May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 May 12 May 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 26 May 27 May 28 May 29 May 30	Thursday 5/17/07 Once again we set the alarm for early shooting. The fog was so thick when the alarm went off that we could barely see the other side of the patio outside our window. Once again we rolled over and went back to sleep. It turned out that the fog was magical that morning for everyone who went out to shoot. Oh, well. We're getting caught up on some much needed sleep... After breakfast, we shared some more photos. This time, it was all the prints and books that people had brought to share. Another nice collection of photos. Then we headed out for the day. This time, we took the scenic route to Siena. Most of the group headed to Siena that day. We stopped several times along the way to shoot, including an old monastery and some wonderful olive groves. We finally arrived in Sienna and Carl got to practice some city driving... Finally found a parking lot that I could locate on the map and parked the car. They had a series of escalators that took people from the parking lot level up to the old city level - Siena, like most of the medieval towns in Tuscany, was originally built on a hill top. However, this was the first time I've walked into a city center by escalator! Rain was threatening again, so, when it started to sprinkle, we ducked into the town hall and got in line for the Torre del Mangia, the tallest tower in Tuscany. Close to 500 narrow, slippery steps later, we were at the main observation level. Nice views over the city. We also climbed to the second level, but stopped before the final level. I couldn't see that it would have improved the views significantly. This was something I had wanted to do the last time I was in Siena and never found the time for. The three photos above were taken from near the top of the Torre del Mangia. The photo on the left shows an overview of part of the city. The domed church is Santa Maria di Provenzano and the more block-like church to the right is the church for the convent of San Francesco. The center photo shows a section of the surviving city wall. The photo to the right shows two tour buses winding their way into Siena, approaching the city wall. The three photos above were also taken from the main level of the Torre del Mangia. The one on the left is looking down onto the rooftops of Siena, emphasizing the narrow streets of this town. The center photo is also looking almost straight down to give you an idea about how high we were. The photo to the right is of Siena's Duomo (cathedral). As the crane indicates, it is still undergoing renovations. The three photos above were also taken from the Torre del Mangia. The one on the left shows Il Campo, the main square for Siena and site of the annual Palio (more on this later). The center photo shows Fonte Gaia, a pool of fresh water in the square. The photo on the right shows Carl rapping on the large warning bell located between the main observation level of the tower and the middle level. The two photos above were also taken from the Torre del Mangia. The one on the left is one of the gargoyles above us. The one on the right is a group of French schoolchildren yelling to their friends in Il Campo and was taken at the lowest observation level. By the time we returned to ground level, it was 5 pm and we hadn't really had any lunch, so we were looking for something to eat. Italian restaurants don't open until around 7pm, so we wound up eating a pizza (ham, cheese, and rocket - still don't know what rocket is, but it looked like lettuce of some sort) and drinking wine at a sidewalk café, watching the people stroll by. Several tour groups went by. A wedding party stopped just feet from us for some photographs with the tower in the background. The photo on the left above is of the Torre del Mangia, looking straight up from the base. The photo on the right is also of the Torre del Mangia, but is the more traditional view from across Il Campo. The large building to the right in this photo is city hall. Looking at the photo on the right, the main observation level is where the white block flares. The higher point we climbed to is indicated by the openings just above this flare. The lower point, where the school children were yelling to their friends is slightly below the clock. The photo in the center is the wedding party mentioned above. We watched them pose several places around the piazza, but this photo was taken from our dinner table! We spotted some of the other members of our group across the piazza, but didn't catch up with them at the time. Eddie had said he would be near the tower about 5 if anyone had any questions. Turns out he was running late and didn't get there until later. We ran into him on one of the streets. The photo above is a section of the wall of Siena's unfinished cathedral. The Duomo (cathedral) of Siena was one of the largest in Italy at the time it was built (photos of it follow). However, the people of Siena weren't satisfied and wanted to build the largest cathedral in the world. The main aisle of the current cathedral would serve as the cross nave of the new cathedral. The new cathedral was started, but never completed. They erected one side wall and the end wall (this one), then the Black Plague struck. Once they had recovered from that, they were captured by Florence and the Florentines decreed that no more construction would take place in Siena. The cathedral was never finished. The six photos above are of Siena's Duomo or cathedral. The leftmost one is of the front of the cathedral. The next four are details picked from the outside of the Duomo, including a detail of the intricate scrollwork detail in the marble columns, the stonework over the central door, various gargoyles and sculptures that decorate the facade, and the stonework over one of the side doors. The last photo is of the cathedral's campanile or bell tower. Notice that each level of windows has one more opening than the level below it. This decreases the weight without compromising the stability of the structure. We wandered the town for a while until we started running out of steam. The remaining photos on this page were taken during our wanderings. The photo on the left above is of something we glimpsed upon entering town - it's a mannikin (or possibly a statue in progress) peeking out of an upper window. The remaining two photos above are two different displays of Palio flags. The Palio of Siena is a festival held twice each summer and throws the city back into medieval times. The highlight of the festival is a bareback horserace around the edges of Il Campo (pictured above). Each of the 17 districts of the city sponsors a horse and each has their own set of colors and flags. It is quite colorful, as these souvenir flags suggest. On the morning of the race, each horse is led into a church in its district to be blessed. The race lasts about 90 seconds, but the pagentry goes on for hours. The photo on the left above shows that Venice isn't the only Italian city to make masks. These have more of a Tuscan flavor. Unlike Venetian masks, however, I think these are just for wall decoration and were not made to be worn. The center photo above shows Carl once again reading the guide book while waiting for me to finish shooting. Such a patient man! He's even carrying my extra photo gear and the tripod! We're not completely sure what the ring in the photo on the right was used for. My initial thought was that, many years ago, they were used to tie horses. However, some of them are fairly high on the walls and others are very low. Regardless of use, this one has cut quite a dent into the stone wall it's mounted on. The ring is almost 10" in diameter. The photo on the left above shows the window display for a cheese shop. The center photo is outside of a meat shop. Have you ever seen a boar in reading glasses? The right photo above was in the window of a wine shop. Then we headed back to the car. We went right to it! We took the more direct route back to Il Rigo, which took an hour off the drive. Both routes were pretty, but we didn't stop on the more direct route - fewer places to stop. We saw the "Trees" from the previous evening from yet another angle, one that I liked better than any that I had seen the previous evening, but there was no place to park anywhere near that vantage point. It will have to remain a mental image. It was a really nice evening. We watched the end of the sunset from the patio outside our window, then went inside and crashed. We were in bed by 10!!! Next...