2350siena2

Our home base this year was Siena. Siena was at one time a strong rival to Florence. However, it was defeated by Florence in battle back in early Renaissance times and thus bacame sort of a backwater town. Luckily, this meant that very little in the city changed over the years. It retains the feel of a middle-ages Italian city, and there is very little traffic in the historic center of the city. Also, most tourists stay in Florence and visit Siena by tourbus, so in the early mornings and evenings, most of the people are residents.