Thursday, December 15, 2005

A day in Siena

The drive from Volterra to Siena was scenic as usual with rolling hills, olive groves and little villages along the way.



We got to Siena in just under an hour and managed to get parked reasonably easily, which was lucky, considering the huge number of cars and the lack of spaces. After a short walk through some narrow streets, one of the streets opened out on to the Piazza del Campo and we were faced with a magnificant view of the shell shaped Piazza and the Torre del Mangia, surrounded by beautiful buildings.

Torre del Mangia, Siena


We wandered round the Piazza del Campo, basking in the sunshined and taking photos at every possible angle, then found a great seat at one of the restaurants and ordered a Pizza and a beer with one of the best views of the holiday.

Here's a photo of the view from our seat:

Lunch at Piazza del Campo, Siena


This is definitely a sight that would easily rival any of the places in Florence.

After lunch we decided to burn off the pizza by climbing the 505 steps to the top of the Torre del Mangia. Although the number of steps here was much more than the Cupola in Florence's Duomo, it didn't seem as difficult a climb. The view from the top was superb. The sky was blue and we could see for miles across the city and over the Tuscan countryside.

View from top of Torre Del Mangia, Siena


After the tower we visited the Duomo. It wasn't as impressive as Florence's Duomo and the facade was covered up as it was being renovated, but it was still very impressive.

Duomo, Siena



We spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering round the city, looking in shops, taking photos and just soaking up the atmosphere.

I loved Siena and could have easily spent a couple of days here. Perhaps next time!

If you want to stay in Siena you can find Reviews of hotels in Siena here.

4 comments:

j.sterling said...

ah!! i want to do italy for my honeymoon!!!! suggestions?

Kelvin said...

Kia Ora (Hello) from a blogger down under in new Zealand !!! I was surfing the blog world, when your blog popped up, so I thought I would say hello - great photos !!!

Suggestions for a honeymoon ?
Visit NZ !!!

Private said...

Beautiful photos.

http://globalartblog.com/

Postcards from New York said...

Absolutely beautiful photographs! They make me dream of Italy and my next visit. I love Italy and travel there often and hope to call Rome one day.