I cant believe that I haven’t been her yet…

Avatar di lrp5feciaobellasiena

So Sunday me and my roommate went to two of the coolest places in Siena. Everyone else had already seen these amazing places because they are all in the Sienese art and Architecture class, and I’m not. I didn’t want to leave without going in these places so my roommate Elly graciously accompanied me there 🙂
The Duomo:

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So a “duomo” is technically any church with a dome. The Siena Duomo is magnificent both inside and out. It was built in the Middle Ages when Siena was at its financial and political height. While constructing the nave the Black Plague ravaged the city and it was never finished. The Duomo was intended to be the biggest church in Europe, sadly the dream never came true.
While I was in the Duomo, I lit a candle and I really liked the plaque above the offering:

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Here is what it says translated:

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Nostalgia*: Little Italian Towns

Avatar di Deva JashewayThis Will Be Changing

For no reason at all, I started thinking about my 2008 trip to Italy the other day. It happened during my semester abroad, which I spend at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. My mom and I headed off to one of the lands of our ancestors (we’re both mutts) during the long study period between the end of classes and the start of exams. We were there for nine days, eight nights, I believe.

What came to mind? What was the aspect of that long-desired journey that popped up unbidden by any conscious process?

Part of our trip was spent in the small Tuscan town of Montespertoli, about an hour or two outside of Florence. It was rather secluded and quite beautiful around our lodgings, the house of a friend, but that is not what I remembered either. I thought instead of the few minutes we spent in the…

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OSTERIA dell’ OCA SATOLLA

San Gimignano

San Gimignano experience

Avatar di tay_macTay Travels

San Gimignano
…or, as I like to say, San Chimichanga…
is a hidden gym in Italy out in the Tuscan countryside.

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Imagine driving an hour through nothing but Italian vineyards
until you look up and see a medieval skyline on top of a hill out in the distance.
That’s San Gimignano.

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It’s literally in the middle of nowhere,
and it looks as if nobody has touched the city since it was built in the 13th century.
The only sign of change is the shops inside of the ancient buildings.
Old homes, trades, and shops have been transformed into hotels, gelatarias, and trattorias.

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I could write about this town for pages and pages,
but I’ll spare you some time and narrow it down to my three favorite highlights-

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1. Lunch with a view
My meal was easily in my top five meals of my month of Italian food,
and my view was…

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