Sunday, May 1, 2011

Traveling in Italy: Siena and San Gimignano

We took a day trip from Florence to visit a couple towns in Tuscany: Siena and San Gimignano. Our first stop was in Siena where we walked the incredibly steep streets and really enjoyed the relaxed feel of this town.



We made our way from the bus station to the city center and visited the Siena Duomo. Again, the architecture of the outside was incredible, and this time the inside was just as ornate as the exterior.




This is looking up at the dome from inside.



Then we visited a few other sights and as part of the museum entrance fee, you can climb up to the panoramic view which gives you a view of the Duomo as well as Il Campo. What's another 300 steps right? This was our view of Il Campo... yet another perfect day! I could've spent hours up here... it was THAT beautiful.



Here is more of a panoramic view.



You could see so much of the countryside from up there.


We got some pizza for lunch and ate it in the middle of the plaza.



Next, after a difficult time trying to figure out how to buy tickets with no information center or manned ticket stand, we headed to San Gimignano by bus. This town is mostly visited by tourists who come to see the towers that are still standing from medieval times. We had to walk down the hill to see all the towers together.





This was a cute little secluded walkway on our way to one of the viewpoints overlooking Tuscany.


And the views were so beautiful and peaceful.


We decided if we ever get the chance to return to Italy, this is the region we'd spend our time in.


2 comments:

Kara said...

Erin, these are all such beautiful pictures...I absolutely love all of them!! You do such an amazing job with these. My favorite is the night one from Florence though! Next up for you is tons adn tons of scrapbooking, huh?! :-D

Armin said...

Fantastic blog post, gotta make it to Italy someday!

Visitors since 1/20/2008