August 2nd
So in planning my trip to Italy, I had only two places on my list of places that I just had to see. The moment I saw Cinque Terre on a travel video, I knew I wanted to go there. I had also heard so much about Siena, and was looking forward to seeing that beautiful medieval town. However, as I came towards the end of my stay in Rome, I had not seen either of them, and I was getting frustrated. So when I realized that I had this extra day in my schedule, I thought, I could see Siena! Also, I had lots of days left on my Eurail pass, so I wanted to put those to use.
So I caught the earliest train I could out of Rome (~7:00 am) and set out on my four-hour trip to this amazing city. I also brought my sketch journal along with me, because it was due the next day, and I still had a few things to finish up on. I got to Siena, and then had a bit of a walk into the city from the station. I could have taken a bus, but you don't get the same feel for a city as when you walk into it.
Left: Walking through the old city walls into the city. It was a black and white contrast between the city in the walls, and the city outside. Outside was just a regular modern European town, but then stepping inside, it was like stepping back in time. Siena is a town on a hill, which means there are lots of hills. Immediately after going through the town's walls, there was this huge hill to climb up, but then I was in the heart of the city.
My first stop in Siena was Il Campo, the main public square in Siena. It is now only pedestrian-accessible, so it becomes a large gathering place for the people (and the tourists... although there were not as many there as other cities I visited). It is also the location for a twice-yearly horse race that began during the middle ages, where each rider would represent one of the neighborhoods of the city.
Left: The main feature of the square is the town hall with its clock tower that dominates the skyline of the city. Do you think perhaps I should climb that tower and see what views it has for me? Well, since you insist...
Left: View of one half of Il Campo. It was really hard to get a picture of the whole thing at ground level. At the bottom of the picture is a fountain that lies at the center of the Campo.
Left: Going up! Just before the very top of the tower, there tall pointed windows on all four sides of the tower, that make spectacular frames to views across the city. This one is looking towards one of Siena's more outlying cathedrals.
Left: I've reached the top! Well, not quite. This bell tower has two levels of bells, two on the bottom, one on the top, and this is the lower, more enclosed, level. I took this picture as I ascended the ladder-stair to the next level, which was quite a bit less enclosed, and therefore quite frightening! It was a windy day, and most of the people at the top had already gone back down (they only let people up in groups, because it is a one-way path), so I had some time at the very top by myself. Nice, but strange as well.
Left: I went down to the lower bell level to take some pictures, this one has the cathedral in the background. I had to take all my pictures of myself, myself, because there was no one else there! As I was about to head back down, the upper bell gave one toll, and it really freaked me out! I don't know why it did that, because it is not supposed to ring (but it was noon), and it really hurt my ears...
Left: The view down was pretty dramatic, and apparently the shadow of the tower points to the fountain at noon. You can see how the Campo is laid out from here. The horses race along the outer ring (they bring in dirt for the track), and then people crowd into the center area. One of the races was August 15, the day after I left Rome, but I didn't want to be in that craziness. Yikes! Plus, it would have been impossible to find a place to stay.
Left: Looking down the interior of the tower from the top. That was something interesting (now that I can compare all the things I have climbed to the top of) because usually the passages are very enclosed, and in this one, you could see almost all the way to the bottom! You can also see how narrow these stairs were. And I apparently stayed at the top for too long, because more people started coming up, and they had to squeeze past me.
Not many people know this, but Siena and Florence were highly competitive during the Middle Ages, whereas nowadays everyone knows of Florence, while hardly anyone knows of Siena. They used to be about the same size and same level of power, but that all changed during the plague. Siena has just now reached the same population level it had prior to the disease.
Left: The planned cathedral of Siena, which was designed much larger than Florence's Duomo, but was stopped mid-construction due to the outbreak of the plague. Now it has been infilled with a museum.
Left: The interior of the actual Cathedral that was built after the plague. It is not nearly as large as was planned, but it was built right next to the other site. The architecture of this space was really nice, with its striped columns and coffered dome, but the artwork inside is most noteworthy. The floor is covered in intricate mosaics depicting scenes from the Bible, most of them are roped off so that people don't step on them (making navigation through the dimly-lit interior more interesting). Also, there are sculptures by Bernini in one of the side chapels, as well as an altarpiece by Michelangelo. Quite a nice compilation of works!
