We have had some teasing about our references to information from Rick Steves, but for Italy newbies he was a wealth of information. Today was no different. We again used his walking tour of Siena to get around the city and learn some history of the city and what we were seeing.

As with most Italian cities, the first hurdle is finding where to park the car. It is primarily a pedestrian city so cars are parked on the outskirts and you walk into the city. We were fortunate to find a parking garage on Google maps that was an easy walk into the city, relatively inexpensive AND still had some parking spaces!

We had an easy walk to the Piazza del Campo, the large city square where everyone congregates and they hold the famous Palio horse races in the summer. The city hall (palace) is magnificent! and a palace of the people because it was not built by the church or a wealthy family but by the people themselves.

Italy was comprised primarily of city states that were often rivals. Florence and the Medicis were Siena’s primary rival. Siena prevailed and flourished until the Black Plague around 1350 when the city was devastated and declined. There is often a silver lining and for visitors to Siena, the result is that Siena has remained very much a medieval city with narrow winding streets and building facades and squares that you would have experienced 600 years ago!

It was another day of many steps and amazing architecture. We walked past the famous Duomo and saw the church that holds a relic of St. Catherine of Siena from a distance.

One of the fun aspects of these adventures is stopping for coffee or a glass of wine and a bite to eat. We have enjoyed watching the passing tourists and locals. Today we sat next to a young family with a handsome little guy who kept yelling loudly. His parents kept trying to quiet him, but I finally turned to them and said, “He is fine; he likes hearing the sound of his voice echoing in the very high ceiling.” “Cioa!!” and baby waves!

We returned to Cignella, a large dinner and a beautiful sunset!