This post describes my favourite part of the journey: getting to know more of Tuscany than traveling magazines show!
the city council of S. Gimignano
That's what we chose to do in this part of our trip. We visited four other amazing cities of Tuscany: S. Gimignano, Siena. Lucca and Pisa.
S. Gimignano was my favourite. Like most of these cities, it's surrounded by a wall, and its buildings are all really well-preserved! What I liked the most was the cathedral: even though they had been damaged during World War II, its walls showed frescoes from the 13th and 14th century depicting stories of the Bible. On one side there were pictures of scenes of the Old Testament; in the other side of the cathedral told stories of Jesus, from his birth to his Resurrection.
The landscape was beautiful: green and golden fields spread around the walls, little farmhouses and fruit trees. There were many painters trying to capture it using a variety of materials, but nothing compares to standing before it!
Siena is a big city; in fact, before the unification of Italy, it was Florence's biggest rival. The streets are full of people laughing and happily eating ice-cream; then, there's the Piazza del Campo, an enormous inclined square divided in 9 "sectors" representing the Noveschi, who built it. People sit in it, admiring the Palazzo Publico and its magnificent tower (in the picture), and twice a year there is a big horse race, Palio di Siena. I also had the privilege to look at the cathedral of Siena, which is huge and so white that I couldn't stare at it for too long, and to watch the rehearsals of the people who were going to dance with the city flags in the horse race!
Unlike Siena, Lucca is a very calm town. It actually looks like it's frozen in time. There is a beautiful little river flowing through it; lots of bikes, street musicians and narrow streets. There are two main churches with elaborate facades and a monument to Napoleon's sister who was a big figure of Lucca, There isn't much more to say, except that it was a pleasant surprise to come across such a calm place!
Whenever people talk about Pisa, we only think of its leaning tower, and honestly I didn't think there was anything else to it. Oh how I was wrong. The tower is surrounded by an enormous grass field where people take their silly pictures (and so did I) and, next to it, there is the magnificent Cathedral of Pisa, which came as a surprise to me as I didn't expect it to be so beautiful!
love,
Mariana
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