Siena Day Trip 10-25

So it's 1:45 in the AM on November 4th right now, and I'm in Bristol, England. I got back from the Pendulum concert at 11:20 or so, and it was unbelievable. Naturally, I'll wait to explain the entire concert (with video!!!) until my entry about Bristol. Right now, I'm still way behind, and I'm writing about the events of October 25. I will catch up though, so no worries, though it won't all be tonight. I have a feeling some of my entries won't come until I'm already back in the states, but I'll make sure this blog gets 100% "completed" in the very near future. The blogs I "owe" to this point are, Siena (this one), my last day in Rome, Sicily, Venice, Cinque Terre, Vienna, and Bristol (aka Pendulum concert). I have my work cut out for me. That aside, onto the Siena blog.

So I woke up at a God-awful hour, after getting about an hour and a half of sleep. I got myself to the bus stop which would take me to Termini (the main train station in Rome). I got on the bus, and there were two women sitting down behind me. They were a bit confused by some of the Italian lingo being thrown around on the bus, so I helped them out. Then, I got to Termini, and got off the bus... and I couldn't help but notice that the ladies got off at the same stop. Then, I got on my train to Siena, and so did they... and to make a long story short, when I went back to Rome from Siena, they were again on the same train, and they were on the same bus back into the city... crazy!

Another story... when I got off the train in Siena, I noticed that the train station was not in the center of town like Florence's station. I also didn't know how to get to the center of town. So, I saw that a bunch of people were buying bus tickets, and I followed suit. When I got to the front of the line, my conversation (in Italian) went something like this with the woman at the desk:

Me: Hi
Woman: Hello, talk to me
Me: I need tickets for the bus so I can get into the city of Siena
Woman: How many?
Me: One in, one out
Woman: Okay
Me: But I don't know what bus to take that will actually get me into the city!? Could you tell me?
Woman: Okay, two tickets
Me: But I don't know what bus to get on... can you help me?
Woman: Here are your tickets, have a good day.

NICE! So, I just decided to walk away from that hopeless situation, and I went outside to where the buses pick up. I had not the slight clue as to what bus I was supposed to hop on, so I made the logical conclusion (riiiight....) to get on the first bus I saw. So I did just that, and ended up at the exact opposite end of town that I was supposed to. Then, I did the next logical thing... when lost, get off at a random bus stop to make me even more lost. Again, I did just that, and then I hopped on the next bus that came to that stop, hoping for a different fate. 10 Minutes later, that bus went into the city walls of Siena, and I knew I was in the right place. The main tourist sites weren't in view at this point, but the ancient city walls are always a telltale sign within Italy. So I got off the bus, and walked downhill until I could walk downhill no more (I knew Siena was built into a hill), and I ended up at Piazza Del Campo, Siena's most famous and recognizable (and very large) piazza. So it took a little while, but I got into the city.. no problem.

Enough with the stories, now onto the typical picture-storytime:

A panoramic of the surroundings around Piazza Del Campo.

The old city hall for Siena. I climbed this tower to the top (as I've done in many towers in most of the cities I've been to), and got several amazing pictures of Siena and surrounding Tuscany.

A picture from about a quarter way up the tower, looking out onto Piazza Del Campo. Can you believe there's a full-fledged horse-race twice a year around the outside of the brick-paver ring. Typically at least a couple people or horses die or are horribly maimed each year. By the way, the Piazza is divided into 9 sections to signify the nine heads of the government from the 13th century.

The first shot from the top of the tower.

Second shot from the top of the tower. Now you can see beyond the city limits of Siena into beautiful scenic Tuscany.

Another shot focusing mainly on the scenic beauty surrounding Siena's walls.

A shot of Siena's Duomo from atop the city hall tower.

Another amazingly decorated and detailed Duomo... this one in Siena, not Florence.

Some details of Siena's Duomo. Note the statue of Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf, just like Rome. The reason is because the legend in Siena is that King Remus' son founded Siena, just as Romulus and Remus founded Rome. That's a busy family.

Amazing engaged column detail.

More details of the Duomo.

And even more details... note the amazing statues emerging from the building. These are NOT your everyday gargoyles.

The Duomo is Siena was supposed to be even more massive than it already is. It was going to have an additional nave. This structure is what's left of that nave... it's not in ruins, however. The reason it's only part of a nave is because they were building this church at the time the plague was sweeping across Europe. Eventually, it got to Italy, and took out most of the city of Siena. They left the church, and never restarted work on it. The white splotch of marble on the pavement (between the parked cars) is a column base that was already built and laid into place, but alas, no column to keep it warm.

The first interior shot of the Duomo in Siena.

The second of the interiors.

The unbelievably fine detail of the marble-inlaid floor. These are actually different-colored and different-shaped chunks of marble which they assembled in a mosaic-like way to create images in the floor. They really are stunning to see in person, and there are so many of them, it's hard to even fathom how much time this must have taken.

I figured my Dad would like this one. In a side chapel within the Duomo, there were a bunch of machines that give you a little self-guided tour of the area. There were three machines, and all of them were out of order. Two of the machines had the Italian phrase for this, "Guasto," followed by the proper translation, "out of order." This machine, however, apparently lost its job and they slapped a different sign on him, so he now says "out of work." Poor guy, maybe he should put a can or a hat out in front of him and beg for cash until he can get back on his feet and get work again.

A scenic overlook that comes out of nowhere on a street in Siena. This one is looking out onto St. Dominic church. St. Dominic is where the Siennese have the head of St. Catherine on display in a shrine devoted to her. Yes, I saw her head. No, it was not attractive. Yes, even though they've sealed it in a nice box, there is still a significant sign of serious rot going on in her face.

That'll do it for this entry. Next up is "my final day in Rome." Enjoy!