Day Trip: Siena, Pisa, and Back Again

Blog 9/25: This morning was exciting. I overslept a bit and barely caught the bus to the train station. Then when I got there I walked quickly across the street to the station, and saw I had TWO minutes until the train to Siena left (the next one would be another hour later). I ran through the station to the opposite side (of course, it was leaving from a platform on the opposite side...) and stepped onto the train, immediately before the doors closed and it began to pull out. What's up!! The train ride was nice, aside from the couple that literally every few minutes for an hour and a half kissed each other. In random places all over their faces. It was weird.

But, finally, I arrived in Siena! Using the Rick Steve's Italy guide on my Kindle, I made my way to city centre. Again, it was as if I'd stepped into another world and another time. Italy is very charming in that way, with its cobblestone streets and old balconies and piazzas and palazzos, its markets and fruit stands and narrow walkways. I'm definitely enjoying the constantly changing scenery as I move from place to place. It's an adventure of a lifetime!

I made my way to the main square, Il Campo. The civic museum is here, with its landmark tower climbing high above the old ref rooftops of Siena. It was a busy place, and I found a wonderful shop full of ceramics handmade in Tuscany. May or may not have dropped a few euro in this shop....people at home will find out soon. :)

I move on to Siena's Duomo, which was beautiful. As expected. All of the cathedrals around here seem to be white, green, pink, and gold - but each is still stunning and uniquely exquisite. I was going to go inside, but the line for tickets was absolutely nuts and not moving very fast; I didn't have the time to wait that long, as I have a lot to do today. So I sat and took in the exterior, took pictures, and bought a postcard with the interior on it. That works, too, right?

Lunch was around the corner of the Duomo at a pizzeria. I know, I know...I'm eating a lot of pizza. I'm I'm Italy, give me a break. Besides, wouldn't you if your pizza looked like this?

4 Formaggi (4 cheese). So so good. And this was my cute little view for lunch:

Very delicious. I moved on to the Church of San Domenico on Rick Steve's recommendation, before heading back to the bus stop to go catch a train to Pisa. The walk to San Domenico turned out to be incredible. Lots of stairs, but it was worth the views. I didn't realize Siena was so hilly - check this out:

Right? So cool. And San Domenico was very interesting as well. Again, no photos allowed, but I got a few for y'all anyways:

Next, I flew by the seat of my pants figuring out which bus to catch back to the train station. I must really be honing my travel skills, because I was at the station in less than 10 minutes. From there, I caught a train to Empoli and from there to Pisa Centrale. I also accidentally bought carbonated water before getting on the train. Worst moment ever when I took my first swig from the bottle.

Pisa! What can I say? You go, get your picture, buy a postcard (if you're me), then leave. If I had more time, I would have tried to explore a little more, but I kept it to the triad - the Tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistery. Getting there was fun too - I accidentally caught the bus in the wrong direction and went to the airport first. Just getting the lay of the land, you know. I like to get to know the cities I visit, okay?

Yup. There it is, in all of its angular glory. There were, of course, tons of tourists. One of the most fun parts of this stop was to see everyone taking their Leaning Tower pictures. I'm not gonna lie, this is the one part of this trip where being alone isn't just inconvenient - it downright sucks. Not because I'm lonely, but because it's REALLY hard to get good Pisa pictures taken by strangers. I don't know them, so I can't just have them sit there for 30 minutes taking pictures of me. Yeah, I asked a few, but I just didn't get as good of pictures as I wanted to. Oh well - guess I'll just have to come back someday with someone. :)

Also interesting, though closed today for some reason, was the Duomo and Baptistery. I'm told the Baptistery has amazing acoustics, and that you could sing a tone and it would echo for a good 10 seconds. So cool. Unfortunately, I was very pressed for time. :( Again - I'll just have to make a return trip someday!

(Skyline picture)
Next, I returned to Florence and walked to the Galleria d'Accademia, where the David lives. No photos allowed again. But it was surreal to see the ACTUAL statue, not just a replica, right there in front of me. Is this real life? Oh, and as usual...I snuck some photos for your (and my) enjoyment:

I was running out of time, but thankfully the Accademia and Uffizi were both open late tonight. I perused the Uffizi and snapped some pictures before heading back to my place for the final time.

In short (okay, not so short), Florence has been absolutely wonderful. Tomorrow, I hit up Rome!!! 5 days and then I'm headed back to the good ol' U.S. of A. And honestly, I really can't wait. I'm ready to be back in my own country of course (evidenced by my "Back to America" list), but I'm really just excited to start sharing my experience with people - pictures, presents, stories....it's going to be awesome.

Plus, I'm excited to be reunited with my wonderful, soft, spacious, perfect bed. And house. And chips and salsa. And Dr. Pepper. And you guys, of course. :)