siena, toscana.

First time I stepped into Siena centro storico (downtown) I felt strange. I'm so used to Perugia as my home based I couldn't help to sense similarity between both cities yet they each have a very different scale. Compared to Perugia with its beautiful mysterious alleys, Siena has wider roads and taller buildings on each sides. At first I actually didn't feel comfortable with the "gigantic" scale, which I thought was less homey, but in the end I did enjoy the city and I think both city possessed their own charm that's attractive in their own way. Similar yet different.


One thing that I fancy about Siena is the shopfront. They each look so attractive and a lot of them use neon light as their sign, which totally gets me.


You can't mentioned Siena without mentioning the main piazza, Piazza del Campo. It's said to be one of the most beautiful piazza all over Italy. To me I enjoy being in the piazza not because of its "beauty" but the way people occupy the space. People not just walk and pass through like any other piazza but people settle, sit, hang around inside the space available. Kids play around, birds fly trough.


And the whole thing about the Palio, a horse race between districts held twice a year, sure adds a nice spice to the city ambience.