We left our beautiful hotel, the Villa Sabolini, regretfully. There are, however, compensations.
We spent the day in Siena’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site and rival of Florence. Both cities, prosperous from the Middle Ages on, have been competing for status and power over the years. Siena is famous for its horse race in the streets known as the Palio. The city is divided into seventeen districts called contrades, and each one is in competition for this event, held twice a year in the main square, the Piazza del Campo.
Alice introduced us to our local guide; we see one of the signs for the contrada, or neighborhood.
Our local guide showed us some of the sites, then we were fortunate enough to meet a young lady who is active in the Bull contrade. We met her in the church of her contrade and then in their social hall a few houses away. One does not need to be born into a contrade: she and her husband are both from Rome, but met and married here when they were both students at the university. She explained the feeling of pride she felt in belonging to this group and being a part of the social life of the city. She showed us items she helped sew for the Palio.
Our guide also showed us two important churches, the first one associated with St. Catherine, the patron saint of Siena, and the duomo, or cathedral, with its bell tower. We strolled the narrow, winding cobblestone streets from the cathedral on the top to the Campo at the bottom.
When we had free time, went back to discover more about the cathedral complex. We went through the massive interior, visited the library – my favorite part – and went through the museum. At the top of the museum it was possible to walk up to the top outside to see the spectacular view..and we did. And it was.
We drove to the beautiful village of Pienza for our next three-day stop. It’s the home of two popes, and a wonderful example of a perfectly built Renaissance village. Our hotel was a small, family-run place with spectacular views of the countryside.
I’m running about four days behind; our days are busy and internet can be slow. We’re now in Trevi, in Umbria, with four days left on the trip. I’ll continue writing on the road and back at home. We’ve had some great adventures on our journey and I want to tell you all about them.