Day 10 was spent in the Tuscan sun.

 

We visited the Square of Miracles in Pisa, where the well-known leaning tower is located. There was also the trio of monuments that symbolise the stages of human life: Baptistery - Birth; Cathedral - Life; and cemetery Campo Santo - Death.

 

 

With a ~4° slant, the seven-storey campanile shows beauty through imperfection.

 

Construction ceased for a century after subsoil movement caused the tower to tilt. To offset the slant, the remaining levels were built with one side taller than the other when works resumed. It is these very 'defects' that make the tower stand out from its counterparts.

 

 

Another feature that caught my eye was the angular form of the Cathedral. There was something that sets it apart from the numerous duomos that I have seen in the past week. It was only later that I realised it is constructed in the shape of a cross.

 

 

After lunch, we travelled to the medieval village of Siena. We started our tour at the center - Piazza del Campo.

 

Twice a year, horses gallop round the rim in the famous Palio race. That day, the fan-shaped piazza was littered with pockets of people and pigeons.

 

 

Amidst the shophouses bordering the piazza, the Palazzo Publico and its clock tower Torre del Mangia casts an imposing shadow on the ground. The waxing crescent moon peers overhead which I barely managed to capture on camera.

 

 

Next, we walked to the Siena Cathedral, another gothic marvel complete with a dome and a bell tower. There were grand plans to expand the cathedral but they were abandoned when the Black Death plague crippled Siena. Today, the half-finished walls remain, offering teasing glimpses of what it might have been.

 

 

My favourite part of Siena is its streets. There is a certain unique charm to the narrow sloping stone paths and brick buildings with distinctive shuttered windows. It was like walking into the pages of children storybooks such as Hansel and Gretel minus the bread crumbs.

 

 

Ascending the steep slopes, we were treated to the beautiful views over the city, catching glimpses of the Torre del Mangia, and Siena Cathedral.