New adventures in new pants

BIG NEWS! I got myself a pair of yellow cropped pants last week and I am in love with them. So I figured they'd be perfect to wear on our trip to Siena and San Gimignano.

Today Tara and I went on a little day trip with SRISA and the rest of the groups that are there. We left at 9 and slept the entire two hours to Siena. I was still in a bit of a fog when we first got off the buses, so I don't really remember a lot of what our tour guide was telling us, but it was beautiful!

We started at the San Dominico church, which is dedicated to Saint Catherine (Caterina) who is the patron saint of Italy as well as all of Europe. Some compare Mother Teresa to St. Catherine, who was from Siena. Although she's buried in Rome, they sent relics back to Siena and they are still in the church. We couldn't take pictures inside, but they have her head on display (gross) and a thumb (weird). It was a little strange, but pretty cool.

Beautiful view of the church

One really interesting thing about Siena is that it's divided into sects, or territories almost. It reminded me of gangs and depending on where you're from it means you belong to a different territory. Our tour guide belongs to the Elephants, who are called il Torre for the tower that's in their part of the city. There are rivalries, but friendly, as she assured us. There are a total of 17 different territories, and they all have their own flags, colors and mascots. It was really interesting.

Siena also has its own Duomo. It is Santa Maria Assunta, or Holy Mary of Assumption.

View from the distance

I was expecting this one to be much less impressive than the one in Florence... but wow was I wrong. First of all, the entire city made you think you were back in time, walking through the village near a castle. It was absolutely amazing! But nothing, no art work or building of any sort has compared to this cathedral.

I'll just show you what I can, but my pictures don't do it justice.

Castles and castle-like buildings everywhere!

Total medieval feeling

Il Duomo di Siena!

I get yelled at for this picture because my
flash went off.. oops! :)

Every detail was mind-blowing 

Works of Donatello, Michelangelo and many
others are in here. 

Pretty amazing, huh?

Our next stop of the day was to San Gimignano (Jimmy-yawn-no), or San Jimmy Nigro.

This was my favorite place. For the first time I was able to see the true Tuscan countryside. I couldn't believe the views! And not only were those amazing, but the city was fantastic! Most of these old towns used to have towers, but only few remain, and those that are still there have been knocked partially down. But in San Gimignano, many of the towers are still in tact. From the distance it looks like an urban city, but inside you're again taken back to the middle ages. Simply amazing.

Entrance- with flags and all

Le torri

Happy in my yellow pants :)

Unfortunately my camera died not long after this picture, so the rest of the city was not able to be photographed. I guess that means I'll have to take another trip back!

Next weekend we're heading to Rome AND my mom and my Aunt Sharon will be meeting me! I cannot wait! I've been making a list of things to do, including, but not limited to, wine tasting in Chianti, visiting Venice, going to the coast, attending an Italian opera, and maybe a nice trip down the Arno in a canoe... Any other ideas?! 

You ladies better get ready to hang with gli italiani!

With love from Tuscany,

Kelly