When I first arrived in Siena I just crashed. I then took two full days to explore the city and it’s sights. The first day I got one of the tourist packages and did the Church, the Panorama, and a museum. The church was really quite something, all white and black marble. There is stone artwork in the floors. They keep them covered most of the year to preserve it, so I was there at a good time when it was uncovered. I also walked around getting a feel for the city. Checked out the center square: Il Campo or “the field” called so because it was once the field right outside the original walls.
Siena is divided into regions. Each one has a flag, with two colors and a mascot animal. The one you are born is is the one you belong to forever. Then twice a year there is a great horse race where each region has one rider. It’s a really big deal. My hostel is already booked for it next August. As you walk around, you know which area you are in because there are flags and pained lanterns along the street.
My second day I took a walk around the old fort. You can walk around the walls. I then went to one of the churches. They have a relic of Saint Caterina da Siena, her head. Her actual head in a little glass box. In the afternoon I made plans for the next few days. In the evening I went to this awesome bar, Key Largo, right on il Campo. They sell beers for a normal price, like 3 euro, and you can drink them on the balcony and watch everyone in the square drinking for way too much. It wasn’t even crowed. Tourists must not know about it, and the students were still away for summer.
[Edit] Link to Siena Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100902Siena#
