TRAVELMAN SIENA, ITALY: You Can Never Have Too Many Creepy Heads

I didn’t plan on spending a few hours in Siena, but the city bus lines set schedule wasn’t in alignment with my sketchy schedule, so I saw beautiful Siena from around ten a.m. until 1:30 p.m. It’s a forty minute bus ride south from Poggibonsi, and my transfer point to Arezzo.

More people visit this town than the other small Tuscan towns I’ve visited because it’s larger and more easily accessible (by train, not by foot) between Rome and Florence.

(Above: One of the old entrances to the city.)

(Above: Looking over the wall at the wall)

(Above: Another Tuscan Town, another beautiful view...I’ve seen better before and since though. So many of these towns were built as Siena, on top of a big hill and surrounded by massive stone walls. The more cliffs along the edge of your town, the safer you were from invaders and door to door vacuum cleaner salesmen. I know the hill would’ve deterred me from any invasion, “So, um, Commander? The town is like way up that big hill, and you know we’re all in sandals, don’t really have the right footwear. Also I’ve got this big, too big if you ask me, spear. ...And, so anyways, me and the guys were thinking, maybe we just stay down here. You know, it’s nice, no climbing, theres’s a nice flat spot over there under a tree for your tent... Whatta ya’ say? We play some cards, have some wine, Octavio brought his lute, we’ll sing songs.”)

(Above: Pizza del Campo. There’s a guy who looks like he’s from the sixties in this shot, so I put the warm retro filter on the pics.)

(Above: Duomo di Siena)

(Above: See that big line? It was hot, there was no shade, I had both my main pack and day pack, and I had limited time. I didn’t go in.)

(Above: A close up to try and convey the ridiculous detail, as though every spot needed something. There’s angels, babies, bishops, kings, queens, it’s like all the pieces on a chess board.)

(Above: this is on my way to the back of th Duomo. These tall walls encircled it and the Piazza. I think I may have needed to wait in that long line to get up on that ledge at the top where those tourists are.)

(Above: A walkway down some steps to the back door)

(Above: The back of the church. Comparatively less detail, but still lots of it. They really thought more is more back then.)

(Above: more crazy detail and creepy heads. That’s what the church directors kept telling the architects and contractors during design and construction- “Yeah, um... It’s coming along nicely, really nice. Good job on the alternating stone thing, we like it. ...But, just- Now, I don’t want to be pushy- ...But I just think it’d be even better if we had even more crazy detail. You know, like a real wow factor. And God loves details, right! ...Oh, and more creepy heads too. You know like poking out of the wall, like ‘Boo- Hello! Here we are.’ Right? Yeah! ...Don’t worry about overdoing it. This is the Roman Catholic Church, you can never have enough creepy heads. Am I right, or am I right? God will love you for it. I’ll put in a word for you, with the big guy. I can do that, special direct line. Alright good talk.)

A nice view from one of the nearby lanes. A tour group was getting a story there about the spot. It was in another language so All I know is that it’s pretty. That would be me as a tour guide, “...This is a pretty spot. ...(tourists staring at me expectantly, pregnant with the hope of a juicy tidbit) ... ... Ok, let’s move onto the gelato stand, I’m ready for a snack.”}

!steemitworldmap 43.3190 lat 11.3321 long Siena, Italy: You Can Never Have Too Many Creepy Heads d3scr