By the way, our guide talks to us through head phones- that's why Tucker is always wearing them. :) Julia and I use earbuds that you can't see in the pictures. The headphones work great because he can whisper to us in churches and tell us what we are seeing without bothering the worshipers.
I thought this was interesting how they had actual fabric coming out of the painting-
The gorgeous chapel with the crucifix that St. Catherine prayed to.
The view from her home-
Our guide gave us great talks on the life of St. Catherine Siena-
Her home was lovely. We were able to see her old bedroom as well as the fireplace and kitchen she used to cook in. The murals in this area were amazing, but they never let us take pictures.
Then we went to the Church of St. Dominic-
Isn't this out of a storybook? I love these medieval towns.
This church has the head of St. Catherine of Siena, who was a 3rd order Dominican.
I got Tucker a plate of sliced pears, cheese and honey at lunch. :)
After lunch we walked around and shopped, and I finally bought a few souvenirs.
We got to visit the church of St. Francis where the Eucharistic Miracle of Siena took place. It's an amazing story.
Our guide found the church sacristan who opened up the chapel that contained the miraculous host (that has not deteriorated one bit since 1730s, while normal host would deteriorate in 10 years).
He even let Father bless us with the hosts-
This was a truly moving moment that brought many to tears. Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore, Oh let me love You more and more.
The time between Epiphany and Fat Tuesday is "Carnival" in this area and they sell confetti in the shops for children to run around with. I bought some bags of confetti for our children and they had the best time!
We loved this fountain made in the 1300s-
We walked up to Siena Cathedral, called the Duomo. It is a gorgeous Church that our guide said should be a world heritage site. It has the classic black/white striping that so many of the Tuscany churches have.
Unfortunately we were not able to go in because they were closed early!
We walked back down the hill on those stairs to the left. They say St. Catherine of Siena broke her leg walking down those stairs and there is a cross in the stone where she fell. These doors are under the back of the church and are where the baptistry is.
We had a delicious supper and then, of course, a stop at a gelato place!
Walking back to the hotel we saw the cutest pet bunnies hopping around the streets!
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