Benvenuto, Arrivederci, Ciao!

Sunday, September 24

I went into Siena (which may be the best-preserved medieval city in Italy) today, which was about a 20 minute drive from Sinalunga. I walked the steep streets by Siena's main square, Piazza del Campo. It was fun to see the shops, the people, the architecture, and walk the cobblestone streets. After walking around, I decided to go and get a snack in the square. I got a bad panini sandwich but got a good people watching view from the restaurant balcony.

That afternoon, I hung out at the Villa in Sinalunga. Sinalunga has steep streets with some nice houses, villas, and vineyards. The villa that I stayed at, was about a 15 to 20 minute walk from the train station. I have my own room with two great views of sunrises and night shots of the church. Every morning I would hear the church bells. What a great sound in an otherwise quiet town.

Monday, September 25

This morning I took a nice walk through the countryside to a ruin structure. The structure is most likely an old church.

About an hour after the walk, it started raining and continued to rain all day. I decided to stay in my pj's and relax, read, and watch my two friends paint. What a great day!

Tuesday, September 26

On my way to town this morning, I took walked through the main old square where a street market was going on. They have a street market every Tuesday and Thursday. They were selling clothes, fruits, vegetables, toys, fish, breads, cheese. I enjoy going to markets in other countries or towns. It is always fun to see what they are selling and to do a little people watching.

Wednesday, September 27

This morning we drove to Lucingano (about a 10 minute drive from Sinalunga) for our morning walk. The town is really small and cute. It had such a nice feel to it.

That afternoon we drove to the hill town Chianciano Terme. There was a park there and at the park was music and dancing. Lots of the older people attend this event. It was fun to watch as the crowds moved toward the park. There are lots of hotels in this town but no restaurants. All the restaurants must be inside the hotels.

After walking around for a bit, we came across some sort of running international event. We caught the end of the race but were able to see the awards ceremony. A guy from the Czech Republic won. Too bad I don't know Italian otherwise I would have known what exactly the race was called or even what it was for.

Thursday, September 28

Today I went into Florence. My first stop was the Uffizi. I had to wait in line for close to 2 hours. Good thing there is enough activity, whether it be the street performers, the art seller's or tourists, going on to keep me company. There was a neat exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci.

After visiting the Uffizi, I went and walked around the Piazza Della Signore, and looked at all the statues. When I was in Florence about 3 years ago, they were doing a lot of renovation of the piazza. It was nice to see it a little more lively. One of the statues I liked was Rape of the Sabines designed by Giovanni da Bologna. One of my favorite things on my journey through Europe has been the statues/sculptures that I have seen in the various cities. It is amazing the detail that went into these works of art.

In Florence I was also able to climb the Duomo tower. This climb was 416 narrow stairs up. Worth the climb to see great views of Florence and a good view of the Duomo itself, which at the present is having work done on the top.