Arriving in Siena

We finally made it to Siena! Another beautiful city rich with history, and what will be our home for the next four weeks. The first thing I noticed is that there were a lot less tourists in Siena, which is great. We spent our first evening here, after getting settled into our apartments, getting oriented with the city and learning a bit about its history and what goes on there today. It is a walled city with 17 contrada which is a very interesting concept unique to Siena and they are basically mini communities with Siena. There is a university that is spread throughout the city, and also the enchanting Piazza il Campo, a great place for the community to come together and socialize.

As I mentioned, Siena is rich in history, there are many hills in around and under Siena, it was build in a hilly area originally as a form of defense. The town centers are in the valley areas though for a sense of community and for markets. Although Siena is a walled city, there are many farms and gardens within the walls for food security purposes.

Although Florence eventually became a very powerful city and empire, Siena thrived long vefore the peak of Florence, during the midevil times (around the 1200s). Siena was adament about remaining an independant state and refused to succumb to the power of Florence (another reason food security within the walls was so important).

In the early days of Siena, it was at the crossroads of pilgrimage and trade, making it a tourist town as early as the 700s, and one of the first cities to have extra wealth. This wealth is what established banking and capitalism (the first bank is in Siena).

Our second day in Siena we ventured outside of the city walls and explored Montegione, a stop along the Via Francigena, which is a trail that runs from North France all the way to Jeruselum and was originally built for pilgrimage and trade. Being outside of the walls, we saw even more agriculture and even some well managed forests. We also visited Colle, a town with a giant elevator that takes you to the higher parts of the city, it was fascinating! When we got back into Siena, we learned about the undergroud city of water lines, which brings water to Siena from distant aquifers.

The elevator in Colle