Little town, It's a Quiet Village

On the first travel weekend of the semester, Claire, Deborah, Jamie and I took a bus ride to Siena. The Tuscan countryside was beautiful yet alien, with large fields full of nothing but gigantic sunflowers, drooping towards the ground from the lack of sunlight. Fields full of sheep were watched by shepherds in cloaks. Upon arriving in Siena we checked into our hostel. It was probably the most amazing hostel we'll ever stay at, and really cheap too! We had little cabins for two people with our own bathrooms, comfy blankets, really cute and clean, and even a mini fridge.
We walked back up to the bar at the site to get some snacks. It started to rain, and we lamented the fact that none of us had brought umbrellas, and I was the only one who had brought even a coat! We continued with our snacks, and noticed that the rain was now pounding unnaturally loud. Hail was now falling from the sky, and pounding against the wooden awning. I picked up some scattered pieces of hail, and the cold things were as big as large marbles. The day had been warm until then, and steam was rising from the ground from the freezing impact.

Finally it cleared up, and we were able to venture into Siena. We saw the famous Piazza del Campo, where college students study, children run after pigeons, and tourists gawk at the high tower stretching for the blue sky. We grabbed a slice of pizza for a euro, and walked over to the Duomo, the beautiful Cathedral. Though it looks modern with its horizontal stripes, it is almost 1000 years old. The rainbow-colored mosaics on the facade of the church have not faded with age, and this Gothic church is one of the most beautiful I have seen, even with all of Rome's. As we were about to leave the Piazza, we heard the sound of drums and singing from a distance. We turned back and saw a parade of people with colored scarves and a large banner with a black horse and the Virgin on it. They waved flags and marched to the center of the Piazza. Siena has many ancient neighborhoods, and each year in August they compete in a horse race on the Piazza. This was the winning neighborhood in a victory celebration. This was a very welcome surprise to see a little bit of the fun of living in Siena.

The next morning we took the bus into Siena and went to the Church of San Domenico, which displays relics from the life of St. Catherine of Siena, among them her finger and her head. Then we stopped at her house, and rain started to pour into the courtyard. After we finished our visit I led the way into the cold rain, up and down the hills and alleys to the Duomo Museum. It displays beautiful artwork that used to be in the Cathedral itself, and was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We also saw the Baptistery, where we met some students from Benedictine College who were studying in Florence. The cathedral itself did not contain one inch that was not elaborately decorated. The floor was engraved with mythical figures and scenes from the Old Testament, and the chairs behind the altar had a different painted scene on the bright wood. The rest of the day we spent listening to a choir in the city hall below the tower of the Piazza del Campo, and walking about the rainy streets. We were soaked by the time we got home, and our shoes didn't dry until we got back to Rome the next afternoon.

I would highly recommend this city for a weekend trip, it's picturesque and small enough to visit everything in a day or two. The food is delicious, both the Italians and foreigners are pretty nice, and the medieval town is amazing.