Sightseeing in Siena

     On Friday, I was able to take a day trip to Siena.  Siena is a very cute little town about three hours north of Rome. The architecture and art is from the Renaissance and still exhibits those features. We left for Siena at 6:30 in the morning! It was a bit like waking up bright and early (not so bright, actually, since it was still too early) for camp.  Siena is such a cute quaint little town! We were taken on a tour throughout the main parts of town and visited a church, the Cathedral of Sienna, and the Piazza di Siena then were treated to a three-course lunch (they really do spoil us).

     We first visited the Church of San Domenico closer to the edge of the town. It is also very well known due to Saint Catherine, who was part of the Dominican order. She was very influential but died relatively young, in her early thirties. They actually have her mummified head and her pointer finger IN THE CHURCH. It was weird, but I did see it (don’t have picture though since we weren’t allowed to take them and I was a bit freaked out after having seen that anyway).

     We also ventured to the Cathedral of Siena, which is GORGEOUS to say the least. It is amazing how beautiful it is inside and out, and it is amazing gothic architecture. I was able to go in later in the day and see inside of the Cathedral as well as walk up to the other edge, which they planned to extend the Cathedral to but were unable to due to various reasons. From where we went up, we were able to see a view of Siena and the countryside just outside of it. Again, GORGEOUS!

The Cathedral of Sienna

Where we were able to go to see the view of Siena

     The tour ended at the Piazza di Siena, which was essentially the town center. It is a really cool shape that is pretty much a semi-circle with all of the buildings curving with the town hall at the other end. Twice a year, they have a horse race around the town center, which is free to anyone (so people end up sleeping there overnight to get a good view…people with apartments overlooking the Piazza can let people watch from the window and charge them up to 3000 Euros!! Ridiculous, I know). The jockeys come from some of the different territories of the area but not all territories can compete (it’s a lottery to see which territories get to compete). But, it’s also a lottery to see what horse the jockeys get to ride! No one wins any money for the race; the territories do it all for the glory. Apparently their past one was August 16; definitely would have been cool to see!

     Siena was great, and I was really excited I got to go. I even got to visit Taylor Hart (she’s in my sorority) who is studying abroad there for the semester! The more time I spend in Italy, the more I think it’s way better than any other European country ;)