Beautiful Siena

Advantages: Beautiful Glorious architecture, good food, Culture
Disadvantages: Difficult to find any

...The Tuscan city of Siena is one of those stunningly beautiful places that once you have visited you want to return and return again. This historic city, in the heart of Tuscany and surrounded by some delightful countryside, is a mere 1/2 hours train journey from Florence, and simply should not to be missed by any traveller to this very fascinating region of Italy. It has been described,accurately in my view, as a " ..Perfect medieval Tuscan city that is one of the most surprising places in the world.." Certainly it is an exquisite even extraordinary city of great beauty which manages to cope so well with the influx of tourists. Siena plays "second-fiddle" to no city and small though it may be, it is a proud place with a great deal of interest for the visitor. Self-obsessed it is but this beautifully-preserved town has few equals...

ashford 09.08.2000 (10.09.2001) · Read review
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Review of Siena (Italy)

Sunburnt in SIENA

Advantages: Stunning
Disadvantages: Missed the Palio - steep climb to old town

...Siena is probably most famous for the Palio - the psychotic, twice-yearly dash around Il Campo, the heart of this ancient, walled city. I'm sure most people are familiar with the carnival atmosphere generated during this frenetic, hell-for-leather race around the cobbles, but unfortunately the timing of our visit didn't coincide with the medieval equivalent of Whacky Races on sulph. Never mind. The old town of Siena is built on and around three hills, and is completely free from traffic. Visitors have to park in one of several car parks outside the walls and proceed on foot. It's not a long walk, but it IS a steep walk. There are shuttle buses that run between the car parks and the town gates but, if you're like me and think impatience is a virtue, you can very-near kill yourself slogging up the practically vertical slope in...

proxam 29.08.2005 (17.06.2006) · Read review
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The Palio - Siena

Advantages: Amazing medieval horse race
Disadvantages: Felt like I was in the way of the locals

...The Palio has to be witnessed when you visit Siena, so always try and visit either on the 2nd of July or the 16th of August. I've no idea why they run this race twice in a year. It's an amazing horserace held in the Piazza del Campo in the heart of the medieval city. The horses are blessed inside the town's churches in the morning and then as people leave the churches the festivities begin. Around 12ish, all the younger members of the city's contrada's (boroughs) and the tourists, begin to pour into the middle of the square. 50,000 people fit in the centre so it's a good idea to get into this square as soon as you can to guarantee a good spot, unless you're lucky enough to get hold of a view from the balcony of a hotel in the square. During the afternoon the sounds of drums can be heard in the old medieval streets as each contrada...

MisterCheese 12.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Siena (Italy)

Siena, Italy's Jewel in the Crown.

Advantages: jFantastic Ambiance, Medieval City with Modern Feeling. Food and wine are excellent.
Disadvantages: None at all.

...I was lucky enough to be chosen, by the Colchester Town Council, to put together a Judo Team to represent the town at the Twin Town Games in the Magical City of Sienna in Tuscany, Italy. I was also fortunate enough to be working for the Local Newspapers at the time and they requested that I prepare a write-up of the event. I thought it would be churlish not to include a "Travelogue", of Sienna whilst I was there, so here it is. I found it hard to understand why the magical city of Siena is not on any of the tours offered by Travel Agents. Not that I am personally disappointed, for the very selfish reason that I was able to enjoy this Italian delight in comparative isolation from everything that smacks of "Holidays Abroad". Just 35 miles south of Florence, Siena is a jewel of medieval splendour. It invites the visitor to...

Scorpio2 17.07.2001 · Read review
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Psion Siena

Advantages: Keeps all your address's and apointments together in one place
Disadvantages: Lack of memory and tiny screen size

...I had my Psion Siena about 3 years ago, it is the model with only 512 kbytes RAM. At the time I had it mainly for a gadget reason, I like gadgety things like that. It can be an expensive pursuit. Anyway, as an address book the thing is pretty good. It has a diary function witch has a useful anniversary facility. I.e. if you enter a birthday as an anniversary you never have to enter it again as the Psion automatically puts in every year for you. The Siena also has a word processor and spread sheet program built into it. I have never had any need to use the spread sheet program. The word processor is basic but is handy if you are just wanting to type up something small. Note : no spell checker! The small keys and the screen make it hard to do any serious work on it. However to transfer the file to a computer for printing you...

adam.owen 29.04.2001 · Read review
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Siena - untouched beauty

Advantages: The incredible beauty, the Campo, the Duomo
Disadvantages: Pricey restaurants in Campo, pricey shopping

...My sister has recently moved to Siena, Tuscany, and I am constantly amazed at its beauty every time that I come to visit. My family has been holidaying in Tuscany for 3 generations and I am thus no stranger to the glorious sights that accompany this region. Yet even with this knowledge of the place, I still can not believe how such a town has remained so undeveloped and true to the way it was in Medievil times - how have the tourists not yet discovered this place? Siena, the beautiful russet colour, eminates around the whole town. The centre is filled with sun-kissed red buildings that compiment each other so well, adding to the beauty of the place. The campo is the central focus of the town - the place where Italians gather to drink cappucino and watch the people for hours in their relaxed cultural way. It is perfect to sit here mid...

lec299 04.12.2000 · Read review
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Siena - Piazza del Campo.

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...Siena is a small but exquisite Italian city. It is one of the lesser Italian tourist attractions, however, it is easily navigable and locals are friendly. A must see is the Piazza del Campo - the shell-shaped piazza which is the heart of the city. I have spent many hours sitting out there of an evening or lunchtime watching the world go by. Each July and August it is the location of the Palio - the city's horse race. This is quite an event as every contrade (district) in the city has an opportunity to compete against the others and it is a great event in the Sienese calendar. The Palio is quite a colourful affair as there is a parade of the contrade who enter a horse into the competition and is a whole day of ceremony and celebration before the relatively short horse race. The Campo is also where little children in all sort...

penguin_too 16.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Siena (Italy)

Do not miss this town

Advantages: Il Palio is unique
Disadvantages: None

...I am a big fan of Siena and would recommend it to anyone going to Italy. If you can afford to go there during "Il palio", this is the best period. Il Palio is a horse race which happens twice a year in one of the old squares of the town. Each borough of the town competes against the others. These borroughs are called "cONTRADA" and come from the medieval past of the City, when it was very much divided. There is a lot of excitement, people from contradas prepare il palio for 6 months a year, and there are 2 of them. The contrada which wins gets absolutely crazy and they party all night long. People from Siena are also very friendly and lively. Go and see by yourself....

FRADUC 20.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Siena (Italy)

too bulky, yet too fiddly

Advantages: basic functionality & synchronises with PC
Disadvantages: bulky, small screen & appearance

...I originally bought the Siena because I was looking for an organiser and address book, andbelieved that Psion products were generally better than their competitors. I also liked the idea of a keyboard rather than using Palm Pilot's hand-writing recognition. The organiser and address book works fine - I am able to synchronise it with MS Outlook on my PC, although I did have a lot of trouble installing the PC software originally. Psion support did try and help, but they weren't always that succesful - they have now moved all support to The Netherlands, which doesn't help in communications. I bought my Siena before I had a mobile phone, and since then I have found that the list of numbers in my (basic) mobile reduces the need for the Siena. The bulkiness of the Siena also means that it is not easy to carry - it is too big...

andrew.smithh 20.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Psion Siena

Stunning Sienna!

Advantages: Breathtakingly beautiful with quirky charm!
Disadvantages: Accomodation, can be difficult if arriving last minute.

......

SimonJB 19.02.2004 (26.05.2004) · Read review
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