Gorgeous goreous gorgeous Siena
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2006
1
6
62
Trip End
Dec 20, 2006
SIena, Italy
Sunday, April 9, 2006
Since I last wrote I visited the Uffizzi gallery. I was particularly impressed with an exhibition on the ideas and science of Leonardo da Vinci, and spent a couple fo hours in there. He most definitely was a genius! There are just so many artworks it is hard to take it all in at once and I only saw one floor, so will have to make another visit to see the rest.
I have been experimenting in the kitchen again. My favourites have been "pappa con pommodoro" (a thick soup made with tomatoes, breadcrumbs and vasil), artichokes that I stuffed with mashed broadbeans and parmesan cheese and then baked, and various dishes with porcini mushrooms.
On the weekend I went to Siena, a little town built on seven hills. It was a rival to Florence in medieval times, and is remarkably well preserved. The streets are narrow and steep, and in the centre there is the campo (meeting place outside the town hall). I climbed the belltower, which had more than 400 steps, but gave great views. The duomo in Siena is probably the finest I had seen to date. It is built in gothic style, which was quite ornamental. I spent the afternoon wandering among the streets, and watched the sun go down in a little cafe with lovely views over Siena.
On Sunday I visited the church of Santa Croce in Florence, which contains the tombs of Gallileo Gallilee (the Franciscans who ran the church had to hide his body from the catholic church for several hundred years), Michaelangelo and Machiavelli.
I plan to head to the Amalfi coast for easter and hope the weather stays warm!
Ciao,
Rachael
Comments
Whoa !!
How beautiful is Siena !!?? And the Garden Hotel is just amazing. What fun !!It looks like you girls are having a most memorable trip !! Thanks so much for sharing. It is truly gorgeous. I'm dying for some authentic Italian food and chianti !!
Yep. I'm living vicariously through y'all's travel experiences !! Live it up, ladies !!!
p.s. I liked the tour guide and the bus driver !! Hope the other Italian guys are that cute ! As I said......LIVE IT UP !!
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Very nice photos of Siena