For our only full day in Florence we booked a day trip through Tuscany. We started the day walking to meet our group. Then we all walked to the bus. We were with a pretty large group I think 60 people. I have to say I would of preferred a smaller group but we only had one day and this was the best we could find to see it all. Our tour guide was great though. He gave us a lot of information. Even while on the bus just traveling we learned about Florence, Sienna San Gimigano and Pisa.

This beautiful church I took a lot of pictures of, we walked passed it a lot because it was one street back from our hotel. We never did get a chance to go in it though.

Our first stop was Sienna. It’s a mid evil town with a fascinating history. We had a local tour guide through Siena and she told us about a lot of the traditions in the town. One of my favorites is that each neighborhood has it’s own animal. We saw the Eagle district, Owl district, Dragon and much more. She told us that the district you are born in is what animal you are for life. If your parent is an Owl and the other a Unicorn but you were born in Porcupine you are a Porcupine. Twice a year they have a horse race called Palio di Siena in the center of the town and you gather with your animal group. Even if you are a 6 month old baby you leave your family and go to your animal family. They have baby sitters that take care of the kids. She says it becomes like a 2nd family. During the horse race you cheer for your horse and rider associated with your animal. It is not mandatory that the horse cross with it’s rider so there are many that try and knock off the rider. The horse to do 3 laps and cross the finish line wines and gets grabbing rights. While we were there the race was 2 weeks away so they were already getting set up for it and installing bleachers in the square. What fun that would of been to see!

Each district is marked by a little plaque on the wall. This one is for the Caterpillar district.

The legend has it that Siena was established by Senius, son of Remus and nephew of Romulus. Therefore the symbol of Siena is a she-wolf breastfeeding Romulus and Remus. This symbol is seen in several parts of Siena.

The flags for each of the 17 districts.

Each district has it’s own color as well. The lights and flags were all different depending on what district you are on.

The square – which was really shaped like a fan or half oval.

There were so many birds around this building. Our guide said they live in all the wholes.

Bleachers for the race to come.

This was just so cool. It looked medieval and you could just picture all the things that had happened here.

Love this picture it’s got it all, the she-wolf, the flags, the plaque on the wall and look at those light fixtures!

Our guide told us this was the first indoor bathroom. They would just add basically an outhouse onto the outside of the building.

This is Duomo di Siena, it was a beautiful Cathedral and was unlike any we’d seen yet.

Look at this interior and all those stripes!

Flags to represent the districts

100s of these statues line the walls.

Even the flooring was art.

This is a sculpture done by Michelangelo that is in a large alter.

While we were there they were displaying the right arm of Saint John the Baptist, who baptised Jesus in the water of the river Jordan. We were lucky because they only display it for few days a year.

St John the Baptist, bronze Renaissance statue by Donatello, 1386-1466

Inside the cathedral is the Piccolomini Library. It has beautiful Frescos and hymnals books. I’m not sure but I believe our guide said these were original frescos. They were so vibrant and beautiful. They depict the Life of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini who was a Sienese Pope.

On the ceiling the images are reinterpretations of classical themes in the Renaissance style. On the smaller panels, one notes the use of Roman mythological figures such as satyrs and sea monsters as the subjects of the frescoes.

Look at all that detail on this exterior.

After touring the cathedral we had free time to walk around Siena. We went into candy stores, trinket places and tried different pesto. It was so beautiful.

Just loved the medieval charm of this town!

After Siena we drove for a bit, seeing more of the beautiful Tuscan scenery to get to our lunch destination. Lunch at a winery. I have to admit this was a bit of a disappointment. There were so many of us and we had to eat so quick to get to our next stop I just didn’t enjoy it. The food was ok. They missed my friend Amy for one of the courses and she had to go find someone to get more food. We had a beautiful view outside though.

From the winery you could see our next stop, San Gimignano.

Our tour guide told us that there used to be about 72 towers here. The noble families and upper middle-class merchants who controlled the town built many fortified tower houses as symbols of their wealth and power. Now only 14 remain.

Walking up to this medieval town was so cool. I really looks like it.

I need to google what the significants of the boar is. We kept seeing them.

Our guide told us that the best gelato in the world was here. We got in line only to find out we were in the wrong line. Both gelato places had long lines but we wanted the “real” best gelato in the world. It was a bit chaotic getting in there. They usher you in real quick and ask you want you want. I didn’t even have time to look at he flavors so I just said chocolate and carmel. It was good!

Now we’re in the right line!

On our way to Pisa, Amy was tired! Ha, sorry.

I couldn’t get enough of the scenery. I took pictures the whole way to Pisa.

Fields of sunflowers!

We were getting close, I could see the leaning tower in the distance.

Amy and I had booked the tour with the extra of going to the top of the Leaning Tower. By the time we got to the tower I was so tired from all the walking , I wasn’t sure I wanted to climb all the steps anymore. I told Amy I’d decide while we walked around a bit.

We had to get the I’m holding the tower pic.

I told our guide I wasn’t sure if I could do the stairs and he reminded me that I could always try and if I got tired halfway up there was no reason I couldn’t just go back down. That gave me what I needed. I went up the stairs at my own pace and made it to the top! Amy cruised up ahead of me. I’m glad I did it and can say I did it. I was rewarded with a beautiful view of Pisa.

These are the stairs, they were not exactly even and you went round and round. Because of the lean it was trippy. Some moments felt hard than others and then it would get easy.

We didn’t have time to go in the church. I would of loved to go in the church, baptismal and the cemetery. Instead we had to find a bathroom and water ASAP and met back up with our tour group.

Back on the bus our guide asked us if we could see the white mark on these mountains way in the distance. He said they mine marble there.

These mountains were stunning.

More pictures of the scenes as we drove back to Florence.

As we walked back to our hotel I had to get a picture of this church again.

We found another wine window! Didn’t seem opened though.

We found a delicious place for dinner and I tried something different besides pasta. Chicken and potatoes with peppers and ketchup!

Overall this was absolutely a great day. I would of loved to spend more time in each of the places. I don’t recommend doing all this in a day with a big group but if you only have a day it works.