Florence, Italy

 Tuscany Day Trip from Florence: Siena, San Gimignano w/ Winery Lunch, Pisa 

Today we started our Tuscany bus in to the city Siena. Siena is an eminent medieval city. The central square is fan shaped called Piazza del Campo which is surrounded with 1000-year-old wall and where they host the Palio de Siena (horserace) 2 times a year. July 2nd & Aug 16th

Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colors, represent ten of the seventeen contrade 

Each contrade has a Jockey and a horse. Who don’t know each other. There are way too many variables to example the assigning of a jockey to a horse. But just an interesting note, the horse can win if the jockey falls off. 

The race is in honor of Madonna dell’Assunta who protected Siena from the battle of the Florentines on Sept 4, 1216. 

Here is the YouTube link of the race on 2023.  Copy and Paste

https://youtu.be/KMEe98V_rgU?si=T3hRci9z5wVnElVa

Siena Cathedral is a medieval church

Built in the 1200 era. 

We then headed up to San Gimignano for lunch at the Pietraserena Winery.  We were offered unlimited wine and a wonderful lunch of Tuscany flare with breathtaking views.

After an extraordinary lunch, we went into the town of San Gimignano for a tour.  We decided to climb the tallest bell tower Torre Grossa is the tallest tower in San Gimignano, with 54 m (177 ft 2 in), 218 steps. It is one of the best known of Tuscany's medieval towers. 

Top of the Torre Grossa Tower

View from the top of the Bell tower

Now on to Pisa for our final stop. Where we climbed 294 steps to the top of the Pisa.  The town of Pisa has Baptistery, Cathedral and Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Since we had very little time after our climb, we were unable to visit the Baptistery or Cathedral.  

View from the top of Pisa

View from the Center looking down