Siena, San Gimignano & Pisa

Siena's Duomo

This past Saturday I went to Siena and San Gimignano for the day with Accademia Italiana.  Siena was about an hour and a half bus ride from Florence. Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill-forts. Siena is built on 3 hills, like a great inverted "Y". The limits of the Roman town correspond with the earliest known walled city limits that occupied the western hill. Packed into Siena are the 17 "contrade" (parishes) whose animal symbols are frequently seen on carvings, plaques and car stickers. We met our tour guide who took us to: Siena Cathedral (Duomo), The Piazza Del Campo, St. Domenico's Basilica, The house of Santa Caterina, Santa Caterina's chapel, & Piazza Salimbeni. The Duomo was my favorite! I think it is the prettiest church I have seen so far while I have been in Europe.
    

San Gimignano

San Gimignano was about an hour from Siena. San Gimignano was much smaller than Siena and more peaceful. It was also an Etruscan village, the town was named after the bishop Modena, San Gimignano, who is said to have  saved the city from Attila the Hun. San Gimignano is a walled medieval town that rises on a hill dominating the Elsa Valley with its majestic towers. The construction of the towers dates back to the 11th and 13th centuries. The architecture of the city was influenced by Pisa, Siena and Florence. We hiked around the village and climbed up some steps on the side of a castle wall for a great view of San Gimignano and the Tuscan hillside. It was so pretty. We also got some pretty tasty gelato before we left! 
   

Pisa

On Sunday I took about an hour train ride from Florence to Pisa with two of my roomies. It was about a 20 min walk from the train station to the leaning tower. We got to see the leaning tower, the duomo & baptistry. Then we were going to go eat pizza at a pizzeria I found in one of my tourist books. We couldn't find it so we asked a lady and she helped us find it. We got there and it was CLOSED! I was so bummed. So we ended up finding another pizzeria to eat at that was delicious.