Rome

Days 10 and 11 - Sienna and Rome

Cicely and Jen posing in Rome. No, your eyes do not deceive you, that really is an 80's style side ponytail that I am sporting.

On our way to our final destination, Rome, we stopped in a charming Tuscan city called Sienna. Sienna turned out to be one of the most interesting stops on our trip. Without going into too much detail, apparently the entire city has been divided up into 17 different groups since the middle ages. The groups each have their own colors, flags, mascots, and churches, and there are intense rivalries between the groups. Once a year they have a horse race, the Palio, around a small square in the middle of town. We'll post a youtube clip of the Palio. It really is something else.

A view of Sienna (namesake of the color "Burnt Sienna")

Trevi Fountain in Rome

On to Rome. So much to see in so little time. Of course, we went to the Vatican, where we saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. We visited the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. With Eric as the leader we also visited several of the more obscure churches.

A happy couple at the Colosseum.

This was a Roman statue that was discovered while Michelangelo was studying ancient art in Rome, and apparently he learned a lot about sculpture by studying works like this.

As was the case in each city, we walked our legs off. This time it even took its toll on Eric, as clearly documented by the picture below. Although as it turned out, all of the walking wasn't nearly as fatiguing or uncomfortable as the 32 hours of travel (flying time and layovers) required to make our way home the next day.