Siena

Today on our way to Florence we stopped in Siena, a beautiful, small, medieval town in Tuscany. Driving is extremely difficult and in some places impossible in this small town so it was nice to stroll down the narrow streets and take in the sites. We saw most of Siena's top sites while we were there: the incredible Duomo, the Cripta, the Battistero, and the Piazza del Campo. The Duomo was incredible. The outside was pink and white marble and the inside had black and white checkered floors and black and white pillars- unlike any church I have been to so far in Italy.

The Cripta was interesting because it was just discovered and recently opened to the public in 2003. It laid unseen for over 700 years beneath the floor of the Duomo. You can still see the beautiful frescoes by an unknown artist painted on the walls.

The Piazza del Campo was unlike most piazzas in Italy. It was huge and open with shops and restaurants circling the piazza, which was created around the town's bell tower. People just sit and hang out in the center of the piazza.