Left: The exterior of the Cathedral, which appears similar to the Duomo in Florence. It has an interesting layout, because one end of the structure is the cathedral, and the other end is the baptistry, so it is like two buildings bookended together. It is more interesting, because it is the baptistry that faces the town center, not the cathedral. In this image, the remains of the first, larger cathedral would be to the right of this image.
Left: The other main cathedral of the city, but I can't remember the name. It is much more plain, even on the inside, but it is noteworthy because it is dedicated to San Francesca, the patron saint of the city. It is also in a very nice location, even though it is farther from the city center, it is surrounded by the country on three sides, and it has wonderful views back towards the city center.
Left: After seeing all the main sights of the city, I just wandered aimlessly through the town for a bit, eating gelato. I happened upon this really interesting street, with numerous arches branching the two sides of the street. If they are necessary or not, they sure add something to a regular little street. This was probably one of my favorite spots in this town. What's even better? There were hardly any people around, so I felt like I had Siena all to myself. Complete freedom. After this, I went back to the Campo for one last time, then started to head back to the train station. I was plenty early for my train, so I decided to walk back to the station (it is only a half hour walk). I had a pretty good idea where I was going, so I didn't even check my map (which was a very rough map in Richard's guide book). However, I started walking for a while, and nothing was looking familiar. But for some reason, I kept walking, thinking that I would start to recognize something.
Finally, I asked this guy at a gas station, "Dove il statione per il treno?" (Where is the train station?). At first, he just said "Far." But then he added, to my dispair, "On the other side of the city, a long walk." Oh dear. My train was coming in 45 minutes, and I was nowhere near the station. So I just started walking back the way I came, following signs to the bus station. After asking another guy directions, who actually started walking along with me for a while (I think he thought I was pretty turned around, which was slightly true) and chatting in Italian (the best that I could) he pointed me the way to the bus station. I decided to wait for a bus, unfortunately while I was waiting, my train left from the station.
So I got to the train station, finally, and the next train to Rome was late, so I had to wait. I hadn't checked the schedule for later trains, so my layover on the way back to Rome ended up being 1.5 hours in a tiny little town.
Left: View from the train as I passed through Tuscany during the sunset. Needless to say, it was quite the long day. I didn't get back to Rome until 1:00 am, but I didn't have any problem finishing my journal entries!
So in planning my trip to Italy, I had only two places on my list of places that I just had to see. The moment I saw Cinque Terre on a travel video, I knew I wanted to go there. I had also heard so much about Siena, and was looking forward to seeing that beautiful medieval town. However, as I came towards the end of my stay in Rome, I had not seen either of them, and I was getting frustrated. So when I realized that I had this extra day in my schedule, I thought, I could see Siena! Also, I had lots of days left on my Eurail pass, so I wanted to put those to use.
So I caught the earliest train I could out of Rome (~7:00 am) and set out on my four-hour trip to this amazing city. I also brought my sketch journal along with me, because it was due the next day, and I still had a few things to finish up on. I got to Siena, and then had a bit of a walk into the city from the station. I could have taken a bus, but you don't get the same feel for a city as when you walk into it.Left: Walking through the old city walls into the city. It was a black and white contrast between the city in the walls, and the city outside. Outside was just a regular modern European town, but then stepping inside, it was like stepping back in time. Siena is a town on a hill, which means there are lots of hills. Immediately after going through the town's walls, there was this huge hill to climb up, but then I was in the heart of the city.
My first stop in Siena was Il Campo, the main public square in Siena. It is now only pedestrian-accessible, so it becomes a large gathering place for the people (and the tourists... although there were not as many there as other cities I visited). It is also the location for a twice-yearly horse race that began during the middle ages, where each rider would represent one of the neighborhoods of the city. Left: The main feature of the square is the town hall with its clock tower that dominates the skyline of the city. Do you think perhaps I should climb that tower and see what views it has for me? Well, since you insist...
Left: View of one half of Il Campo. It was really hard to get a picture of the whole thing at ground level. At the bottom of the picture is a fountain that lies at the center of the Campo.
Left: Going up! Just before the very top of the tower, there tall pointed windows on all four sides of the tower, that make spectacular frames to views across the city. This one is looking towards one of Siena's more outlying cathedrals.
Left: I've reached the top! Well, not quite. This bell tower has two levels of bells, two on the bottom, one on the top, and this is the lower, more enclosed, level. I took this picture as I ascended the ladder-stair to the next level, which was quite a bit less enclosed, and therefore quite frightening! It was a windy day, and most of the people at the top had already gone back down (they only let people up in groups, because it is a one-way path), so I had some time at the very top by myself. Nice, but strange as well.
