Pisa, San Gimignano, and Siena

As I wrote in an earlier posting, during the Columbus Day weekend a friend and I visited Florence. Our last full day, we took a guided bus tour from Florence which consisted of the obligatory stop in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and the nearby cathedral and baptistery; drove thru the Tuscan countryside and stopped for lunch at a vineyard; drove thru more scenic winding roads, stopped at San Gimignano, and walked around the old part of town to see the remaining “towers” from its historic past; and stopped in Siena to see its main Piazza and its beautiful cathedral.

I am not a big fan of guided tours. But since we probably saw all that we could see in Florence and we had one full day left, the best way to get the “flavor” of Tuscany was the guided tour described above. To tour costs 90 euros, but it covered a lot of areas -- more than we would be able to cover using public transport. Most of the time was spent of the road. We did not have much time to enjoy the sights of Siena. All in all, it was well worth it. Siena is worth visiting again for at least a day to see all its sights. Most of our time in Siena was spent inside the Duomo, its cathedral. The cathedral is probably the most magnificent church I have seen, both inside and out. It was nice to see San Gimignano, the small walled medieval Tuscan hill town, with several towers still standing. During the medieval period, families built towers to show their wealth. In its heyday, more than 70 towers were built. The highlight of the stop in Pisa was not the Leaning Tower, but the interior of the cathedral nearby. And during the drive to all the places we visited, I could not take my eyes off the never ending stunning vistas and landscapes of Tuscany hillsides.

The following are photos from this tour:

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Pisa Duomo and the Leaning Tower behind it.

The Pisa Duomo.

The Baptistery in Pisa.

Dome details of the Baptistery in Pisa.

Column details of the Duomo in Pisa.

Inside the Duomo in Pisa.

View of San Gimignano countryside.

Enjoying gelato in San Gimignano.

Towers in San Gimignano.

This “lemon-headed” figure looks angry – probably from the sudden rain and wind storm that hit San Gimignano lasting for about 20 minutes.

Empty street in San Gimignano after a rain storm.

In front of the Duomo in Siena.

Inside Siena’s Duomo.

Siena’s Duomo from the outside.

The main square of Siena, Piazza del Campo.

More photos of these three sites can be viewed from my flickr account by clicking on the following links: Pisa, San Gimignano, and Siena.