In Legend: Founded by Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus

On the following day of this quick and very busy weekend after being to Cinque Terre, we decided to spend it for visiting Siena. For me this means returning to a city I’ve already visited back in the year 2001 as part of my end of school trip across France and Italy. All I could remember back then, and very briefly, were the beautiful Piazza del Campo with the iconic tower and the cathedral, both of which icons number one in the city. And even knowing this visit right now would also be extremely explicit; it was in fact perfect because it is of small size and for remembering what I’ve already seen so many years ago.

For centuries a rival city of Florence and Pisa, it managed to retain the entire Medieval core in perfect state, nowadays completely restored and imposing to any visitor. The over 7 kilometres encircling fortification walls are still immaculately standing, while the original water tunnels still provide water to the many fountains that embellish the squares and streets. Regretfully, Siena is just a stop-over along the route for majority of tourists, day-trippers, on the same way Pisa is, while Florence in the other hand benefits from the hordes of tourists that stay longer and make that city their preferred choice and base.

In any case, that is correct. A day is well more than enough to see everything, and unless you chose staying overnight in Siena, (or Pisa) rather than the over expensive Florence, then if cost saving is not the reason I cannot imagine any other reason why to stay here longer as you will run out of sights and things to do after the first day. (more…)