One of the places I've had a yen to visit in Italy is Siena ever since I saw a documentary about the annual horse race around the central piaza, so finally here we are. Damn, reality rarely lives up to ones expectations, I was very disappointed, apart from half a million visitors it failed to be the town I expected, of course this is my fault, Siena is Siena and always has been since Roman times. The main plaza, il campo, is huge and a bit lifeless compared to some of the others we have seen, maybe it's just the size of it but I suppose if you have a horse race around it it has to be a reasonable space. Perhaps when it's full of people it would seem smaller especially through a documentary camera.

We did the obligatory walk through the town saw the shops and the churches although there was a lovely fountain in the piaza. Oh and it rained briefly.........

S. Gimignano on the other hand was a place I had never heard of but Penny knew it and was worth a visit. It was a lovely small town and typically Italian. Narrow streets holding a variety of establishments including the worlds best Gelati emporium. Chris mentioned to Penny on the phone the other night that they did have the best Gelati in Italy in this town, whether this was the same place, not sure but it was really really good.

S. Gimignano is well known for it's many towers, actually seventy two. It all came about in early medieval times, two families the Guelphs and Ghibellines were in conflict and they competed by building towers of increasing heights and they seemed to stop but not before creating a forest of stone. (oh that's poetic, should have been a writer!)

Day 19 - Siena and Me