The Lygers » Sienna http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:32:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Siena pics http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/siena-pics/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/siena-pics/#comments Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:17:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=265 One of the famous floor mosaics in the Siena Duomo
Inside Duomo #3
Me in front of the famous pool thingy in the Piazza del Campo
The Piazza del Campo in Siena
]]> http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/siena-pics/feed/ 0 Ryan Goes to Italy: Siena http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/ryan-goes-to-italy-siena/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/11/ryan-goes-to-italy-siena/#comments Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:30:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=264 Thursday I left Florence for Rome, but decided to stop in Siena for the day (which is sort of on the way). I arrived at the train station hoping to find a place to store my bags while I walked around the city. Well, despite signs showing the station had baggage storage, it in fact did not. When I found this out, I immediately had this vision of tramping through Siena lugging around 12 kg packs. I asked at one of the ticket desks where I could store my packs. “In the center”, they said. Great – how do I get to the center? “Take a bus.” No problem – I just have to take a bus. Too bad there are no bus maps or any indication of which busses go to the center. I tried to board one bus that showed up, but found it I had to go somewhere else to catch the bus to the center. Eventually, after more hassle than I was expecting, I made it to the center and thankfully found a bag check at the bus stop. Note to my readers: If you travel to Siena – take the bus because the buses stop right in the center and have baggage storage. The train station is outside of town and they make it rather difficult for foreigners to figure out how to get into town. The center of Siena is a UNESCO World Heritage site – and I can see why. The town looks like it hasn’t changed since the 15th or 16th century. I wandered around the city until I found the Piazza del Campo – “one of Europe’s greatest medieval squares.” I sat on the square and ate some pizza while taking in the architecture. After a few more minutes of walking I ran into … guess what? That’s right – another Duomo! Duomo #3 is smaller than #1 or #2 but is still worthy of the “Duomo” name (mainly because it has a dome). This Duomo’s claim to fame are its intricate mosaic floors. Naturally, I had to invest in the audio guide to learn more about them which you can read about online or just go and visit yourself. Duomo #3 also has works by Michelangelo and Bernini – like all respectable churches in Italy do. After a seeing a bit more of the city I made my way back to the bus station. Finding the correct bus back wasn’t much easier than my trip into the city. I bought my ticket to Rome and I was on my way. Most trips from Siena to Rome require one train change. If you get off at the wrong stop it requires two. This was my fate. I were coming into Rome and the train stops at a large train station. I can’t see out the window very well, but this was about the time I were scheduled to arrive in Rome. My whole car gets up to leave (well, all 6 of them) so I do as well – thinking I’m at Termini station. As soon as I get off and catch my bearings I realize this isn’t the stop. At this same moment the train locks the doors and pulls away. The funny thing is, none of us in the car wanted to get off at this stop, and we all realized my mistake at the same time. A Japanese teenager who made the mistake came up to me and asked with a scared look on his face, “Where we are?” I don’t know Japanese dude, I don’t know. After 60 seconds or so of confusion the platform sign changed to indicate a train was arriving in 15 minutes going to Termini. Great, I’ll just wait around for 15 minutes and catch that train. About 1 minute before the new train was scheduled to arrive, the platform sign went blank. Uh-oh. An announcement came over the intercom, but it was all in Italian so I didn’t understand it. Even if it was in English I wouldn’t understand it because train station intercom systems are designed to make any speech incomprehensible. I decided that the announcer was probably announcing a new track for my train. I ran down the ramp and found a terminal showing my expected train was coming in on another track. I ran down to the track and arrived just as the train was pulling in. I hopped on that train and finally figured out that had gotten off two or three stops away from Termini at one of the suburb stations.

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