Siena

Siena is one of those places that I guess you just have to see - people who've been there rave about it, and others still travel all the way from the UK just to get married there. We attempted a visit on our last trip back in '98, but as we discovered then it's no town for a van - parking anywhere close to walled town is a nightmare, not to mention expensive, and you need plenty of perserverence and stamina just to get through a day's sightseeing.

Forewarned is forearmed as they say, so being the smart travellers that we are, scheduled our visit for the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning - free parking, minimal numbers of tourists, and if we could get in and out quick sharp we could still make it to the final day of the annual Greve-in-Chianti annual wine festival some 80km north!

An early morning appreciation of Torre del Mangia

A lone tourist on the Piazza del Campo

...while just an hour later (9am)

Despite my reservations, Siena is one enchanting town. While neighbouring Florence basks in all its Renaissance glory, Siena's architectural and artistic beauty comes from an even earlier movement in history - Gothicism. It's medieval centre is completely brimming with churches (and believe us when we say there are many - having visited on a Sunday morning we heard them all!!) and all manner of fabulous civic and private buildings. It's the kind of place where you don't even need to go anywhere in particular, you can soak up so much of the atmosphere solely by wandering about, drinking espresso, eating gelato - and remembering to look up!

Windows

Hmmm, now that's what I call a real bike!

Washing day

Houses of Siena

Romulus, Rhemus and the She Wolf - Siena being founded by the son of Remus, these guys are everywhere!

As the morning progressed, so did the crowds, as the devout citizens, stopping for post-church cappucinos and martinis, mingled with the tourist groups now arriving by the bus load, alongside the day's first English wedding couple. And you had to sympathise with the pair - posing nervously together for a photo in front of the town's famous bell tower, their photographer jostling for space alongside a dozen or so other tourists also lining up a shot. As a future bride-to-be I was really quite perturbed by the lack of respect for the happy pair - tourists barging in desperate for a photo, bicycle tourists wheeling their bikes if not over, then definitely too close to the hem of the bride's dress. A total lack of respect. It was only 11am yet her hems were already coated in dust and muck. Getting married in Siena, perhaps not as romantic in real life eh?

The imposing Gothic cathedral, begun in 1196

...in detail

Siena's cathedral is one of Italy's greatest Gothic churches don't you know?

Despite the beauty of it all, our tolerance for loud, ignorant Americans and kodak snapping Koreans was running low. To add insult to injury, our much anticipated and overpriced scoop of banana gelato was anything but! Fake banana flavouring just does not cut it for Eric, and as unfortunate as it is, Siena's reputation will long remain tainted by such an insult.

Oh, but it looked just so fabulous!

But it's fake banana!!!

SJ