The bus arrived and we boarded. We departed at 7:15 am and made a dash for Siena. The next hour is a blur due to falling in and out of consciousness. Helen made an announcement that we made it, I put on my shoes, and got off the bus. We visited: the Domenican church and then headed to the Campo for a coffee break. Before dispersing, Helen told us that each year, twice, they have a horse race in the Campo. The winning team then celebrates for the entire year with banners, flags, and constant partying until the next competition.
For breakfast, I had a croissant and a water. We were told to meet up at 8:55 am at the fountain in the Campo, yet when I went, no one was there. I called Michelle and she pointed me and a few others in the correct direction. We saw the Baptistery, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and the Cathedral. We saw a ton of works and received some interesting information at each place. For example, Siena wanted to extend their Cathedral to make it a gigantic structure (so as to out do Florence's Cathedral) but lack of planning haulted the project. The facade, however, still stands and we were able to climb it.
Afterwards, we went back towards the Campo and went inside the Palazzo Pubblico (Siena's Civic Palace) and had a guest lecture from Gordan Moran, an art historian whom, along with others, are declaring that a fresco supposedly done by Simone Martini is fake. It was extremely interesting. He said that they have 65 reasons why they believe its fake, and may have discovered a 66th the same day we were there. After this, Helen showed us a few more frescoes and finally let us break off for lunch. I had a giant slice of Sienese pizza with sausage and spicy peperoni. It was awesome. I shared a little bit of it with my friend, Pigeon.
After eating, I walked around the various shops and finally bought a bracelet. After an hour for lunch, we all met back up at Nannini, which specializes in sweets. I bought a cube of chocolate from this giant piece they had.
We all gathered and then headed for the buses. It was a 45 minute drive to San Gimignano which allowed for a much needed rest. When we arrived, we hiked the up and down hills until finally reaching the center of town. We saw some of the towers, which lends its name as the Manhattan of Tuscany, because they resemble sky scrapers.
We went inside the Collegiata and saw the chapel of S. Fina, whom was paralyzed at the age of 10, but spent her years prior to this volunteering and helping the poor. Her suffering was even exaggerated by letting rats nibble at her feet so that she could suffer as Christ did. The fresco depicts her soul going to Heaven and the three miracles of her life, allowing her to become a Saint. We saw some other frescoes within the church before trotting over to the Civic Museum. Helen pointed out a few frescoes, including an unusual one that may depict a brothel. After she had finished we were able to climb the tallest tower in San Gimignano. It had about 10 floors of stairs (added on to the 3 floors of the Civic Museum). The view was breathtaking and so peaceful. The air in both Siena and San Gimignano was very clean, too.
After we all made it back to the ground, Helen took us to a small fort called the Rocca, where she gave us Wild-boar salami and pecorino cheese with some local white wine. It was amazing.
We finally made our way back to the bus, where many kids slept on the way home, myself included. We got back to Florence at 8pm and I walked home. I made a salami sandwich for dinner, talked to mom, and tried to plan a trip in which Greg could maybe meet me in Scotland to golf at St. Andrews, which would be amazing.
I then went to bed.
(all pictures of the trip to Siena and San Gimignano were uploaded to the 'another flickr 2' link on the right)
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