If you travel to Tuscany, you must go to Siena from Florence. It is a wonderful city that let us to see how they that lived in medieval times.
You can go to Siena by train from Florence in less than an hour and a half. It is a peaceful journey with beautiful views of Tuscan countryside. When you arrive to town, you will be surprised to see that it is totally fortified.
Discover Siena:
Once there, you can walk through beautiful. The most curious are the street lamps that change according to the street, because they represent the shields of the 17 districts of the city. You will find street lamps of giraffes, geese, porcupines, turrets, turtles … And you can recognize the district by the flags that hang in the houses.
In Siena there are many authentic shops, far from the multinationals. You will find many products, such as handmade shoes, engravings and crafts papers, wooden Pinocchios puppets…
One of the best things to see in Siena is the Piazza del Campo. A square shaped like a fan where you can find the Palazzo Comunicale with a tall tower in the middle that you can visit. In this square is celebrated the famous race of horses the “Palio de Sena“. In the square 10 horses compete to make three rounds to the place during three minutes.
This show is a medieval tradition of Siena, where the 17 neighbourhoods of the city face this race. It is full of rules, superstitions and secrets that have been maintained over the years. The Palio (banner) is won by the horse, with or without a rider. The celebration takes place in the neighbourhood of the winning horse, who is the honour guest.
We cannot forget the great gastronomic offer of Piazza del Campo. You can find many pizzerias, trattorias, ice cream shops … But we recommend you to try some ostreria. It would be like a Spanish “tavern”, where wine was traditionally served. Now you can eat focaccias and tables of sausages of good quality and at a good price. So you cannot miss eating a salami focaccia in Siena.
The most spectacular of Siena is the Duomo, with a spectacular white and green striped marble. It was built only in 48 years, between 1215 and 1263.
We recommend you visiting the cathedral, because the interior is more spectacular than the exterior. You will discover all the walls, floors and ceilings of black and white marble. You will also find artworks by Andrea Bregno, Donatello, Baldassare Peruzzi and sculptures by Michelangelo.
Finally, Siena is known for its university, one of the oldest in Europe. There are young Italians and Europeans studying Law, Medicine or Philosophy. Therefore you will see a multitude of young people in the streets and squares that give life to the city.
This is everything for today, we hope in the next post 😉
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