Italy Vacation - Day 11

You'd think waking up in Siena would be heaven...not for us.  We froze our tootsies off during the night!!  The room had not thermostat that we could find to crank up.  We were at the hotels mercy.  I was wrapped up in all the extra blankets and still I basically froze all night.  I didn't dare snuggle up to Trent because he doesn't always sleep good and I didn't want to disturb him with my icy limbs.  Well, around 3am, he snuggled up to me because he was cold too!  That's when I knew it really was freezing in our room and not me coming down with my death.  Trent is never, never ever cold...so for him to be frozen is a big deal.  We warmed up in a hurry and I laughed wishing I'd snuggled up to him earlier.  Finally sleep found us both and we crashed hard!

Siena was medieval Florence's archrival.  And while Florence ultimately won the battle for political and economic superiority, Siena still competes for tourists.  Siena was also hit by the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) in 1348; knocking out a third of its population from which it never recovered.  What is lovely about Siena is that it's pedestrian friendly.  Not once did we have to worry about getting run over.  Everyone was out walking, the city was really lively and fun to be in.

View from our hotel room.

This is the famous Il Campo.  It's toted at the best square in Italy, and I'd believe it.  Right in the heart of town the square fans out from the City Hall to create an amphitheater.   The City Hall's tower is 330 feet high and it dominates the square, you can't help but notice it. 

The square and its buildings are the color of the soil they stand on...a color known to artists and Crayola-users as "Burnt Sienna."

We had to take this picture.  Our girls are into the Madeline books and in them the children always travel two by two.  These school children were doing this and it made us miss our kids! 

The Duomo, Siena's main Cathedral.  The white and dark-green striped church, sitting on an artificial platform atop Siena's highest point, is visible for miles around.  The current structure dates from 1215. 

**Siena hot chocolate...7

Now it's back to Sorrento to drop off the car.  We'll sleep in Naples tonight.  We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and divided all our clothing, toiletries and etc. into piles so they'd make it into the proper suit cases.  We tried not to think or talk about the looming cloud of depression that settled over our room this evening as tomorrow's parting of the ways gets ever closer.  We head to the airport in the morning.

It was a great trip, the trip of a life time, but now it's time to say good bye...good bye is no fun, tears were involved.  One positive thing is that we'll see each other again in 2 months, which makes this farewell a little easier.  Next time the kids will get to see Trent everyone is excited about that.  It will be awesome!  I'm flying out first with a layover in Paris, so I'm excited for that adventure.  Trent is heading to Dubai to work in a clinic for a bit before heading back to his ship.

Cheers to Trent for planning this trip for us!  He ended up being a day late, but better late than never!  Thanks for not leaving me alone in Naples to take on this trip by myself babe!  It's been a dream of ours for so long I could never have done it without you!  I want to add here that we used Rick Steves' videos and tour guide books almost exclusively to plan this trip and learn about all these different places.  For the most part he did not steer us wrong.  If you're wondering, almost all of the history I've shared has been from him and the internet and pamphlets we picked up along the way.  Having all printed here will make it fun to go back and read and remember with our kids! 

Italy you were everything we hoped you'd be and more!!  

Thanks for the wonderful time 

and memories that we'll cherish for ever!!

Ciao!

Italy Vacation - Day 10

Tuscany was on the agenda today.  We wanted to hit up 2 towns that had been highly recommended to us before heading to Siena to stay the night.  But before I say more about Tuscany I need to mention that Italian roads don't have the best signage.  It seemed like whenever we needed a road sign to tell us where we were or what direction to turn, we couldn't find one.  But, every now and then you'd come to an intersection or roundabout and have massive signage...I mean the kind that you'd have to keep going round the roundabout like 20 times to read.  See what I mean...

Seriously, how on earth are you supposed to find the sign you need as you're passing!  It's mass hysteria...laughter is the only thing we had going for us at this point!

Ok, onto bigger and better things.  We spent the day lazily driving through Tuscany...ahhhhh!  It was gorgeous, even though it was January.  I can only imagine what it must look like in the spring and summer with the farm land full of crops and the vineyards green with vines!  The good thing is that we didn't have to deal with any traffic! 

Stop number one...San Gimignano

This is the quintessential Tuscan town...it has 14 towers, of the original 60, still standing today.  The town had a real medieval feel to it.  It was a definite tourist trap.  Prices were out of this world expensive!  We didn't go inside any churches or museums here.  We just wandered the streets smiling and breathing in the ancient city.  We at lunch, people watched, snapped photos and enjoyed the morning.

this tower is part of the Duomo and dates from the 10th century.

This is the Piazza della Cisterna.  Named for the ancient well that is its centerpiece.  It dates back to the 9th century!  The rim of the well has grooves from years and years of rope sliding against it to bring up water.

The town is enchanting and I fell in love with all the little details, so much character every where my little eyes looked.  It was as delightful as Christmas day to me and I'm sure I smiled the whole day!

I'd be in heaven if I got to come home every night to this doorway!  It's dynamite!

San Gimignano was a populous city at its peak in 1348 when the plague wreaked havoc on the city for 6 months.  The huge population was decimated, only 4,000 people survived.  It soon fell under Florence's control and was forced to tear down its towers.  And, to add injury to injury, Florence redirected the vital trade route away from San Gimignano.  The town never recovered, and poverty left it in a 14th-century architectural time warp.  That well-preserved cityscape, ironically, is responsible for the town's prosperity today.

 A specialty of the Tuscany region is Wild Boar.  

This store was closed, but obviously specializes in it's production, especially sausage!

Volterra

Back on the road again on our way to the next town.  Volterra is impressive.  It sits high up on a hill and can be seen for miles around.  More than 2,000 years ago Volterra was one of the most important Etruscan cities.  The town exudes old world charm and the locals are very unassuming and didn't even seem to notice us touristy folk.

A city marker.  The medieval griffin is the symbol of Volterra.

FYI..Trent took a lot of the hipstamatic pics from the iphone.  I have to give him props, a lot of these are his pics!

He's so GQ!!  I totally made him do this, he was anything but cooperative.  How am I supposed to improve my skills if I can't get people to sit for me??  It's a simple question!!

We noticed the sun was beginning to set and decided to get going.  We'd lost track of time and still needed to drive to Siena before we rested for the night!

We passed this little attraction on the side of the road.  Good thing our girls weren't in the car or we'd have been forced to stop!

Finally we made it to our hotel, the drive was gorgeous!  We enjoyed spectacular countryside, dreamy villas, a pink sunset and the best company!  For dinner we walked to a restaurant suggested by the hotel staff and it was divine!  In fact, the best meal of our trip...hands down!  Trent had the local delicacy...Wild Boar, what else!! 

**San Gimignano hot chocolate...4.5
**Volterra hot chocolate...7