Florence and Siena

Our first trip after I returned from the deployment was a roadtrip to Siena and Florence.

The vibe of Siena's central piazza is amazing.  It's a place to just sit around and people watch.

  Imagine 10 horses racing around the outside of the piazza.  The Palio, as the annual race is called, is held annually on July 2nd and August 16th.  The outer part of the piazza is covered with dirt and the inner part of the piazza is filled shoulder-to-shoulder with people.  To see horses crashing into walls during the Palio, click here.

The scene without the horses.

Jess is a well-traveled pup, but she still prefers the mountains to the city.

Roasted chestnuts

Siena from afar

The courtyard outside our hotel

A classic Italian street

View from the courtyard just before climbing the stairs of the tower.

Looking up the tower stairs.  We have climbed to the top of a bunch of bell towers in Europe, but I never really get tired of it.  

The urban summit

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On to Florence...

This was Cassy's 3rd trip, but my first.  She showed me around the city and we discovered some new restaurants together.

Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) was built around 996 by the Romans and swept away twice by floods.  It now houses touristy souvenir and jewelry shops.

Got this chick's number.

I thought the reflection of the building and the ivy on the Arno River was pretty cool.  When this dude in his boat rolled by, the shot got even better.

From Piazza Michelangelo 

Inside the Duomo, the cathedral church in central Florence.  A new town for me means a new tower to climb, and we weren't about to miss out on this one.

We arrived just minutes before the tower closed, which gave us an awesome 360 nighttime view of the city.