San Gimignano was perfectly located for day trips to other parts of Tuscany – one rainy morning we hit the road and traveled to Siena, about 45 minutes away. Siena was a great city I wish we could have spent more time in, but we had enough time to walk the streets window shopping, tour the Siena Cathedral (Duomo), and have dinner in the Piazza del Campo.

Here is Kyle, looking quite touristy:

This is the Duomo di Siena, which was definitely the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever seen, or could imagine. Every piece of this place is covered in art and history.  If you’re ever there, I recommend paying a little extra for the tour – there is too much going on around you to comprehend on your own.
Check out these floor tiles, throughout the cathedral there are flowers that look quite … 1960’s … and not 1300s.  At some point in history the city of Siena decided they wanted to expand the cathedral, and began work on the “new” cathedral which would have beed a major addition. It never went through, but in Italian fashion they didn’t tear down what they had built – so today you can climb up into the “front” of the new cathedral and look out on the city and beyond into Tuscany. 
Can you believe they race horses in this space? I, can not.
The next post will be about our visit to Florence!