Weekend Trip: Siena

View of Siena

Today, we on the second GST/Art History field trip. Destination: Siena.

Museo dell'Acqua

We began our field trip with a visit to the Museum of Water. Yes, we toured a museum which exists solely to educate visitors on water. A quick Google search told me that the museum cost 1.8 million euros (roughly equivalent to 2.3 million USD) to build. In small groups of 15, we were led through various exhibits in pitch-black darkness until the room was illuminated with the next exhibit's projections.

Aqueduct example

The outside of the museum led me to believe that it was an older building, yet the inside is incredibly high-tech. Touch screen exhibits, with moving graphics, projections, and fluid responsiveness made sense when I was told that the museum just opened at the beginning of 2010. The explanations were conducted entirely in Italian, so I wasn't able to understand much of the presentation (or the 3-D movie), but I understand that the purpose of this museum was to educate people on how the location of the water sources in Italy shaped the lives of Sienese citizens.

This made me think of Aladdin :)

We had a break for lunch, so we wandered around in search of a restaurant. Along the way, i passed this gem of an eatery (a Kebab shop, no less!). I absolutely love the Disney movie Aladdin, so I had to take a photo.




 

Our lunch spot: La Taverna di S. Giuseppe

We kept walking, and happened upon a quaint osteria called La Taverna di San Giuseppe. The others at my table ordered wine and proceeded to get fairly drunk, but I refrained from drinking. It's five o'clock somewhere, yes, but in Siena, it was only 11:30am! Two individuals ordered bruschetta which was delivered with zucchini and cheese; not what we've come to expect when ordering bruschetta!

My delicious pasta

I ordered a delicious pasta dish with spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, chili peppers (I love spicy foods!), and bacon. Amazing. After a week or so of pasta, I began to feel 'sick' of it... now, however, I'm discovering that I love it, so long as I try new variations of pasta every time!

 Panforte

We walked back to the Fonte Gaia in the Piazza del Campo. On our way, we passed a bakery with the sweets for which Siena is known: Ricciarelli and Panforte.

"Keep an eye out for the shewolves...
they're everywhere!"

Our tour guide Jeremy gave the group a brief summary of the Romulus and Remus story, explaining the significance of the she-wolf.

Don't take Pictures! Whoops.

We entered the Piazzo Pubblico where I immediately began snapping pictures. Whoops. No photos allowed! I still managed to snag about six photographs. I hope I didn't do any damage to the artwork!

View from atop the Duomo di Siena

We climbed the stairs (sidenote: I really had no idea how much stairs are a part of everyday life in Italy. Yes, I take the stairs a lot at home... but here, I take 120 steps to walk up to my classroom everyday. 45 steps to walk up to my apartment. At home... I take maybe a total of 120 steps in day. And yes, I'm using the term "steps" in reference to stepping on stairs, not total movement. I'm not THAT lazy!) to the top of the Duomo di Siena where we partook in this breathtaking view. Professor D'Amato attempted to take a group picture, but his forte is most decidedly engineering, and not photography!

Duomo di Siena

As much as I adored the views from atop the Duomo, I found that the view of the Piazzo Publico was just as breathtaking from below.

The Cathedral of Siena

We toured the interior of the Cathedral of Siena, as well as the Museum of the Cathedral of Siena. Prior to this trip, I had never thought that the artifacts within the cathedral were not the original. To know that the stainglass I see in the Cathedral is not the original work of art, but rather a replica, was a bit disheartening. It was interesting to see the orignal works of art in the museum! One exhibit was protected with wall sensors to prevent an individual from getting too close to an artifact.

Italy's Oldest Bank:
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded 1472.

We had an hour of free-time to explore the city, buy souvenirs (which I did!), try Siena's famous sweets, stop at Grom for some gelato, and generally sight-see for a bit longer. We met as a group in the courtyard for the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena before making the long, and hilly trek back to our bus.