Siena

Turns out we made a great choice for our first weekend excursion. We arrived in Siena Thursday night and spent the day there on Friday. Siena once competed with Florence and other larger Italian towns in terms of economic and military power, but damn that Black Death for seriously diminishing its population and ruining its chances at world domination (Steves 455). No matter, for Siena is a hopping little tourist town today, and it has retained a certain charm that is not as salient in the larger urban centers.

Siena is also a university town, which is perhaps why the local population appeared to be quite young. The shops are cute, the Internet points are numerous, and nearly everyone's demeanor and dress casually indicate her/his hipness. Even the infants in their strollers were dressed to impress and definitely working it.

As far as our "experience of the culture" of Siena goes (a problematic claim no matter how you attempt to explain it away), we climbed the Torre del Mangia (330 feet tall and a splendid view), walked amidst folks socializing in Il Campo (the town's main square) at night, and found a good deal of wine shops full of souvenir-sized bottles of chianti, grappe, and the traditional Tuscan dessert, panforte. We also snapped some photos of the Duomo (pictured above).

It was a bit easier to observe who is a tourist in Siena, considering there is a lot less noise (in the auditory sense and otherwise) than we have to contend with in Rome on a daily basis. I heard a lot of folks speaking German and French. There were also a good number of tourists and Siena natives communicating in English, although English was not the first language of either person involved in the interaction.

Oh, and lest I forget, our hotel was as small and charming as the city itself, right down to the shower over the toilet. If not for the modest shower curtain, there is no differentiating between the space for showering and the space for toiletting (I think that made up word is enough for you to get the picture). I was so pleased with our time in Siena, I was more than happy to shower over the toilet, and I would be more than happy to do it again.