Three Cheers for Toscana

Part II of my European adventure has finally begun! After 18 hours of travel and connections in Philadelphia and Munich, I arrived in Florence, Italy, yesterday early in the afternoon. I am staying at my first cousin Joe's apartment, which is in the center of old town Florence, just steps from the Duomo and Uffizi. I wasted no time and headed straight out into the city for some sightseeing. After going inside the massive duomo (cathedral), I climbed the more the 400 steps to the top of the adjacent bell tower. With more than five different levels and sets of small, winding staircases barely big enough for one person, the bell tower provides unmatched views of Florence and the nearby Tuscan countryside.


I walked through the old city of Florence for a few more hours, but my lack of sleep from traveling finally caught up with me. A 2 hour nap quickly turned into 5 hours from my sheer exhaustion. I woke up around 10:30 to grab a quick bite to eat and, of course, some gelato (claimed to be invented by the Florentines). Unfortunately, the time zone change along with my long evening nap made it difficult to fall asleep. After just 5 hours of sleep, I woke up and made my way to the Santa Maria Novella train station. I had planned on staying in Florence today, but almost every museum and tourist sight is closed on Mondays.


Pisa! Just an hour train ride from Florence, Pisa is a vibrant little city with an abundance of Italian charm. After walking from about 15 minutes, I finally reached the Leaning Tower of Pisa...and that was all there was to see. Really, it is just thousands of tourists swarming everywhere. I tried to take a tour of the tower, but lines were long and the next available tour was more than 4 hours from the time of ticket purchase. So i threw in the towel and made my way to third famous city of Tuscany, Siena.



Siena is a medium-sized town with picturesque streets, hills, and architecture. Famous sights include the massive duomo that expands an entire hill in addition to the Piazza del Campo. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending), I did not get to take part in seeing these famous sights of Siena today in the conventional way.


Just by chance, I happened to be in Siena for the bi-annual Palio di Siena. According to Wikipedia, the Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, Italy, in which ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards. Thousands of people crowed the Campo plaza to catch just the tiniest glimpse of the showcase of knights and horses. After wading for half an hour through thousands of Italians and other spectators, I caught a few minutes of the ceremony before forcing my way through the crowds to catch my train home to Florence.


While I am thoroughly exhausted from a long day of walking, sun, and trains, I think my sleep schedule is still a little off key. Tomorrow morning, I head to Rome on an express train from Florence. I should reach the city by 8:30am to begin my two day adventure in the Eternal City and the Vatican. I will leave you with a picture of the beautiful Tuscany countryside from Siena. Ciao bella!