Travel: Tuscany Tour - Day 8: Siena, Rome

Day 8: Siena >> Rome/Vatican City. We went directly to the Vatican to see the museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. I bought my mom a few rosaries while at the Vatican gift shop. Afterward, we walked from the Vatican to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We met with the group at Piazza Navona for a farewell dinner.

Travel: Tuscany Tour - Day 7: Florence

Day 7: Our first stop was the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. We met up with the group at the Galleria dell'Accademia to see the David, stopping for gelato on the way. We then went to the Uffizi. That night, we went to a bar in Siena where we watched C and R salsa dance.

Travel: Tuscany Tour - Day 5: Pisa, Volterra, Siena

Day 5: We took obligatory shots of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and hung out in Pisa's Cathedral Square looking at all the counterfeit goods being sold ;). We then went to Volterra where we watched an alabaster demonstration, looked at ruins, and went window shopping. We were supposed to visit a beach on the Mediterranean sea, but we got rained out. Instead, we went back to Siena and got to know our fellow travelers some more.

Travel: Tuscany Tour - Day 3: Orvieto, Bagnoregio, Siena

Day 3: Rome >> Orvieto >> Bagnoregio >> Siena (our base for the next 5 nights). To get to Orvieto, we rode a funicular from the road to the fortified, hilltop city (it's on a butte). There, we took a guided grotto tour followed by a lunch overlooking the countryside. Pictured above is me in front of some random bench in Orvieto. To get to the medieval town of Civita di Bagnoregio, one has to take a long, narrow bridge, since it, too, is situated above ground. Once in the town, we had a wine tasting and plenty of time to take photos (see below). In Siena, we had a tour of Piazza del Campo, Palazzo Pubblico, and the Cathedral. We stayed at Sangallo Park Hotel, in the heart of Tuscany, for the next 5 nights.