I never blogged about the day trips I’ve taken this past month to San Gimignano, Siena, and Cinque Terre so this blog post is going to be a conglomeration (Bri’s favorite word) of the three.
San Gimignano:
We took a day trip to San Gimignano and Siena through our program. San Gimignano is a little medieval walled city in Tuscany. Most of the towers that stood in Tuscany during medieval times were torn down because nobles were using them for warfare, but San Gimignano actually still has 14 of its original towers. We paid 5 euro to climb the tallest one and the view was without a doubt worth it.
 |
| View from the top of the tower |
 |
| Town center of San Gimignano as seen from the top of the tower |
 |
| The entire countryside was gorgeous- With Bri in San Gimignano |
 |
| Bri, Me, Liz, Juliana, Sedona, and Kate in San Gimignano |
 |
| I felt like I was in the Sound of Music (I know that's in Austria--I just really had the urge to run around and sing on the hills) |
We had also heard that San Gimignano was home to the gelateria that had won the World’s Best Gelato competition so obviously that was very high on my priority list. It may have only been 11 am but I got three flavors (I make no apologies): nocciola (hazelnut), caramello, and menta (mint). The nocciola had roasted hazelnuts and nutella drizzled in it and the mint flavor tasted nothing like mint ice cream at home—I literally felt like I was eating a mint plant. All three flavors were phenomenal and I’m going to go ahead and say that the title of World’s Best Gelato was completely deserved.
 |
| Caramello, Nocciola, e Menta |
 |
| Out the door line for the world's best gelato |
Siena:
After a few hours in San Gimignano we had basically seen the whole town (it's very small) and headed by bus to Siena. We got a tour of Siena's cathedral and the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) and since Siena and Florence are rivals our tour guide basically trash-talked Florence the entire time... awkward. I don't really know how to describe the appearance of Siena other than it was very... red. Almost every road and building is basically the same hue of dusty brick red. It was a beautiful city but I can't picture myself living there.
 |
| Siena Cathedral |
 |
Bri and I missed the memo about having our shoulders covered and had to be those Americans with the temporary shrouds... Embarrassing.
|
 |
| Ceiling of the Piccolomini Library, my favorite room in the cathedral. It was filled with beautiful handcrafted psalters and choir books from the 1400's. |
My favorite thing we learned about Siena was the Palio di Siena, a biannual horse race in the town square that started in 1656. There are 17 contrade (districts) in Siena and 10 are randomly selected each race to nominate a jockey. All over the city you can tell which Contrada you are in by the flags decorating the buildings. Apparently the Oca (goose) Contrada has been the most successful in the past ten years. I decided I would be a member of the Leocorno (unicorn) contrada. When we asked our tour guide which contrada she belonged to and if they had won recently she sadly told us she was a member of the Chiocciola (snail) Contrada and they hadn't won since 1999. All in all, we had a very awkward relationship with our tour guide.
 |
| Palazzo Publico and square where the Palio di Siena is held. |
 |
| In the Aquila (eagle) Contrada |
 |
| Loved the fountains everywhere where you can get icy cold, clean water for free. Especially since water isn't free at any restaurants in Europe. |
Cinque Terre:
My favorite day trip by far was the trip I took with Bri, Sedona, and Liz last weekend to Cinque Terre. Bri and I stumbled out of the door after a late night at 6:45 AM and I was hopelessly grumpy the entire train ride but the second I stepped off the train I was so happy she dragged me out of bed. Hands down the most beautiful place I have been so far, Cinque Terre translates to "Five Lands" and is an area of the coast of the Italian Riviera comprised of five small villages where you can swim, hike, and sail. I don't think words can come anywhere near to doing it justice so here are some pictures from the day:
 |
| Instantly ecstatic to be in Cinque Terre. |
 |
| The "Five Lands": Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. |
 |
| Hiking between towns- Bri and I were both sporting Kappa gear and got approached by a friendly old lady who was a Kappa from Texas! |
 |
| There was a landslide between two of the towns so we had to take a tram to get past it. Here's the breathtaking view from the train window. |
 |
| I'd read that Cinque Terre was known for its pesto so getting some was a top priority... delicious. |
 |
| Everyone made fun of me but there were stray cats everywhere and I insisted on taking approximately a million pictures of them. Here's one of the scragglier looking cats we saw. |
 |
We got invited to play volleyball with some Italians who told us, among other things, that their favorite place in California was Death Valley.... oookay.
|
 |
| Beach in Monterosso- the water was so salty you could lay on your back and effortlessly float for hours--so I did. |
