I think the outside of Siena's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere. The inside was not as glorious, partly due to the fact that a major restoration was going on when we visited.

Cathedral from another angle.

A beautiful bronze medallion sits over the Cathedral's main door.

The marble flooring in the Cathedral's entrace was also quite beautiful.

The bell tower, with alternating black and white stone, is quite striking.

Walking through the town of Siena, you see interesting sculpture, like this wolf mounted on a column, everywhere.

Typical Siena street scene.

Beautiful hook for a horse mounted into a stone wall.

A gorgeous display of fruit in a store. By now, you are probably getting the idea that Siena is a feast for the eyes, a beautiful place to visit.

We stopped at a little salumeria to pick up a few gastronomical souvenirs and ended up making great friends with the owner. We ended up staying there about half an hour and trying a lot of the local specialties, including a salami made from wild boar, which was this store's specialty. I bought pici (a Tuscan pasta which resembles very thick spaghetti), dried porcini mushrooms, and pasta sauces made deom porcini mushrooms and wild boar.

He particularly liked Mom!

Stuffed wild boar displayed in the salumeria.

I really enjoy the way that shop keepers display things in Europe, and especially in Italy. This shot gives you an idea of the amount of work they put into making a shop visually appealing.

After our shopping, we walked over to the Piazza del Campo, Siena's main square. It is an impressive place, one of the grandest public spaces I've seen anywhere. On one side is the Palazzo Publico, seen here, which was underhoing renovation when we visited.

A good view of the Palazzo Publico being restored. Both in Siena and Venice (at the Doge's Palace), the areas under restoration were covered with huge painted curtains resembling the images of the parts of the buildings under restoration.

View of the buildings on the other side of the Piazza del Campo from the the Palazzo Publico. The Piazza is lined with restaurants, most of them offering dining al fresco. It's a great public space.

Entrance to the Palazzo Publico.

Mom in the Piazza del Campo.

Fonte Gaia, a big fountain in the Piazza del Campo.

Kids chasing pigeons in the Piazza del Campo.

After lunch, we stopped for a gelato. The gelateria had a seating area with a great view overlooking the Piazza del Campo.

Another view from the gelateria.

Another typical Siena street scene.

A hallway built between two buildings in Siena.