- Yakima Valley Wine Country (4 days July 2013) - Los Angeles, CA (4 days May 2013) - St. Maarten/St

We spent three nights in Florence i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible during our trip to Italy in September of 2011. Of those three days we chose to spend two in the city and opted to use the other for The Best of Tuscany Tour through a company called Walkabout Florence.
I am not normally a fan of guided bus tours, however, this tour was highly rated on Trip Advisor i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible and would enable us to see many places over the course of 12 hours that we wouldn't have been able to see using public transportation. Additionally, the cost was 80 Euro per person which included transportation, a guided tour in Siena, i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible entrance to Siena's i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible Cathedral, and a multi-course lunch with wine at a winery/farm which I found to be a good value.
The meeting point for the tour was directly in front of the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence which was an easy walk from our bed and breakfast. Our first stop of the day was in Siena, followed by lunch and a tour at a local winery, then a visit to San Gimignano, and our final stop was in Pisa. It was a very long day but one of our favorite experiences of the trip. It was great to sit back on the bus and relax and not have to worry about where we were going or how we would get there. In addition to the the stress-free environment our tour guide provided commentary nearly the entire drive on each of the places we were visiting which was extremely informative and helpful.
The entire historic center of this beautiful city is a UNESCO World Heritage sight. During medieval times, Siena was Florence's arch rival. The city was also a major banking and trade center i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible of Europe until the Black Death arrived in 1348, killing i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible a large percentage of its population. Siena's power began declining after this point and in the 1550's Florence conquered the city enabling Florence i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible to become the most powerful city in the area. The rivalry between i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible the two cities continues to this day with most people strongly favoring one city over the other.
The Best of Tuscany Tour included a guided walking tour of Siena with an official i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible tourist guide from the city. She provided us with detailed information on the history of the city and the traditional events that take place in Siena every year, including the 600 year-old Palio horse race. One of the main benefits to guided tours is that they tend to show you things or places you might not have seen or noticed on your own and give explanations on the different historical sights and buildings.
Siena's vast main square is located in the heart of the city. Many have said that this piazza is the loveliest square in all of Italy, which I wholeheartedly i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible agree with. Piazza del Campo holds the palio festival twice a year, which is a bareback horse race. Ten of Siena's 17 neighborhoods compete in the race, with days of heavy betting and competitive celebration preceding the race. Dirt is brought into the piazza to create the surface of the track with mattresses lining the buildings of the square. Whichever neighborhood ends up winning the race is given the much sought-after palio (silk banner) as its prize.
Siena's main cathedral is a sight to behold, both on its exterior and on its interior. When I visited Siena five years earlier with my sister, the exterior of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding so I was so happy to see that the renovations and cleaning were complete!
i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible We were lucky enough to be visiting in September when all of the cathedral's famous inlaid marble mosaic floors are exposed. For most of the year the majority of the floors are covered to protect them from wear and tear. The floors are decorated with 56 panels depicting biblical and historical subjects. The black and white marble designs date from the mid-14th century while the colorful ones were completed in the 16th century.
Aside from the beautiful mosaic floors, the cathedral is also well know for the colorful Piccolomini Library, which was built to store the books of Pope Pius II. The amazing frescoes on the ceiling have been untouched since they were painted back in the early 1500's.
Siena is a very beautiful, photogenic, and pleasant city to wander through. Although we only spent a few short hours there, in the future, I would like to base ourselves from Siena while exploring the small towns and villages of Tuscany.
As you walk through the 17 neighborhoods (contrades) of Siena, be on the lookout for the small contrada signs showing which neighborhood you are in. Each contrade is represented by a symbol, such as an eagle, dragon, or snail.
After visiting Siena, our tour guide took us to Fattoria Poggio Alloro for lunch, which is a family-run winery i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible and farm located i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible very close to San Gimignano. Prior to lunch we were given a tour of the farm, vineyards, and winery which was fun and very interesting.
In addition to being a farm and winery, Fattoria Poggio Alloro also has rental i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible accommodations for guests to stay on the property. As a result, they have a restaurant on-site to accomodate their guests. During the day they use this restaurant to serve meals to tour groups.
