Siena - Our First Hill Town

Friday, October 09, 2009
Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Well, saying goodbye to beautiful Florence we rented a car. Chosing Alamo, I expected American efficiency. Evidently, the reservation systems are not connected resulting in at least a two hour process to obtain the rental car.  Italians are fairly unworried about the details of on-line bookings, guarenteed rates, processing credit cards and filling up cars with petrol. Hey it is only gas!!

We finally got going out of town and drove towards Trequandro and to our first hill town in Tuscany - Sienna . Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900 BC to 400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Roman origin accounts for the town's emblem; a she-wolf suckling the infants Romulus and Remus. The Palio di Siena is a traditional medieval horse race run around the Piazza del Campo twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August.

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, the town square, which houses the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia, is another architectural treasure, and is famous for hosting the Palio horse race. The Palazzo Pubblico, itself a great work of architecture, houses yet another important art museum.

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