Siena
Tour Day 16: This was our last sightseeing day of our tour. At this point of time, I was quite exhausted and even the four Advils I took in the morning were not helping my sore legs. Also, last night I had completely filled up my 30–Gigabite external hard drive, my Super Digibin, that I was storing my photos on, so I just had limited room on my cleared compact flash disks to take more photos. So I was definitely ready to fly home to the U.S. tomorrow. But first, to Siena, a very interesting medieval hill town in Tuscany. These are the gates we went through to enter Siena.
Siena
Siena
Photo taken on our walk from our bus to the main square. Siena is divided into 17 contrades (parishes) and these flags represent one of the contrades. Notice that there are no sidewalks here––we had to be very careful not to get in the way of a car or a cyclist.
Siena
Siena
Light fixtures representing a contrade. The contrades use various animals as their symbols on flags, plaques, and carvings, which are seen throughout Siena.
Siena
Siena
Another contrade animal symbol. I do not recognize what animal it is.
Siena
Siena
Another contrade animal symbol. It looks like a squirrel.
Siena
Siena
Old church that we passed on our walk.
Siena
Siena
Aussie pub that we also passed on our walk. The Australians in our group get a special kick out of seeing this.
Siena
Siena
Advertisement for a Tuscany villa for sale in a window.
Siena
Siena
A street scene on our walk.
Siena
Siena
Chianti wine for sale. The area between Florence and Siena, in the Chianti Hills, is where this wine is from.
Siena
Siena
The Piazza del Campo, considered one of the greatest medieval squares in Europe. It is at the very heart of the city’s 17 contrades. Their ancient and still present–day rivalries are acted act twice a year by the Palio. The Palio is a bareback horse race held July 2 and August 6 in the early evening. Only 10 of the contrades are represented at each Palio, which 10 decided by a lottery. The horses race around the perimeter of this square––a square that is not level. The races last about 90 seconds each. The Palios are very big events in Siena and the Palio festivals last many days.
Siena
Siena
Closer–up view of buildings in the Piazza del Campo.
Siena
Siena
Another view of the Piazza del Campo. In this photo you can see how the piazza dips.
Siena
Siena
The town hall, the Palazzo Pubblico, located at the Piazza del Campo. It was completed in 1348. The bell tower was built in 1348. You can climb up to its top––335 steps. It wasn’t a good time to take a photo of this as the sun was right behind these buildings.
Siena
Siena
View of the bottom of the Palazzo Pubblico.
Siena
Siena
A view taken from the Piazza del Campo.
Siena
Siena
The town hall, photo taken from one of the steep Siena streets.
Siena
Siena
Steps to the Piazza del Duomo and arch over roadway.
Siena
Siena
Steps up to the Piazza del Duomo.
Siena
Siena
Entrance to pottery store on the steps. This is a must–stop–here store. It has both very nice expensive and inexpensive Italian pottery. I bought two small very pretty decorated fonts here.
Siena
Siena
Steps down from the Piazza del Duomo.
Siena
Siena
The Duomo was built between 1136 and 1382 and is one of Itay’s greatest churches. Its bell tower has one more window in a tier than has the tier below it.
Siena
Siena
Close–up of the front of the Duomo.
Siena
Siena
Close–up of the top of the Duomo.
Siena
Siena
A still closer–up view.
Siena
Siena
Another close–up view.
Siena
Siena
Another close–up of the front of the Duomo.
Siena
Siena
Close–up of statues on the front of the Duomo.
Siena
Siena
One of the Duomo’s doors.
Siena
Siena
Inlaid marble work in front of the doors.
Siena
Siena
Inside the Duomo. On top of the black and white marble columns are carved friezes of the popes.
Siena
Siena
One of the Duomo’s altars.
Siena
Siena
Inside the church.
Siena
Siena
Ceiling of the Duomo. It is painted blue with gold to resemble the night sky. You can see some of the friezes of the popes in this photo.
Siena
Siena
Inside the Duomo.
Siena
Siena
The pulpit in the Duomo. The panels of the pulpit were carved in 1265 by Nicola Pisano and depict scenes from the Life of Christ.
Siena
Siena
Signs of the zodiac inlaid on the marble floor.
Siena
Siena
More inlaid marble on the floor.
Siena
Siena
The other part of the design in the last photo.
Siena
Siena
Building across from the church in the Piazza del Duomo.
Siena
Siena
Building also in the Piazza del Duomo and another contrade animal on top of the post.
Siena
Siena
Street scene walking back to the Piazza del Campo.
Siena
Siena
Another street scene.
Siena
Siena
Another street scene.
Siena
Siena
Another street scene.
Siena
Siena
Panforte, a cake with nuts, honey, and candied fruit, is a specialty of Siena.
Siena
Siena
Another street scene.
Siena
Siena
An old man walking up the street from the Piazza del Campo.
Siena
Siena
Another view of the Piazza del Campo.
Siena
Siena
And another view.
Siena
Siena
Street scene on the way back to the bus.
Siena
Siena
Another street scene with a contrade animal (seen in another photo) on top of the post.
Siena
Siena
Photo taken from the bus as we are leaving Siena.
Siena
Tuscany
View of the Tuscany countryside as seen from the bus. Right now, it is entirely green. Wheat is planted here, and in September when the wheat is ready to be harvested, there are some brown patches.
Tuscany
Tuscany
Another photo of the Tuscany countryside.
Tuscany
Tuscany
This Tuscany villa is for sale.
Tuscany
Tuscany
Another view of the countryside.
Tuscany
Castello delle Serre
We were to have lunch at the Castello delle Serre. We passed these villas on our way up the hill to the castle.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
View of the Tuscany countryside from the top of the hill.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
Another view.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
Approaching part of the castle.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
The entrance to the Castello delle Serre. Part of the castle dates back to the 9th century and the other part to the 13th century. The castle is being restored by Savatore Gangale, an Italian immigrant to the United States who was a successful restauranteur in San Diego and Sun Valley. He and his son returned to Italy and along with producing olive oil and wine on their property also are hosting tour groups to lunch.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
Another view of the castle.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
Another view. The house seen through the arch is one of the private houses located on the castle hill.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
View of the castle from the top.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
View from the castle.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
Salvatore also offers accommodations at his castle. You can check out the prices to stay at the castle hotel at www.castellodelleserre.com. Actually, the hotel rates are not very high compared to other hotel prices in Europe.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
View of a church steeple from the castle grounds. It was so pleasant here under the Tuscan Sun and our meal was so good that you just wanted to stay.
Castello delle Serre
Castello delle Serre
I walked past these very cute girls on my way back to the bus. When they saw that I had a camera, they asked me to take their photo.
Castello delle Serre
Back to Rome
More of the countryside.
Back to Rome
Back to Rome
And more of the countryside.
Back to Rome
Back to Rome
We passed by Assisi.
Back to Rome
Back to Rome
We have arrived back in Rome and were staying at the Sheraton Golf Hotel outside of Rome. First thing that I did was to check the Internet to make sure that my Air Canada flight would be leaving tomorrow––it was. Then, I joined our tour group on an optional outing called Farewell Concert Dinner with the Tenors. It was at the La Carovana Restaurant. I have put five movie clips of the opera singers on this site: Go to Movies, Western Europe, Italy, “La Carovana Opera Singers–1–5, Rome.” It was a very enjoyable evening. I have also put on two new slide shows on this site: Go to Slide Shows, Western Europe, Italy–1, “Italy: Food to Buy” and “Italy: Shopping.”