After lunch we walked out onto the terrace where we were rewarded with beautiful views of the vineyards and of San Gimignano in the distance. We also went and explored the vineyards a bit more before we left to San Gimignano.
This walled medieval hill town is located within Tuscany i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible and is one of the region's most commonly i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible visited hill towns. San Gimignano is well known for its 14 towers, which is quite a rarity in the region as most of the towers in hill towns were destroyed during wars. There are no "must see" or major sights in the town, instead, it's a great place to just simply wander and explore. Like Siena, the entire historic core of San Gimignano is also listed on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
The final stop on our tour was the city of Pisa. We were first taken to the Field of Miracles where we had about an hour to enjoy the Leaning Tower of Pisa . The famous 200 foot tower currently leans about 15 feet at a five degree angle. The building started to lean about five years after construction began in 1173. The tower took two centuries to complete and multiple architects worked on the project, each one attempting to correct the lean.
I had visited the tower previously five years earlier and had already i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible climbed to the top of the tower and toured i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible both the Duomo and Bapistery . As a result, i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible Shyawn and I instead enjoyed the tower from its exterior and also had a great time taking i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible as many of the cheesy pictures with the tower that we possibly i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible could.
After spending time at the Field of Miracles, our tour took us through i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible the historical area of Pisa, where numerous buildings and piazzas were pointed out to us. I had not realized prior to our trip what a pleasant city Pisa is just outside of the craziness of the Field of Miracles.
Most visitors to Pisa will likely day trip from Florence or the Cinque Terre. My personal recommendation is to spend at least a half-day in the town, enabling you to spend a few hours at the Field of Miracles and another hour or two exploring its enjoyable old town. Additionally, try to plan your trip in the later afternoon as that is when the buildings i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible are beautifully lit-up by the sunset. It tends to be much less crowded in the later hours than during the morning.
Thanks Danielle! I believe there were about 30 people on the tour bus with us. The nice thing though was that I never really felt like I was part of a cattle i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible herd as most of the stops we were able to just wander off by ourselves. At times during our guided tour of Siena it did get a bit tricky with all of those people i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible in the narrow i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible streets however we had an audio guide so even if we were a few hundred feet away we could still hear the guide speaking. Delete Reply Add comment Load more...
- Yakima Valley Wine Country i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible (4 days July 2013) - Los Angeles, CA (4 days May 2013) - St. Maarten/St. Martin (11 days March 2013) - Playa del Carmen, Mexico (10 days November i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible 2012 for our destination wedding!) - Washington DC (7 days September 2012) - Willamette Wine Country, OR (2 days August 2012) - Pacific Beach, WA State (3 days July 2012) - Los Angeles, CA (3 days July 2012) - Walla Walla, WA Wine Country (5 days May 2012) - Portland, OR (3 days March 2012) - Las Vegas (4 days January 2012) - Los Angeles, CA (2 days October 2011) - Italy (14 days Sept 2011) - Portland, OR (4 days May 2011) - Costa Rica (8 days Feb 2011) - Netherlands, i need airline tickets as inexpensive as possible Belgium, Ireland (2 weeks Feb/March 2010) - Tulum, Mexico (1 week Dec 2009) - San Diego, CA (4 days Oct 2009) - France (4 weeks Aug/Sept 2010) - Whidbey Island, WA (3 days Aug 2009) - Victoria Southern Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada (3 days July 2010) - Napa Valley Sonoma County, CA (4 days May 2009) - Spain (2 weeks March/April 2009) - Miami Key West, FL (5 days Jan 2009) - New York, NY (1 week Nov/Dec 2008) - Boston, MA (4 days Oct 2008) - Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria (3 weeks Sept 2008) - Olympic National Park, WA (3 days Aug 2008) - Mount Rainier National Park, WA (3 days Aug 2008) - Orcas Island, WA (5 days July 2008) - Colorado New Mexico (6 days April 2008) - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (6 days Jan 2008) - OR Coast SW WA State (4 days Aug/Sept 2007) - San Francisco, CA (3 days Aug 2007) - Norway (2 weeks May 2007) - England, Wales, Paris (3 weeks Sept/Oct 2006) - Italy Greece (3 weeks Aug 2006) - Oahu, HI (1 week Sept 2005)
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