Siena for the day
Siena is a medieval city south of Florence, 75 minutes away by bus. We took a morning class from the Tuscan Wine School entitled "A Taste of Siena", a tour of all the different foods we've been eating. (Note that our prior ignorance was no hindrance to our food consumption, we just wanted to have a little insight into the culture.) The tour around the city included tastes of pecorino cheeses, proscuitto (Parma and Tuscan), salamis, panforte, soft marzipan biscuits, olive oils, honey, gelato, and, of course wines! Clearly we didn't need lunch.
In the afternoon we walked around the city but primarily stayed inside the magnificent cathedral. It was simply stunning inside, a riot of colors, geometric tile floors, mosaic tile floors, paintings, coffered ceilings (real and faux), and striped columns. Just amazing. I spent a lot of time with my camera and mini-tripod taking many series of photos to later process as HDR (high dynamic range). HDR blends multiple exposures to pick up all the light and dark areas. Then I play with the controls to "paint" the photo. The Siena cathedral was made for this method, although truly it is just as beautiful without it.
The cathedral and Siena scenes
HDR
