A sacred place...

Yesterday we visited the beautiful city of Sienna, one of the most amazing medieval towns of all. It truly feels like stepping back into time. Art fills every corner of every duomo and the streets and walls are untouched by time. Of course, Giovanni brought me back to reality by reminding and pointing out all the neo-Gothic facades. It's good to be able to appreciate the truly beautiful parts of Italy.

Sienna had my favorite duomo thus far. Not to mention, we visited on a day when the sky was so blue and the clouds looked like they were painted in the sky. The duomo is a beautiful mix of white/gray and rose marble and has the most beautiful rose window that reflects the clouds like a mirror. On the top of the church is beautiful, large paintings with gold leafing. It really was one of the most beautiful things I have seen.

Our tour was absolutely amazing and included secluded, sacred places that only those most knowledgeable could possibly know about. One of my favorites was a lovely baroque church that did not have one corner untouched by gold cherubs and ornate details. I could stare for hours and still not catch every detail. I wish I could take Giovanni with me everywhere so I could learn all his amazing facts about Italy.

After our tour we decided to hit up some shops for souvenirs of the city. I was in search of one thing- a hand-painted wine stopper. Found it! It even has Sienna written on it, bellisimo (very beautiful)! Lisa found her Italian apron with "Ruffino" on it, her mothers maiden name. After our shopping we found the pizza place Giovanni raved about and had the best 5 euro pizza. I had margherita of course. The best part of the food was the view, the ristorante was tucked away behind the tower of one of the churches and all the houses. Just as we got done and were heading back to our meeting point we got the surprise of a parade-- complete with some sweet outfits. Italy you are one of the only countries whose men parade around in tights proudly... wearing medieval shoes and waving bright colored flags. Oh Italy, how I love thee!

The rest of the evening until night was uneventful. Finally we made our way back to the festival to meet up with our friends from Castiglion. Unforunately it was a little dead and we decided to go find them at Garden Bar. We finally found Laura and Alessandro as we were leaving. We hung out for a few minutes then the awkward can't speak English started to make it difficult and we decided to head back.

Today was my first day of class-- 8:30am can suck it. For our art history class Paolo took us to the Castiglion library. He explained that all medieval towns had their own collection of books that date back to the 13th century. He showed us a book from 1250 that was made from sheep skin and had Gregorian chants written by monks in them. Our music professor had told us that very morning that these were some of the earliest forms of written music. It's amazing how he could just pick these books up by hand (suggested gloves) and hold them. In America they would be quickly put behind glass. He also showed us a book that had names of those people who were hung in the piazza (square). What a crazy country, full of some of the most amazing sacred things. Off to Florence tomorrow for some more amazing sights!