Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: Siena

On one of Teeny Tiny's many days in Florence, he planned a day trip to Siena, just an hour away by train. Siena is famous for its horse race, Il Palio, and its stripey cathedral. Because the historic part of Siena is up a mountain, when Teeny Tiny arrived, he made sure to grab a bus ticket.

After a minor getting-on-the-wrong-bus mishap, Teeny Tiny made his way to a city gate and greeted the symbol of Siena, the she-wolf.

The Sienese like to insist that their town was founded by the son of Remus, so the suckling wolves is an important and persistent image. Another important image is the Palazzo Publico, the ruling building for the republic.

The walls of the interior of the People's Palace chronicle the history of the republic. One of Teeny Tiny's most important historical finds was that the Sienese believed in unicorns:

After a thorough exploration of the palace, Teeny Tiny spent a bit of time in the big piazza. He could hardly believe that they raced horses around the distorted oval. He then made his way through the steep and winding streets first to a market to buy goodies and then to the Duomo.

The square was as good a place as any to eat his lunch. He found a ledge in front of the old hospital and enjoyed the people milling about:

Siena's cathedral is the most Gothic and adorned of all of the Italian churches Teeny Tiny has seen. It is covered with statuary and striking from every angle.

Inside the cathedral is just as remarkable as outside. Much of the floor has been roped off to protect the marvelous bas-relief tombs and decorations.

The pulpit shows a Last Judgment carved by Nicola Pisano.

Teeny Tiny loved that the church was striped inside and out, but he wished the Sienese had gone with more colors, perhaps some red and blue.

Teeny Tiny next took an amazing tour of the newly excavated narthex under the Duomo, where he saw some old frescoes and the original structure of the church. He explored the Baptistry, housed underneath the church's choir. The baptismal font was sculpted by Donatello and Jacopa dell Quercia.

Teeny Tiny next went to the museum of the Opera del Duomo to check out some of the great works commissioned for the church. At the top of the museum, he discovered a little stairway.

On his way up, he noticed this warning:

After getting his hand for to hold as instructed, he completed the climb. It was a bit exhausting, but the view was worth it.

After chatting with a lovely British couple on holiday, he tried to get a better idea of what it must be like for the horses to race in Il Palio.

All in all, Teeny Tiny's day in Siena turned out to be a perfectly beautiful day. He finished with some tasty gelato, of course, and managed to grab the correct bus back to the train station.

Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: Roller Derby

After posting the last of the Florence pictures, Teeny Tiny has decided to take a break from his Italy trip and post about a trip a little closer to home. Recently Teeny Tiny took a little trip on the metro to the D.C. Armory.

He was there for the Roller Derby! He got himself prepared for the spectator sport action with the traditional materials.

Then, he was all set for the action provided by the D.C. Roller Girls.

Unfortunately it's hard to take still pictures of people rushing around a small oval on roller skates, but he tried.

In the first bout, the Cherry Blossom Bombshells whipped the overmatch team from Harrisonburg.

Then there was the halftime show: a bunch of eager kids who must have warped into the armory from 1973.

Go homeschool orphan circus!

After that, Teeny Tiny needed a little stiff refreshment.

The second bout of the match promised a bit more excitement between the D.C. Demoncats and Scare Force One.

Scare Force One and their unbelievable jammer Marion Barrycuda, however, dominated the Demoncats, so Teeny Tiny called off the jam and went to dinner.

Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: Florence from Above

Sadly, we're going to have to move on from the Florence pictures after this week, but I think it has become apparent that Teeny Tiny would live in Florence if he could. Before he left town, Teeny Tiny made sure to climb both Giotto's Campanile and the Duomo so that he could get one last look from above at his favorite Italian city. Halfway up the big tower, he found a big bell.

The Campanile provided great views.



Santa Croce.



It also offered a nice view of the big dome.



Next on the climbing agenda was the big dome itself.






During his climb to the lantern of the Duomo, Teeny Tiny checked the walls to see if he knew any of the names illicitly Sharpied on them in defiance of the multitude of signs.



He also made sure to get a good look at the interior of the cathedral before finishing the climb.



He was pleased by his proximity to the Last Judgment.



Cerberus gave him a bit of a fright.



Almost at the top, he sneaked a look out the window at the Campanile.



The long climb was worth it for the views of the Badia and Bargello.



The Palazzo Vecchio.



The Medici Palace.



San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapel.



Before he left Florence, Teeny Tiny saw almost all the great pieces of art in the city, but he wasn't allowed to take pictures with all of them. Don't doubt that he went to San Marco, the Medici Chapel, 756 churches, and the Uffizi.



He also made sure to hit the Academy and see Michelangelo's Prigioni and David.



Of course, he had to recreate that experience with a stand-in.

Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: More Florence

Although much of what is great about Florence lies on the south side of the Arno, Teeny Tiny made sure to cross the Ponte Vecchio so that he could enjoy the sights of the Oltrarno.

The Oltrarno offers more than amazing views of the more known part of the city, although the views are amazing.

A little more than a mile down the river past the Ponte Vecchio lies the Piazzale Michelangelo, a park set atop a hill that holds bronze copies of some of Michelangelo's most famous works. The park also stands halfway up the hill to San Miniato al Monte, home to a community of Olivetan monks who make tasty candies and honey.

Teeny Tiny wandered through the enormous cemetery that surrounds San Miniato. He learned a great deal about old Florentine families by reading the tombs, still carefully tended though hundreds of years old.

Another great thing about being in Florence in May is that it is rose season. The Piazzale Michelangelo is surrounded by two amazing gardens. One garden has all kinds of flowers and plants. The other is the rose garden, open only during May.

It too offers amazing views of the city.

The other main attractions on the other side of the river are the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace. Teeny Tiny made reservations so that he could wander through the galleries and enjoy the great Renaissance and post-Renaissance art not in the Uffizi.

A few blocks past Santo Spirito, the main place of worship on the south side of the river, are a few other amazing churches. The old Carmelite church, Santa Maria del Carmine, is not often open for tourist gazing, but it also holds the Brancacci Chapel.

To get to the chapel, Teeny Tiny had to go through the cloister of the old monastery.

Most people visit the chapel for the stunningly restored frescoes of Massaccio and Fillipino Lippi. The church offers a film history of the frescoes, which might have been really enlightening. Teeny Tiny, who's already a bit of an art history buff and so familiar with their history, chose to pass on the film so that he could simply enjoy the chapel.