bahhhhh so i knew this was going to happen. one blog every few weeks. oh well, most of you see this because i post it on Facebook so you've already seen all my pictures :) but for those of you who don't…since i last blogged, i have gotten to see quite a few beautiful places AND start classes. joy. the same weekend we went to san gimignano with my mom and mrs leach, we got to see siena and get a tour by the #1 tour guide in the city (spiffy!). she showed us st. catherine's basilica and walked us through town to show us the highlights such as the world's first bank and piazza del campo (history lessons below). it was a little cold but it was a great time to go since 2 weeks later our friends were going sledding on all the snow in the piazza. [we are calling the past few weeks in italy snowpocalypse because it usually doesn't snow this much in the winter and hasn't snowed this much in 50 years??] me and katie can't wait to wear our chacos…
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| siena |
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| world's first bank: the middle gothic looking building was the original bank. the buildings on either side were built in the two centuries following it by two different architects from rome and florence. lots of character, this little square here, and all 3 sections now belong to the same bank that is still being used today! |
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| looking back at st. catherine's basilica. st. catherine is one of the two patron saints of italy (the other one being st. francis of assisi). her pointer finger and skull are on display in this church and her body is buried in rome. |
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| piazza del campo is beautiful (you're going to get tired of me describing things this way...). but really it is. the outside of this square is used twice a year as a track when the entire town shuts down for the horse races. from the 13 districts that siena is divided up in, 6 or 7 (depending on the time of year) jockeys and horses are drawn in order to race against each other for the coveted bragging rights of winning "palio di siena." each district has its own museum that contains all the banners they have won throughout the centuries. |
after we left siena, we spent the afternoon taking the scenic route back to florence. the tuscany region is absolutely gorgeous but i'm sad to say i was still jetlagged and running around for these 2 days after orientation was exhausting so i definitely didn't take enough pictures but here are a few.…mansions and vineyards galore.
the next weekend was our first day trip without the parentals and train ride to see the leaning tower of pisa and the cute little town of
lucca. i don't have much of a history lesson on pisa and the only
significant thing i know about lucca is that it's known for their walls.
they are tall and very sturdy and no one could get through them to
attack the city. in the spring
it's the place to be because you can rent bikes and ride on the top of
the walls or walk or whatever but we didn't do that because well, we
were freezing. our few hour trip there was fun though and maybe we'll make
it back later this semester when it's warmer and rent some bikes :)
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| pisa: the same beautiful arno river that runs through florence. |
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| we found it :) |
thanks for reading! next update SOON (i promise) over venice, carnavale, and valentine's day :) ciao!
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