Pisa and Siena

One of the most recognizable sites in Italy is the leaning tower of Pisa.  I figured there would be a whole city situated around Pisa, but we were advised to just stopover in Pisa to see the tower and church and then move along.  We hopped a train to Pisa and made our way to where we thought it was. 

We were told that several of the cities in Italy were designed with crooked streets so that you couldn't see the statue or fountain that you were going to see until you were right upon it.  At the last moment, you would round a corner and BOOM! there it is right in front of you.  That's the way it was with the tower.  You couldn't see it until you were standing right in front of it. 

What struck me about the tower, and this is going to a shocker to you, is how much it really leans.  That sounds stupid, I know, but it is a head-scratcher.  Maybe it was the clear blue sky on the day that we went, but it really was a spectacular site.  The tower sits in front of a beautiful church and large baptistery (kind of like another large dome) and each of them were so pristine that it was mind-boggling.  Of course, you can spend a great deal of time and money seeing things in this area, but seeing the tower was enough.  We quickly made our way back to the train station and on to the next destination-Siena.

Siena was another place that was suggested to us as a place to see.  This was an ancient city but it had a modern feel to it. The city center has a castle-like structure with a massive tower.  There were lots of modern foods and shops situated around the square.  While all of the streets were paved with brick, the square had a dirt path all the way around it with bleachers that were folded up above the shops that surrounded the square that looked like they could be could line the dirt track if they were unfolded.  Turns out that there is an annual bareback horse race that is held in the square once a year.  Each province of Tuscany puts forth a single rider to represent their region and the winner has bragging rights for a year.  Often the riders fall off their horses but all that matters is that the horse crosses the finish line.  The infield is crammed with people who want to see the race. It's a big deal! 

A week later we were eating dinner in Rome, when all of a suddenly everyone in the restaurant crowded around the TV.  We hustled over to see the race being run.  When the rider crossed the finish line, the camera panned out to those bleachers to see one very proud mayor pointing at the others and screaming, "In your face!!" 

The buildings and food in this region had a different feel from the other places we went in Italy.  While the food from other places centered on fish, this region featured steak, a lot more to our liking.  And we found a place that had actual fountain drinks--drinks with ice!  Siena was a beautiful city with fun feel.