Siena

Well let me first off start by saying just a wee bit about San Gimignano.  This is a very small little hill town in the heart of Tuscany.  No cars are allowed in the town wall so we parked and made our way up the hill through the most quaint steets you can imagine.  I could have taken a few hundred photos just walking up the hill let alone what I posted from our room.  Unfortunately we did have reservations in Siena so after only one night we had to move on.  We checked out of our hotel only to find that the travelling market was in the Piazza so we did a bit of shopping, ate the best gelato ever then carried on down the hill to our car. 
The drive to Siena is only an hour away but there are only 2 speeds here on the superstrada...fast and super fast so it only took about 45 minutes.  Bill Naughton told us we wouldn't have any problems driving as long as we got out of the way of anyone wanting to get past us.  It is VERY obvious when they want past, so thanks Bill, note taken.
I knew a bit about Siena before arriving but not quite enough.  Again, this is walled city and you cannot have your car inside the wall.  I knew that we were allowed to bring our car inside the wall to drop off our luggage but I didn't not realize there was a camera taking a photo of us driving in and that there was a 30 minute time limit.  So when we arrived at our apartment an hour early we didn't think anything of sitting in the car to wait for our landlady and her husband to show up.  She arrived after 90 minutes then casually asked when we had arrived. We told them we had been waiting about 1.5 hours to which the husband got very excited speaking very rapidly in Italian to his wife then bolted out the door.  The landlady then explained the wall rules and how we would be in very big trouble for being in so long with the car.  The husband suddenly came back in the house with a picture of our license plate so that he could email it asap to the Polizia so that we would not have our car towed along with a very hefty fine.  They way he reacted I was sure that the punishment was probably public hanging or possibly being shot on sight.  The police here seem very scary, flauting their guns and such.
Oh well, that was our welcome!  Our time spent in Siena was exploring the duomo, (very impressive), wandering around the town wall, meandering through the shops and most fun of all, people watching in the Campo.  The Campo is a big square beside the duomo.  There is a very famous bare back horse race that is run in the campo every year.  This square is not much bigger than a school track so it would be quite spectacular to see.  This horse race has been going on in this square for 350 years and the competition is dirty and fierce.  The only thing that is taboo is messing with a horses reigns everything else is free game including drugging the horses!

This is the Campo

This is inside the Duomo

When the race is not happening this is THE place to people watch.  There are restaurants all around the square with the chairs facing out to do just that.  Joe and I spent a lot of time here just for the fun of it.
We didn't find Siena to be a particularly pretty city but it was very lively and had a good vibe.  We got lost a couple of times which is starting to be the rule instead of the exception, but as long as we stayed inside the walls we could eventually find our way.

The duomo was very impressive. Far more beautiful inside than the Church in Pajamas in Florence. It also had a tower that we could climb to the top, which we did.  This is my gelato consumption plan.  For every one gelato, I must climb a tower. Oh forget that, bring on the gelato and pizza!

Our time is short here in Siena, only 3 nights but we are moving on to Reniella in Montefollonico to pick olives which is how this whole crazy trip all started. (Actually it was a picture that Brad took of Reniella that did it for me.  I saw it and thought I just have to go there.)  How lucky we are to be able to do it!