We got to visit Siena for a few hours on the way back to Rome from Florence. I wish we could’ve gotten more out of the visit though, since a huge chunk of the time was taken up with just walking to the city center.

Siena is famous for the twice-yearly Palio di Siena, or horse race, which takes place below, in the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo.* I’m definitely making a note to go back on July 2 or August 16 when the races happen!

*checked the details on this in Google+Wikipedia

I also wanted to climb up this tower, which you have to pay a few Euro for to get some nice views, but unfortunately we didn’t have time :(

Without the races happening, the piazza becomes a sort of student hangout. I actually wasn’t able to appreciate the square as much—the shell shape and the square’s history—because of the hoardes of students sitting on the ground and flocking from end to end. If I’d been more aware, we would’ve known to try to get a good panoramic shot of the square! :(

See all those students? Aaahhh!

Once we got to the piazza, we had just about enough time to walk back to the meeting point, stopping briefly for gelato (read about it here) and dropping by a few shops (my favourite of which was an art shop called Art Shop)

This is really kinda sad.

At the meeting point, the Basilica di Cateriniana (we went in but photos weren’t allowed. nothing much inside though other than the skull of some saint..)

At a nearby lookout, people seem to have continued on this strange trend of locking locks at tourist spots (they have this in Verona and in Guam!)

A very nice, compact view of the Siena housepiles. You can see the tower from the piazza del campo!

Goodbye, Siena~ So much more to see for next time!

Photos: Canon 450D + 10-22mm + 24-70mmL