Siena, Italy

Sienna is quite a stunning retreat in Tuscany, it is a less touristy version of Florence.  We stayed in a cozy AirBnB in the heart of town with a nice bedroom, bathroom, free WiFi, laundry and a wonderful homemade breakfast.

Not to mention...We a great view of the city from our window.

The red-bricked streets of Siena are bustling with people enjoying the quaint medieval city. 

We visited the cathedral (Duomo), at the top of Sienas highest point. The cathedral was very lavish- and had more statues and mosaics than I could ever imagine.  Inside were the great works of Michelangelo and Bernini. 

Siena is divided into nine sections, symbolizing the ruling Council of the Nine, which commissioned it during their rule of Sienna from 1292 to 1355.  During the Palio, each district races a horse in the town square.  Spectators from all over the world come to watch the races and cheer on their favorite horse.  When we were there the districts were starting to set up their flags to get ready for the upcoming races.

We found a great little gem tucked away off the busy pedestrian streets.

At Pizzicheria de Miccoli you can find Proscuitto de Siena, aged meats, fine cheeses, and great crostini.  We would get sandwiches from the shop (we even tried wild boar salami) and sit in the Piazza del Campo and enjoy people watching.

YUM!

The Piazza del Campo is surrounded by restaurants and the center is an incline that would slowly start filling up with people in the late afternoon hanging out in groups enjoying the ambience. As the sun starts to set hundreds of bats come out and dance around the sky overhead. We would lay back, relax, and enjoy the show.

We made an adventure out of Siena by renting a Vespa scooter and taking it through the Tuscan countryside.  I was a little hesitant to jump on board because neither of us had ever driven a Vespa but Jordan was very convincing to the rental office who insisted that we must know how to drive the scooter rent it.  Once we figured out how to get the kickstand up, we were good to go!

The Tuscan countryside was beautiful, it was a good thing I wasn't driving much because the views were distracting.

We scootered to the medieval hilltown of San Gimignano and walked around.

We had a great time in Siena, but it wasn't complete without some Gelato.  As the last stop on our Italy adventure we celebrated Siena with lots of different flavors...

and an account of how much gelato we ate...

Such great memories we have made traveling through Italy!  Hopefully we will be back soon. Caio.