Travel: Siena, Italy

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The mini trip that lead to an international parking fine. We'll never forget that, Siena.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to the Castelo di Montegufoni, what a dream that was. If you want to see more on that leg of our trip, you can can view it here (Travel: Tuscany, Italy).

From our Tuscan castle escapade, we started driving towards Rome, our next destination. On our way to Rome, we took a short trip to Siena. This was a 1-hour drive from Tuscany. Our drive going there was fine, it was when we entered the inner city we were introduced to the ZTL or the "Restricted Traffic Zone". We had already read about this prior to our trip so we knew what to expect. But because of our "oohhh-ing" and "aaahhh-ing" and with too many drivers in the same van, we mistakenly entered a non-resident restricted zone... just a second too late. We saw the sign, we saw the camera.... we had advanced a couple of feet.... then.... we stopped and just put the van in reverse and backed-up. Too late. Camera. The funny thing was, the parking for tourists was already to our left. Literally to our left. If we had just taken that instead of advancing forward, then we would not have been fined $350. Yup.... my husband was the driver so now he's got an international traffic offence. And we received the notice already here in Canada, about 2 months after the whole holiday. We will NEVER forget this trip to Siena. Haha! Good times, Siena. Good times.

Brushing away our less-than-law-abiding experience, we set foot to tour this wonder. We headed straight for the Piazza Del Duomo where the Duomo di Siena was located. Walking the cobbled-stone streets again, seeing the banners against the walls, and feeling the rich history that built this place. We're talking about 200 years to make this gothic wonder.

We lost ourselves in revelling over the beauty and detail in each corner of the Duomo di Siena, otherwise known as Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. We also had the chance to visit the Baptistery, dedicated to San Giovanni (St. John the Baptist) by Donatello, the ornate and wonderfully coloured Piccolomini Library, the Santa Maria della Scala, and the Civic Museum. We didn't go up the Torre del Mangia. One tip when you're planning a trip to Siena, get the OPASi Pass - it's like a combo ticket to view all the sights. Since we hadn't the whole day to tour this place (because we had to set off to Rome), we only took a 3-sight combo ticket. Plus, since we weren't pressured "to view everything", we still had time to have a snack and some gelato after having gone so many steps.

Here are some photos to take you to Siena, Italy.
 
   
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 


#donyaluzee #travel #italy #siena #sienaitaly #duomo #DuomoDiSiena #ztl #familyvacation #italyvacation #baptistery #SanGiovanni #StJohntheBaptist #Donatello #PiccolominiLibrary #SantaMariadellaScala #CivicMuseum 

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