Siena and Pisa
Over the weekend, my friend, from Bucknell, Valentina and I met up in Siena, which is located in the Tuscany region of Italy. I took the train from Rome to Empioli (a town I had never heard of before) and then took the train to Siena.
Taking the train through Italy is a breathtaking experience. The scenery is spectacular and I quickly found myself daydreaming about the people who live in the homes I was seeing and what their day to day lives are like. Not all the homes are grand, but they have a quaint charm to them.
I also filled my time by reading Joan Didion's South and West. The first time I read Joan Didion was "Self-Respect: Its Source Its Power" which is a piece that I revisit from time to time, whenever I am feeling insecure. I have now had the chance to read The Year of Magical Thinking, which is about her husband's unexpected death and her daughters illness, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem (beware there is a scathing essay against Newport in here). Her work always brings something new and I highly suggest watching the Netflix documentary about her.
Valentina and I arrived in Siena in the late afternoon, dropped our bags off at our AirBnB and began wandering around. Our AirBnB was located right off Piazza del Campo, which allowed us to walk around everywhere. Twice a year in Piazza del Campo, there are the famous horses races, which is why many people have heard of Siena. Many regard this piazza as one of the most stunning for its architecture and how little it has changed from when it was first constructed. After getting the lay of the land, we freshened up before dinner and headed to Fonte Guista. A friend of Valentina's had recommended it to her and I ordered the most delicious Truffle Spinach Ravioli. (Side note: many dishes in Siena have truffles in them because Tuscany is where most truffles are grown) With dinner, I had a glass of the Chianti wine, which is local to the region.
We woke up in the morning and headed to a bar (Italians refer to cafes as bars) for a light bite before heading to the Torre del Mangia. It was built to be the same height as the basilica to illustrate that the church and state held the same amount of power. After 400 steps, we reached the top and saw the Tuscan countryside.
Once we had hiked down, we headed to the Siena Basilica. The Siena Basilica looked very different from other buildings since it incorporated both black and white marble. There are two reasons for the use of black and white marbles 1. it is meant to represent the horses that the city's founders rode in on and 2. it was what was located nearby...By Saturday afternoon, Valentina and I felt that we had spent enough time in Siena so we booked a train to Pisa for Sunday.
The ceiling of the library, where they keep the manuscripts.
We arrived in Pisa and I found the most adorable church along the river that I couldn't stop admiring. We kept walking towards the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I quickly convinced Valentina to climb the tower (I think she was ready to kill me at this point for how many steps I had been making her walk). It is funny that as I walked I could feel on the steps how they were slanted. We walked around Pisa and we were both struck by how much bigger Pisa is than Siena. Overall it was a really fun weekend and I highly suggest visiting both for a weekend trip!
The Arno River at night
The view from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa
Taking the train through Italy is a breathtaking experience. The scenery is spectacular and I quickly found myself daydreaming about the people who live in the homes I was seeing and what their day to day lives are like. Not all the homes are grand, but they have a quaint charm to them.
I also filled my time by reading Joan Didion's South and West. The first time I read Joan Didion was "Self-Respect: Its Source Its Power" which is a piece that I revisit from time to time, whenever I am feeling insecure. I have now had the chance to read The Year of Magical Thinking, which is about her husband's unexpected death and her daughters illness, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem (beware there is a scathing essay against Newport in here). Her work always brings something new and I highly suggest watching the Netflix documentary about her.
Valentina and I arrived in Siena in the late afternoon, dropped our bags off at our AirBnB and began wandering around. Our AirBnB was located right off Piazza del Campo, which allowed us to walk around everywhere. Twice a year in Piazza del Campo, there are the famous horses races, which is why many people have heard of Siena. Many regard this piazza as one of the most stunning for its architecture and how little it has changed from when it was first constructed. After getting the lay of the land, we freshened up before dinner and headed to Fonte Guista. A friend of Valentina's had recommended it to her and I ordered the most delicious Truffle Spinach Ravioli. (Side note: many dishes in Siena have truffles in them because Tuscany is where most truffles are grown) With dinner, I had a glass of the Chianti wine, which is local to the region.
We woke up in the morning and headed to a bar (Italians refer to cafes as bars) for a light bite before heading to the Torre del Mangia. It was built to be the same height as the basilica to illustrate that the church and state held the same amount of power. After 400 steps, we reached the top and saw the Tuscan countryside.
Once we had hiked down, we headed to the Siena Basilica. The Siena Basilica looked very different from other buildings since it incorporated both black and white marble. There are two reasons for the use of black and white marbles 1. it is meant to represent the horses that the city's founders rode in on and 2. it was what was located nearby...By Saturday afternoon, Valentina and I felt that we had spent enough time in Siena so we booked a train to Pisa for Sunday.
The ceiling of the library, where they keep the manuscripts.
We arrived in Pisa and I found the most adorable church along the river that I couldn't stop admiring. We kept walking towards the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I quickly convinced Valentina to climb the tower (I think she was ready to kill me at this point for how many steps I had been making her walk). It is funny that as I walked I could feel on the steps how they were slanted. We walked around Pisa and we were both struck by how much bigger Pisa is than Siena. Overall it was a really fun weekend and I highly suggest visiting both for a weekend trip!
The favorite little church
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