Art History Field Trips: Sienna and San Gimignano

Apparently when it rains in Italy, it really rains. I discovered this two days ago when Molly and myself were stuck inside our apartment for the afternoon because it was too dangerous to go outside. That is, the rain drops had more similar traits to bullets rather than soft pebbles and the hail had a close resemblance to paint balls being shot from afar. It became highly dramatic when our patio door began leaking water and my favorite part of the day was moping up these water piles while eating a frozen banana. Quite poetic. 

Luckily, on Saturday it did not rain. The art history class took a nice long trip to Sienna and San Gimignano. Unfortunately, the churches and museums were super strict and I was not able to take photographs of some of the most interesting art pieces. The dress code was also taken into consideration, meaning no shorts, mini skirts, or bare shoulders. It was pretty hilarious seeing older men in shorts wrapping themselves in a big sheet of tissue paper (handed out by the security guards) as if they were towels and walking around the churches as if they owned the place.

And so the art field trip began in Sienna...

Scrumptious sugary donuts at Nannini's Bakery (Sienna)

Broader view of the morning pastries at Nannini's. I got the chocolate triangle croissant (Sienna)

These looked so good. I am used to the concept of only getting one sweet thing at a time, but when I saw my friends with two or more pastries on their plates, I was quite envious! (Sienna)

My friend Jamie took this of me. A volcanic explosion of powder  occurred which ended up all over myself and the tiny table I was standing at. Although Nannini's seemed like a great bakery, the overall customer system is pretty awful. A customer has to stand in a line to pay for their food or beverage and then stand in another line to get the food or beverage. All the lines were bumping into each other and theres no sense of fairness or reason why the system was made this way. Oh well. (Sienna)

In the Baptistery. The reliefs on the bottom were amazing, the artist ranging from: Donatello, Ghiberti and Jacopo della Quercia. The ceiling was visually striking and I wish I could have laid down flat on the ground to get a better perspective of the ceiling's frescos. (Sienna)

Inside the "New Duomo". Apparently the black and white stripes was a popular artistic style to represent Sienna.

Still inside the Duomo. Like the Cathedral back in Pisa, there literally was no breathing space on the walls. It seems like the artists ran out of space on the walls and began making artistic pieces on the floor. (Sienna)

The library inside the Duomo. (Sienna)

Beautiful marble stand which looks quite similar to the one in Pisa. (Sienna)

One of the dome ceilings. I liked this one because of the golden sun in the very middle. (Sienna)

Lunch! I was attracted to the "fat spaghetti" concept and therefore did not see the key ingredients of black pepper and chile. Spicy! (Sienna)

Now in San Gimignano. I like this place better than Sienna because it had a very whimsical and charming feeling about it. Apparently there was a tiny knight tournament which the blue flags represent. (San Gimignano)

Finally a piece of artwork I could take a picture of that was different than the other art pieces I have seen on the art history field trips. I was taken back by the two of the scenes of the four depicted. These two show men cutting the skin off this particular saint in hopes it would kill him. The one below shows the saint kneeling with his skin thrown on him as he is about to become beheaded. Guess that killed him.  (San Gimignano).

WINE! I actually do not like wine very much, but one of my apartment mates does and she taught me the correct way to "swill your wine to release the air". Well something like that. Apparently drinking wine is a "whole experience, the taste, the texture...". Anyways, Professor Waterson treated the class to white wine, cheese, and salami. Molly and I came with her to get the late afternoon snacks. 

Professor Waterson and Molly having a deep conversation about being vegetarians. (San Gimignano)

On the way there we encounter the knight tournament, whom were parading around town to get people (probably tourist) to come watch (and buy their food). It was pretty sweet seeing boys my age in ancient drumming outfits pounding on their drums in such a serious manner. 

View from the top of an interesting fort platform where the class enjoyed Professor Waterson's afternoon snackie. (San Gimignano)

Molly and I.

And that concludes the trip to Sienna and San Gimignano, as well as the most frustrating blog post I have created yet. The last all day field trip is this upcoming Saturday. Apparently the trip offers lunch in a ghost castle, but it cost 22 Euros. Guess you will have to see next week if I paid or not!