7 is pretty pricey. I know from pictures I've seen online that it is special, but that's a whole meal for us. So we skipped it and kept seeing the town.
We wanted to go see the fortress, but we took the long way around the city instead of through it to see if we could get some good views of the Tuscan hills. Success!
As we kept walking and soaking up Siena, we saw cool architecture and old narrow, hilly streets. Here are some pictures to give you a flavor.
We stopped in a little cafe and had a sit-down lunch of amazing pizza. Jeremy got spicy salami (closest thing they have to American pepperoni) and I just got cheese (margarita).
It was a nice stop with a bathroom, so we were happy.
After that we continued our walk up to the fortezza, but stopped in a church, San Domenico. There was no one enforcing the dress code so I took a quick peek inside.
These were some of the most beautiful church windows we have seen, with very rich colors.
We kept weaving around the outskirts of the city and got a nice view of San Domenico and the duomo.
We finally got to the fortezza just as the afternoon I'm-full-and-I've-been-walking-all-day-it's-nap-time feeling kicked in, so we sat outside of it in the garden for a while and enjoyed people-watching by the fountain
I always enjoy the afternoon rest in a garden somewhere. :)
The fortezza used to be the fortress of Siena, and was part of the city wall. Now it contains a couple of restaurants accessible by the street and a park inside of it. We stopped in a wine shop and got a bottle o white for €3 and traced the huge walls looking for the way into the park.
We found it, and it was awesome! The entrance goes between old buildings that are now some sort of jazz school, so there were faint sounds of saxophone. In one corner is an elementary school, and kids were playing and laughing. The only other park-goers were runners and some elderly people enjoying the day. No tourists, no crowd. We walked around the whole thing twice, enjoying the views and the perfect weather.
Inside the fortezza
Views
As the sun got lower in the sky, we headed back to Piazza del Campo to enjoy our wine, the sunset, and the feel of Siena.
It was wonderful.
We were going to get dinner at an outdoor cafe, but we were still stuffed from the pizzas for lunch. So we sat until the sun went down and then walked through the city back towards the train station.
It was very cool to be in the city after sunset. I think a lot of tourists come in for the day and then leave. They miss the quiet dinner hours, the subset, the lights coming on through the city... It's the best part of day anywhere! We definitely wanted to catch it in Siena.
As we walked back, we stopped by the fortezza one more time to see the view.
It was stunning.
We walked back and caught the train back to Florence. It was less than 2 hours back, and when we got back to the hostel we were so tired. We fell right asleep and slept in.
Everywhere we go there are things I wish we could have seen and done. No one can do it all. I was sad we missed the duomo but man, soaking up Siena was so wonderful. It really is a must-see if you ever visit Tuscany.
I should also mention that I don't have gelato ALL DAY in Siena. This is obviously horrible and will not happen again.
<3
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