Siena Duomo Tour ~ May 25-26, 2015

Yummy lunch before the tour of the Duomo

So this was my first big cathedral that I've been in. It was completely amazing and awe inspiring. I loved seeing all of the early gothic architecture, beautiful paintings, sculptures, and the grandiosity of the entire space. It was overwhelming (in a good way) and I feel like I more fully understand the concepts that I have been studying for the past 5 years of my life!! 

The floor of the cathedral. They have sketches of it in the L'opera del Duomo and it was interesting to see the different ways they were executed in the actual space. 

A view of one of the side naves 

One of tomb areas. The sculptures on this frame were made by Michelangelo. 

One of the painting areas. They are gigantic!! 

My first Bernini in real life!! I can't even believe all of the amazing things in this cathedral!

An altar to the Immaculate Virgin that is surrounded by the Bernini statues. 

And the cieling. Every inch of this cathedral is so intricate! 

The main altar

The Donatello sculpture 

I can't believe the detail in the floors too

My neck hurt at the end of this tour from looking up so much at all of the amazing things! This was in the Piccolomini Library. 

So many illuminated manuscripts!!! 

I love this stuff! 

This was my favorite as far as the detail work for the paintings in the Piccolomini Library. All of the architectural details are painted, which completely amazes me! This is near the beginning of the re-development of of more accurate perspective representations in painting. The different sections also seemed to be slightly different styles, but there was a great lack of signage throughout the cathedral that made it more difficult to understand :/ 

In the Crypts! 

They have glass windows in the floor of the cathedral that are pretty cool! 

And the baptistery 

This triptych had Elisabetta and Anna so I just had to take a picture of it! 

And delicous aperitivo after :)

Week 2 ~ May 17-23, 2015

I'm really trying to catch up on my blogging! Usually I am out of the apartment from about 8:30 in the morning to at least 10pm, usually later. This means I have not had much time to blog, post, or do anything except fall asleep once I'm home! haha I will also continue to add pictures after I publish these posts as I recieve pictures other people have taken also! 

This is a picture of one of the entrances to Siena. The main center of the city is surrounded by walls like this, with a few entrances around the sides. In the Medieval times, Siena was used as a fortress to protect its citizens, mainly from the battles between the different regions of Italy. 

This view! It's Siena from a lookout near the train station. 

A few girls and I went shopping one day and I found a super cute dress that was not a dress... While I was trying it on, I found 3 holes in the bottom: 2 for legs and one for business. It was just super funny and had to be documented! 

Accordion player along the streets of Siena 

I found a kitty hat similar to Jack's and had to take a picture 

This chalk artist worked most of the day on these two pieces and it was amazing to watch him! I was completely in awe. 

Aperitivo is definitely one of my very favorite things in Italy!! Most bars have a selection of drinks to choose from (soft drinks, water, cheaper wines, beer, etc.) and a buffet of food that varies depending on the restaurant, all for €5! We go almost every night and it is the perfect size dinner! This is Belle and I at the Nannini on Via di Città. 

Delicious food! 

I walk past this almost every day and it still takes my breath away. I can't believe how churches like these are just such a normal sight all over Italy! I feel like they're the equivalent of Mormon churches in Utah... 

So we found the only Mexican food place in Siena and ate there. It was pretty good for Mexican food in Italy! It kind of felt like a little taste of home for a bit :)

The Nannini next to Piazza Gramsci definitely has some of my favorite gelato and they always add a nice little cookie! 

Also, Caprese salad is one of my favorite foods I make all the time in Utah, so I have tried it at a bunch of different places here. This is the best I have had in Siena so far at an adorable cafe called Carta Zucchero. It is also a little book shop with some study places and fresh made smoothies. 

I forgot to take a picture before taking a bite... Delicious four cheese pizza at the Nannini by Piazza Gramsci for only €7, also with specialty Italian cheeses that would be way more expensive in the USA. 

On May 22, we went to a restaurant called Vivace as a group. They make authentic Napoletane pizza that was delicious! I couldn't have asked for a better group to share this experience with and I am so happy we have such a great time together!! 

Just so happy :D

On the same night, we went to the Bella Vista Social Club that has a Latin dancing club in the back room. It was so much fun to dance the night away in Italy!!  

Cinque Terre ~ May 23, 2015

A group of us decided to go to Cinque Terre this weekend. On Saturday, we had Taylor, Alaina, Jordan, Marie, Daniel, Nicola, Sierra, Diego, and myself. We went to La Spezia, just about a 10 minute train ride to the first city of Cinque Terre, to check into our hotels and drop our stuff off. That day, we also went to the Riomaggiore, the first city, and Monterosso, the last city. 

On the way! 

Here is a part of La Spezia. It really gave me a California vibe and I did not feel like I was in Italy until I had to speak to someone! We also went out that evening and the nightlife was definitely different too, with a much younger crowd than Siena. 

Selfie on some random pretty stairs in La Spezia 

I can see the ocean!!

In Riomaggiore, we got cone things with fish and chips that were pretty good 

Main street/downtown Riomaggiore

We hiked up about 1000 stairs through the houses and got to see this view! (maybe slightly dramatic, but not much...) Even though my calves wanted to die, it was so worth it!!

I loved just watching the ocean and clouds, while listening to the birds there!! 

View of the houses in Riomaggiore from the higher vantage point 

Some of the group with the gorgeous view (just imagine it since the lighting is so bad and you can't see the ocean)

I want to go into this cove!! 

We were supposed to go to the first 2 cities, but we ended up getting on the wrong train and giong to the 5th city instead. I'm really happy we did though, because it was the last day of their lemon festival! Anyone who knows me, should know I love lemon flavored anything and it was fun to see what they had! All over the city there were lemon trees and it seemed like all of the restaurants had specialty lemon food. I had lemon gelato, of course!!  

We went over by the ocean and had a very nice view of the houses on this part of the coast and an even more amazing view of the ocean! It was a really overcast day, but it was not too hot or cold and it also made the lighting really beautiful. The ocean was so incredibly blue and clear! 

While we were walking along the coast, we found an old WWII bunker that you can see on the left part of this picture. It was tiny and cool, but it smelled like poo! 

In the city center there was a fountain of lemons! It smelled so amazing!! It made up for the poo smell... 

And a lemon heart <3

With a selfie in front of it :D

We had to have seafood since we were so close to the shore and it was super good! The place was called "Il Piccolo Diavolo." I got the trofie pasta, that Cinque Terre is famous for, shrimp scampi style. I didn't realize that when you order shrimp in Italy, they give you the entire freaking thing... I pulled the meat out of the tails and thank goodness for 20-something year old guys that will eat almost anything! haha You  could see the eyeballs though and the brain was still inside too...*barf*

ahhh close up! 

Unfortunately, this dinner was the end of my journey in Cinque Terre for this weekend because it made me super sick... Scampi usually makes me sick in the states too, but I was hoping this wouldn't. I took the train back to Siena Sunday morning, made it ok, and then pretty much slept in my bed the rest of the day. 

Overall, Cinque Terre really is beautiful and I would recommend going there, but there really are a huge amount of tourists. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as much of a tourist trap as it was, but the vistas were definitely breathtaking!