Tuscany in 12 hours on a Coach Bus . . . Wow!

Today was our bus tour of Tuscany.  We went to three different cities:  Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa.  Siena has amazing history as one of the first places that the pilgrims stopped after spending the day walking to Rome.  The second stop was San Gimignano.  One of the symbols of the pilgrims was the sea shell.  They were not allowed to carry money and relay on the goodness of strangers.  Because of Siena's history in pilgrimages, the main piazza is shaped like a shell.

Two other interesting points of Siena are (1) it is divided into 3 burrows (so to speak) and then divided into 17 districts.  These districts are still alive and well today and each has their own church.  Each district has their own mayor, or captain and (2) every July 2 and August 16 there is a horse race in the main piazza.  10 horses race about the piazza three times.  It is a very interesting history.  Remind me to tell you about it when I see you.

After spending time in Siena, we went to an organic farm and took a tour.  We saw their grape vines and olive trees.  We also saw their cows which produce the milk for their cheeses.  After the tour, we had a three course meal, along with 4 differet types of wines.  This meal was our first pasta in Italy.  The view from the dinning area was breathtaking.

After lunch, we spent time in San Gimignano which has LOTS of leather shops.  I was VERY tempted to purchase a small purchase, but convinced myself that I did not need another purse. :)  That might change tomorrow when we go to the leather market in Florence. :D  San Gimignano is the home of the awarding winning gelato place, 2006-2009.  Of course, we had to get some. :)

Our last stop was Pisa.  We got off the bus at a large parking lot and to the Choo-choo train (not the right spelling but the right pronouncation) to the Piazza de Miracle.  This is where the tower, catherdal, and bapistry is located.  All three are made of white marble.  There are large green lawns all around the three buildings.  It is so peaceful even though there are LOTS of people there.  We went into the catheral which is very similar to the catherdal we went into in Siena (forgot to share that).

The day ended around 8:30pm.  Vaughn and I decided to just eat at the hostel because we are both exhausted from the day.  Although, I'm doing laundry at the moment. ;)  After getting off the bus, we made reservations for our train to Rome.  We will NOT be late for this train.  I don't think my luggage can handle another run like that.