Left: I went down to the lower bell level to take some pictures, this one has the cathedral in the background. I had to take all my pictures of myself, myself, because there was no one else there! As I was about to head back down, the upper bell gave one toll, and it really freaked me out! I don't know why it did that, because it is not supposed to ring (but it was noon), and it really hurt my ears...
Left: The view down was pretty dramatic, and apparently the shadow of the tower points to the fountain at noon. You can see how the Campo is laid out from here. The horses race along the outer ring (they bring in dirt for the track), and then people crowd into the center area. One of the races was August 15, the day after I left Rome, but I didn't want to be in that craziness. Yikes! Plus, it would have been impossible to find a place to stay.
Left: Looking down the interior of the tower from the top. That was something interesting (now that I can compare all the things I have climbed to the top of) because usually the passages are very enclosed, and in this one, you could see almost all the way to the bottom! You can also see how narrow these stairs were. And I apparently stayed at the top for too long, because more people started coming up, and they had to squeeze past me.
Not many people know this, but Siena and Florence were highly competitive during the Middle Ages, whereas nowadays everyone knows of Florence, while hardly anyone knows of Siena. They used to be about the same size and same level of power, but that all changed during the plague. Siena has just now reached the same population level it had prior to the disease.Left: The planned cathedral of Siena, which was designed much larger than Florence's Duomo, but was stopped mid-construction due to the outbreak of the plague. Now it has been infilled with a museum.
Left: The interior of the actual Cathedral that was built after the plague. It is not nearly as large as was planned, but it was built right next to the other site. The architecture of this space was really nice, with its striped columns and coffered dome, but the artwork inside is most noteworthy. The floor is covered in intricate mosaics depicting scenes from the Bible, most of them are roped off so that people don't step on them (making navigation through the dimly-lit interior more interesting). Also, there are sculptures by Bernini in one of the side chapels, as well as an altarpiece by Michelangelo. Quite a nice compilation of works!
Left: The exterior of the Cathedral, which appears similar to the Duomo in Florence. It has an interesting layout, because one end of the structure is the cathedral, and the other end is the baptistry, so it is like two buildings bookended together. It is more interesting, because it is the baptistry that faces the town center, not the cathedral. In this image, the remains of the first, larger cathedral would be to the right of this image.
Left: The other main cathedral of the city, but I can't remember the name. It is much more plain, even on the inside, but it is noteworthy because it is dedicated to San Francesca, the patron saint of the city. It is also in a very nice location, even though it is farther from the city center, it is surrounded by the country on three sides, and it has wonderful views back towards the city center.
Left: After seeing all the main sights of the city, I just wandered aimlessly through the town for a bit, eating gelato. I happened upon this really interesting street, with numerous arches branching the two sides of the street. If they are necessary or not, they sure add something to a regular little street. This was probably one of my favorite spots in this town. What's even better? There were hardly any people around, so I felt like I had Siena all to myself. Complete freedom. After this, I went back to the Campo for one last time, then started to head back to the train station. I was plenty early for my train, so I decided to walk back to the station (it is only a half hour walk). I had a pretty good idea where I was going, so I didn't even check my map (which was a very rough map in Richard's guide book). However, I started walking for a while, and nothing was looking familiar. But for some reason, I kept walking, thinking that I would start to recognize something. Finally, I asked this guy at a gas station, "Dove il statione per il treno?" (Where is the train station?). At first, he just said "Far." But then he added, to my dispair, "On the other side of the city, a long walk." Oh dear. My train was coming in 45 minutes, and I was nowhere near the station. So I just started walking back the way I came, following signs to the bus station. After asking another guy directions, who actually started walking along with me for a while (I think he thought I was pretty turned around, which was slightly true) and chatting in Italian (the best that I could) he pointed me the way to the bus station. I decided to wait for a bus, unfortunately while I was waiting, my train left from the station.
So I got to the train station, finally, and the next train to Rome was late, so I had to wait. I hadn't checked the schedule for later trains, so my layover on the way back to Rome ended up being 1.5 hours in a tiny little town. Left: View from the train as I passed through Tuscany during the sunset. Needless to say, it was quite the long day. I didn't get back to Rome until 1:00 am, but I didn't have any problem finishing my journal entries!
1 comments:
That looks like an awesome trip. I'm proud that you did all this stuff on your own.
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