Talk about take your breath away. The other day we took a day trip into the country side of Tuscany. We rode in a Nice bus and made our way to Siena. The views from the drive were amazing, post card worthy. It was like one of those scenes you see in movies but not real life.
Siena was a place I definitely have to go back to some day. It is a place filled with rivalries and everything revolves around the city bank. The town is split up into many neighborhoods, each of which have their own rivals. We got the opportunity to see the main attractions of Siena and hear about the traditions and beyond. Every year there is a fascinating horse race between the neighborhoods. This is a fierce and dirty battle, put on in the center of the city.
The cathedral was the most intriguing to me. It was a breath taking site filled with paintings, sculpture, marble "graffiti" (marble carved into and filled with lead dust), frescos and so much more. The library of the cathedral was my favorite part. I literally got an adrenaline rush and butterflies in my stomach from the beauty of this room. The walls and ceiling were covered with original frescos that have never been restored. They stood in deep color and glistening gold leaf. Wow! What a site!
We also got to see the skull and right thumb of Sant Caterine. She was a very important Sant to Siena, but they were not able to keep her whole body. Bits and pieces of her body are spread throughout different cities of Italy and neighboring places. She was itty bitty, the size of a 10 year old of our time. Her skull and thumb were tiny as you can imagine.
After our tour of the town we stopped and got a traditional Sienan lunch. I ordered Picci, which are thick homemade spaghetti noodles.....mmmmmm! In the city center my friend told me of "the best gelato he has ever eaten!" So we made a stop there for most certainly some of the best gelato ever!
Next we got back on the bus and took a little adventure to Monteaperti. At this site, Dante fought in one of the biggest battles of his time. There is a monument at the site recognizing this battle. Our bus driver thought we were crazy for coming here, he dropped us at the end of this long dirt road and had us get out to go explore and find the monument. We walked for about a mile in the Tuscan country side. What a beautiful site! You felt like you were walking through those amazing scene savers computers come with, but this was reality. It smelled crisp and clean way out here. After walking for about a mile and climbing a steep hill we found our way to the monument! We took in the site and got our photos and made our way back to the bus and back to Florence.
This was quite the day trip! I have near witnessed such magnificently beauty in my life.
Jamie
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