Five days goes by so fast and suddenly our stay in Siena had come to an end. We throughly enjoyed walking its cobblestoned streets and taking in all the history that is the foundation of this medieval city.
We were watching our budget and had foolishly hesitated to buy a pass to view the cities cathedral but thankfully we decided to do so and so glad to have made the investment. For only 8 euros we bought a pass that included the Cathedral, Baptistery, Crypt and Civic Museum; so much value for the price. The outside of the Cathedral is stunning, but inside-Wow! First you are impacted by the sheer size and grandeur but then the detail comes into focus and you can’t believe what is real. Everything from the architecture, to the paintings, the sculptures, the mosaic floors, the frescoes to the pulpit will have you gawking in disbelief at the breadth and depth of artistry that was brought together here. Just looking at one square foot of space you wonder how many decades it took for an artisan to create this piece of art and history, names like Donatello, Pisano, Bernini, Michaelangelo, Pinturicchio and Jacopo della Quercia. Feeling so blessed to be able to have seen this!
After a foggy day it had cooled off significantly but the sun returned and warmed things up a bit through the day. On our last day a few flakes of snow were falling as we waited for a bus to take us to Florence. It seemed that December 1st was the turning point for Christmas festivities to begin here. The night before the city was testing it’s light displays along the cobblestone streets and we were excited to have seen them lit after they taunted us all week, draped and dark above our heads. Suddenly Christmas displays popped up in just about every shop, Christmas songs softly playing in the background, more bags in the arms of shoppers and you could tell everyone is preparing for the holidays. Here is a link to the photo gallery.
Below is another video that will get you inside the Cathedral and sites I mentioned above with some more views of the city. We covered the $8 euro charge for you! Next we’ll be in Firenze, the city of art!
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