Tripping To Siena 1

  The last time we were in Siena was back in 2012. We've always enjoyed this town so much. The main piazza, "Piazza del Campo", is stunning, and there are so many little streets and areas to explore.

  This time, we spent two nights, so we had lots of time to just relax and take this beauty in. It was a little cold and pretty windy, but that made for super clear views, so we decided right off the bat to climb to the top of the 'Torre del Mangia'.....

  

Our first view of the tower on this trip.

Views all around were spectacular!
It was quite early, so not many people around, yet...

The big bell.

Yes, we did.
Now can I have a glass of proseco?

We were way up there, baby.

One of the many cool rainspouts on the tower...

We were waiting for our room to be ready, after dropping our bags off, so after the big climb, we went down the hill to check out this garden area we had spied from way up on the tower.

  It was a great way to kill some time, and just see another side of Siena...

You can see the tower from all over.

Along the path down to this main garden area, there are several veg gardens.

Way at the bottom of the main area, there is this interesting sculpture...

I love getting inside people's heads.

There is a small herd of goats, too...big fun!

  After heading back to our room to put our stuff away, we headed back out to find a spot to have some lunch.

  Along the way, we came across this lovely display. It was the entrance to a hair salon, and I came this close (finger & thumb really close together) to getting my hair chopped.

Really cool music, too.

  For a simple but very tasty lunch, we stopped into Il Pulcino...

Johnny loved his risotto with radicchio.

My lasagna with zucca (winter squash) was divine.

  Well fed and ready to explore...

  When we heard drums, we followed the sound.

  We came across an older boy teaching a younger student the ropes. This was in the neighborhood, called a 'contrada', of the Owl. The owl is their symbol for the massive horse race held a few times a year in Siena...'The Palio'.

  There are seventeen different symbols for the seventeen different neighborhoods. It's a blast going through the different areas and seeing the various statues and such that represent the contradas.

The next generation moves forward.

The Owl in it's neighborhood...

Pretty cool owl!

  Afterwards, we relaxed as usual...

Nothing beats watching the world go by with a glass of wine...

  I'll have another post soon about Siena. We had a great visit...

  Grazie, Siena!!

More to come on Siena!