Under the Tuscan sun in Siena

Belltower in Siena square
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We spent two days in Siena in an old (500 years) fort run by a kind old woman. As the fort was just outside Siena, the view of the Tuscan hillsides was breathtaking. In fact, it inspired Elena and I to get sketch pads in town so that we could start sketching (something we both enjoy but that neither of us are overly good at).

On the first day we went to check in and returned to town to do some site seeing. I was still horribly hung over from our last night in Florence and so was absent from much of the site seeing, but I will allow Elena to add her 2c...

I tend to prefer churches that don't contain the 500 year old preserved head of a saint

Siena Duomo
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I wandered around town by myself for a while, first exploring the huge square called the Pizza del Campo and taking a look at the adjoining belltower. Next, I visited the Duomo, which has been called the most spectacular (on the inside) after St Peters in Rome. It was incredibly detailed inside, with the entire floor of the church covered in mosaics. I also visited the Crypt and Baptistery which were just as interesting. Before meeting up with Richard, I climbed to the top of another tower in Siena, where I got to see beautiful views of the Tuscan countryside. Back to Richard...

View of Siena from a tower
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One thing I was able to see, rather unfortunately in fact, was the San Domenico church. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy famous churches as much as the next man, but I tend to prefer they don't contain the 500 year old preserved head of a saint; St Catherine, in this particular case. While "preserved", you could still see the skull through the skin, giving it a creepy, Skeletor kind of vibe. Not only that, but one of her fingers too. Moving along...

On our second day we took the train down to San Gimignano, famous for its towers and views. While we were there we were able to sample gelato from the world's best gelato place, and it was predictably fantastic.

View from our Siena accommodation
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After a heavy day of site seeing, we headed back to the fort and chilled for the afternoon. In the morning we fare welled the nice old lady, who gave us a very Italian kiss on both cheeks, and set off for Perugia.