Tour of Siena

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This day started out as a total disaster! I was supposed to wake up at 7am because I had to be at the opposite end of the city to catch a bus for the daytrip to Siena and San Gimignano. My alarm clock went off and I hit the snooze button like always. What felt like 5 minutes later, my phone starts to ring. I answer it, and it was my friend Emily asking where I am. Apparently it was 7:50 and I had hit the off button instead of the snooze button by accident. I assure Emily that I am on my way as I jump out of bed and hang up the phone. I threw on the first clothes I lay my hands and grabbed my wallet and camera and sprinted out of my apartment. I hopped on my little purple bicycle (I had purchased it a few days earlier) and I pedaled as fast as I possibly could across the city. Under normal circumstances it takes about 40 minutes to walk at an average pace from my apartment to the train station & bus depot. On bicycle, it takes about 20 minutes at an average pace, assuming theres not much traffic. I pedaled as fast as I could, pinging my little bell and weaving around cars and people all the way there. In my head I repeated the same Mantra all the way across the city, "Lord please don't let me be killed, and please let me get to the bus in time!" I arrived at precisely 8:02 according to the digital clock at the station, panting from both the exertion and the panic. Emily takes one look at me and says, "I woke you up with my call didn't I?" I nodded, trying to catch my breath while offering fervent prayers of thanks that I had arrived in one piece! Emily just chuckled and shook her head. I was just relieved that I hadn't miss the bus! I hadn't even missed attendence and I wasn't the last one to arrive! Go figure.
Our guide for the day was Marcello, and he is a small Italian man in his late fifties with a full head of bright white hair, a round little "pasta belly" and a sense of humor to rival comedy central! He is a history professor at the Institute and I could tell right away that his classes must be awesome. He shared so much history with us before we even boarded the bus! And he did so with such enthusiasm and humor that everyone paid close attention the entire time! Even the kids who were hungover or still drunk from the night before we enthralled! Almost everyone napped on the hour and a half busride. Marcello enthusiastically woke us when we arrived and immediately began chattering about Siena. He explained that most of the city still boasts medieval architecture and that it is a small and quaint city that is a great tourist attraction for students and intellectuals. He was even cheeky enough to warn us about the bus-fulls of asian tourists (typically they are so in awe of everything and are totally oblivious to people outside their tourgroup; you need to watch out or else you'll trample them, or be trampled)!
The first place we visited was the Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico which is this beautiful brick Medieval Basilica! It is interesting on the interior because some of the chapels were added during the renaissance and you can easily distinguish what was built when (FYI, pointed arches indicate medieval, round arches indicate renaissance). I was unable to photograph the interior of the basicila as much as I wanted because I got yelled at for taking pictures when we weren't supposed to. It made me really angry too because it is common knowledge that cameras do not damage art and architecture so long as the flash is off, which mine was! The only reason why they are banned in so many places is because they want you to buy their postcards and books! Yes, even the oh-so-holy Catholic Church rips you off for your money!
Anyway, moving right along... Next we went to Piazza del Campo which is this big round circular plazza in front of the Palazzo Communale (City Hall). This is where they used to have their market, and festivals; the festivals still occur here today! The Sienese love their traditions! The paving in the Piazza forms this sunburst pattern with 9 sections which represent the original "Government of Nine" that ruled Siena before the Medicis. The 9 leaders included one citizen from each neighborhood or district, and these districts still exist today. For festivals and tournaments (including horse races where both riders and their mounts are often seriously injured or killed, even today) the entire city attends and the people stand in the section that represents their neighborhood. They all gather there waving banners with the coat of arms from the original nine leaders and they all wear the respective colors as well! These events are attended by all the Sienese, and tourists or Italians from outside of the city are practically ostrasized during the traditional festivities! It is difficult to imagine the entire piazza filled with people bearing the 9 different banners, but you know it really happens; photos of the events are plastered all over the tourist shops, as are the various banners. The confetti from the festivals is still visible in the cracks between the pavers, and is a perpetual memorial to the events. As carnivale approaches, little children already carry confetti in their pockets to throw at unsuspecting tourists! The Piazza is also known for its beautiful and famous fountain Fonta Gaia. The original fountain is in a museum because it is a masterpiece by Jacopo della Quercia, carved of marble in 1419. A copy is in the piazza instead, but even the fake version is a sight to behold!
After visiting the Piazza we have a few hours of free time. Emily and I went to a little cafe for a snack and then we did a little shopping before meeting up with the group again. We all gathered in the Piazza after our free time, and Marcello led us across the city to the Duomo of Siena. This church is absolutely magnificent! There are no adequate words to describe it! My dear readers, please visit this site: http://www.italyguides.it/us/siena_italy/duomo_siena/piazza_del_duomo.htm and press the play button on the top image. It gives you a virtual tour of the building and you can control where the camera looks so you can experience the plac yourself! There are tons of other Italian cities on this site so you can explore areas and buildings all over! This site includes Florence, Rome, Venice, etc!
After visiting the Duomo, we boarded the bus again and headed for San Gimignano.

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