Siena

The guidebooks say that Siena is divided into 17 distinct districts that are fiercely competitive. The district you grow up in supposedly defines your identity. I didn't see any evidence of it though. I was hoping for banners in each district identifying them, and locals talking trash about the neighbor districts or something. Perhaps it's just something they tell the tourists. Or maybe the tradition is still alive, but not visible to tourists. Us tourists, we do take over Siena in hoardes. We found a spot in the crowded Piazza del Campo, and had a picnic. I had a hotdog sandwich with cheese and pesto. It hit the spot. Meat is expensive here, so I'm getting creative.

Here's my foot in front of the town hall.
















Scaling a castle wall.




















We kept seeing these holes in the walls of all the old buildings, and couldn't figure out what they were for. After looking it up, it seems they are "putlog holes". They were built into the wall in order to hold the scaffolding beams as the wall was built.

















I'm getting better at Italian. I might be spending too much time looking down at the dictionary than up at the sights though... Gotta watch the stop on the cobblestone streets.