SOLO EURO II: DAY 7 & 8...PARTIALLY [SIENA & PISA]

after my first night in florence, i took a day trip to siena. i knew this was a must for me (it's a gothic medieval town), but had a bit of difficulty figuring out how to get there. i did some researc before leaving & did not feel very confident with what i found. the web & books recommended to not take the train (it takes longer, is less frequent, & drops you off further from the main area) & instead take a bus. the problem with that was that the info regarding the bus schedule was only in italian & a bit sketchy. i decided to take my chances & try the bus. 

the first step was walking to the bus station from my hostel, which was difficult. i circled around the block completely missing the bus station, which cuts through a block behind the train station. it was somewhat easy to buy a ticket, which had to be bought directly by staff (not a machine). i was hoping to take the express bus, which runs less often but is a direct route, but the next bus was not the ordinaira. i decided to take it anyways & found out i would get to my destination an hour later, oops. i did not mind, but the worst part was all the loud high schoolers. 

piazza salimbeni

siena is made up of neighborhoods, or contradas, and each one has what i shall call a spirit animal. each contrada is also represented in the horse race that occurs twice a year. some of these animals are quite random, including a snail, caterpillar, unicorn, & giraffe. there are also some non-animals (seashell, waves, & tower).

contrada selva (forest)

after arriving to siena the first stop was the main square, piazza del campo, but i decided to return later after i realized that i was in the middle of a global climate strike. that also explained why there were so many youngsters on the bus. instead, i made my way to the duomo.

siena duomo (c. 1200s - medieval gothic)

gargoyles

zebra columns & a starry roof

the cheapest ticket also allows access to the baptistry, & museo dell'opera. the duomo was cool, it was very pretty, but for me the most exciting part was visiting the museo dell'opera because it allows access to walk the terrace of the unfinished facade, which meant great views. the cathedral was meant to be expanded, but all that was finished was a wall (with a parking lot below). 

you have to walk up several spiral staircases, but it allows you to see all the siena colored rooftops (hence the paint name).

the backside of the duomo. siena has quite a bit of hills you have to walk up & down.

next was gelato, of course it is caffe. prior, my lunch included a fancy caffe shakeratto in a wine flute & a salami & cheese panino.

so many random pretty walkways

3 architectural styles spanning centuries: a 19th century neo-renaissance piazza that, with a gothic palace above that, with a medieval tower above.

this looks menacing, but it was actually used to tie up your horse. 

palazzo publico (c. 1297) & torre de mangia (c. 1325). the tower was at one time the tallest structure in italy [take that florence].

the next site was the palazzo pubblico, which was the seat of the republic of siena's government. i knew this was a must for me. there are a series of frescoes that portray good & bad government. i found this interesting because normally frescoes have religious subjects but, not this one. as a civil servant, i was intrigued. 

good government

bad government

to hold the children for hand. poetic words. found a but of these lost in translation signs during my trip.

in the middle of this square was a fountain. it at one time was the public fountain that allowed free water to to the people, but now is decorative. clearly no one should drink out fo it today.

siena is known for pottery & the clay that is the color "siena." i ended up buying a small decorative wall hanging with a painted field of flowers.

a pretty little grocery store.

after my stroll, i decided to make my way back to florence. i was a bit nervous as i had no idea what the bus schedule was nor where the bus would be, but fortunately a bus arrived within 15 minutes. i double-checked with a nice older canadian couple. we chatted for a bit & the man told me, "my hat goes off to you for traveling alone." it's funny how surprised people are to find that someone prefers solo travel. that was the end of the day for me.

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so moving forward in time to day 8 i first took the train to lucca [in summary found it skippable], was stranded for 2 hours, and then made my way to pisa. pisa turned out to be a surprise. while doing my research, i did not find anything really to make me want to visit and a selfie with the tower was not convincing. as i said in my previous post, i had no intention of going to pisa, but plans for ravenna fell through so lucca & pisa it was. 

while doing research, i found out you can still walk on there old city walls. i was sure i would enjoy them (i really enjoyed my previous experience at verona & rothenberg ob der tauder), but this turned out to be the highlight of the day. you pay a small fee for admission and you can then escape the crowds & get stellar views of the cathedral, tower, & baptistry. during my stroll, i rarely rant into anyone & was able to enjoy the solitude.

the old town walls are the oldest intact medieval town walls in italy. 

this selflie resulted in my bug spray falling out of my purse right when someone offered to take a photo for me. graceful.

the obligatory selfie. i also took an obligatory video.

the baptistery, cathedral, & tower.

the fallen angel

the arno river

tottomundo, a keith haring mural


on a sidenote, pisa is where i learned that italian dogs do not go "woof, woof," but "bow wow" (like the rapper).

platform 16 holocaust memorial at florence station. 

now for a song! once again i am choosing a song that has nothing to do my trip. i am still on my skam binge. right now i am finishing the german adaptation, druck, & season 3 has the best soundtrack out of all the seasons/adaptations i have watched, right now i am enjoying the song "forest green" by big red machine. it is such a pretty song & has such a slow, but powerful build-up. i feel like you can hear the frustration. this is such a good song for a soundtrack (which are normally my favorite songs). enjoy!