Tuesday 16 June 2009

Monday 8th - Siena

It was about an hour on the coach to Siena where we were met by a local guide who took us first to St Catherine's Cathedral (see above). In the Cathedral we were invited to view St Catherine's head - eek and also her finger!!! The Italian's certainly like their relics and these seemed to be particularly gruesome, later in the Duomo we shown the place where they keep one of John the Baptist's arms - a gift from Pope Pius III, if I remember correctly.
We walked through Siena hearing about the history of the city, there were many attractive side streets like this one.
We then reached the Duomo which was very ornate both externally and internally.
It was difficult to photograph the frescos and paintings in the light, but this slightly out of focus picture of the ceiling gives you an idea.
There were also some amazing illustrated manuscripts on display, the colours were so vibrant.
Here is Brian having a seat outside the Duomo, it was beginning to get very hot.
Our guides left us at these steps leading to the Piazza del Campo. This is the place where they hold the 'Palio di Siena' a remarkable horse race which was featured in the James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.
The Piazza del Campo
We had lunch at one of the cafes at the side of the Piazza

Brian's lunch
Janice's lunch
We then had free time to wander around, I loved the display of fruit they had in this little store.
There were many little details in the architecture that just begged to be photographed.
We returned to our hotel, but were then eating out at a restaurant with a stunning view of the valley. The meal was delicious, we had bruchetta, tomato and bread soup, pork fillet with sage served with insalata mista and a creme brulee with lavendar sugar, it was all delicious. Oh and we might have had some wine!!!

10 comments:

  1. That fruit looks divine, so fresh! The streets remind me of the little French villages in Provence...gorgeous xx

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  2. Oh it looks so beautiful Janice. Keep them coming!!

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  3. Good Morning, Janice... so nice to hear from you again! Thank you, thank you for sharing your trip to Italy! I am enjoying every picture!

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  4. haha trust you to take pictures of your lunch!!! oooo this place looks gorgeous...I would have taken 100's of pics. Thank you for sharing them XXX

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  5. Hahaha, just a little wine eh??

    The photos are fab Janice, it's lovely to see where you've been.

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  6. Janice, these are beautiful pics. My colleague has just had a peak and said that her and her partner caught the train to Siena week before last, but last year they actually stayed there. She said about the steep hills aswell and they went to Montalcino too. Thanks for sharing. XX

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  7. Oooh, I love Siena! Lovely pics m'dear. If you scan down quickly though it looks like Brian had a very bready lunch and you had an awful lot of fruit :haha:

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  8. what gorgeous piccies that church looks very impressive...lunch looks very scrummy, apart from the toms! can't wait for the next installment xx

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  9. hehe love your lunch Janice. What wonderful photos.

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