Plaza di Compo in Siena

I wish the colors would have turned out better, but the grey skies and a cell phone camcorder, this was the best I could do. This is the square where they race horses every year from July to August. they put mattress on corners where it is dangerous, as to not hurt or kill jockey or horse.

San Gimignano and Siena day trip

Let me first start out with a personal message to the Vikings...way to go boys, as I was glad to see you didnt follow in the Gophers footsteps with a loss...geez Gophers!

Ok...onward. Today we got up and it was pouring rain and about 33 degrees in Florence! Yikes, I packed for a low of 50...not 33. Anyways, being cold in Italy, is better than being cold in Minneapolis (I just saw the temp..yikes!).

We found our way to the tour bus to take a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano after our lovely man at the hotel called us a cab to go about a 1\2 mile. It was pouring. We boarded the double decker bus and got to ride on top :) Even with rain, which it was subsiding, it was a GORGEOUS ride. Imagine every movie or photo you have seen of Tuscany country... there is was. Stunning!

We arrived first in San Gimignano. What an incredibly great place. I want to go back and just hang out for a day or two. Simply beautiful and elegant in a way. (this is where we found the poor handbags needing homes). We had a VERY short time here, and traveler alert...it is a climb to go into and through town. Lots of major hilly streets, so be warned...but still go :)

Next stop Siena!
Below is the Plaza di Compo. I will post a video of it in my next blog tonight.
It is hard to describe, so I will let the video do the talking.

We had about 1.5 hours to wander around before the tour, so we stopped to eat a lovely local place thatfed us HOMEMADE pasta with Ragu sauce. Hmm, another amazing meal of pasta!

We then went on a walking tour of the city (freezing my butt off, but still fun). We had a great guide, who made jokes occationally we did notget, but was full of great information. One odd thing was when the Mayor and 5 collegues of the Mayorof Siena walked by, he said how we wished he could murder them all with one bullet...a hushed sweet death I think was what he also said. Um, okay?? What do you say to that??

We went to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. WOW! It was unbelieveable inside.
The pictures with my phone will not do it justice... but lets face it my dear followers, no photos will... you need to walk through these places to feel the beauty and history. (have you booked your trips yet?)

Ok. True confession time:
After a week of pasta and heavy sauces...we wanted something "plain", cant find that here except for one place...yes my faithful followers....we went to McDonalds for dinner.
I did go with the Italian specialty burger as they did not have grilled chicken...and the fries were just as good as home. Only thing different is, if you want ketchup, you need to pay 20cents. Um, really? Randy Mauzy would lose money on this deal.

We are at the hotel and our lovely Italian friend at the hotel just whipped Suzi and I up some tea and hot cocoa to warm us up. He is quite sweet to us, and reminds me so much of a man I know in Territory 8 for BBY, it makes me feel like I have known him much longer.

I need to go pack for Pisa and La Spezia tomorrow. We will be stopping in Pisa only long enough to take the photo EVERYONE takes...us holding up the Leaning Tower :)
Ciao! kk