Sienna better than Florence part 2

The Piccolomini Library, commissioned in 1492, is off the interior of the cathedral, The frescos tell the story of Siena's favorite son that eventually became Pope Pius II.
The colors and frescos are amazingly brilliant.  

Here's a close up of the bottom-left section of the above photo.
So much detail.  The room was sealed for centuries which ensured that the
frescos remained extremely-well preserved.

Extreme close up of above photo.

After the cathedral, we wandered through the museum and eventually found our way up two spiral staircases that led to an overlook of Tuscany. The view was breathtaking. I didn’t actually want to come down, but could’ve stayed up there for a day or two, taking in the sight of the rooftops and the hills rolling out away from the city.

Beautiful view of Siena's black-and-white Cathedral.

The Journalist loved the view of Tuscany from above the arch overlooking the Piazza Jacopo di Quercia.

Lovely view contrasting Medieval Siena with Tuscany's countryside.

We also checked out the baptistery (that actually supports the cathedral in its place on top of the hill) and the crypt. After that we walked down to the town square that’s shaped like a bowl. Each year when the palio is held, the race in Siena is held with the spectators standing in the middle of the bowl and the horses racing around the outside! I’m not sure how I’d feel about that…

Partial view of Piazza del Campo where the Palio takes place

After a quick pizza stop, we headed to Florence. Parking in Florence was kind of painful. I’m pretty sure we went through at least one no-drive zone which will probably result in a big fine, but it’s not like you can just stop in the middle of the road and refuse to go further when you see the sign! We finally found parking behind the train station in a seedy-looking garage that we were extremely happy to leave safely later that night! We walked into the downtown area and enjoyed the view of the duomo and the bell tower at night. There was an orchestra playing in the plaza and people out strolling, eating and enjoying the cool evening. We grabbed some pasta and gelato on our way out of town and managed to arrive home around 2 a.m. for the second night in a row!

La basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's cathedral, a major Italian tourist attraction, was quite impressive at night.  

The dome, Il duomo, itself was a feat of 14th-century architecture and masonry.  Over 4 million brick make up this monster for which Fillippo Brunelleschi had to invent machinery to lift the massive 37,000 ton structure.

The Journalist and C pose in front of the 14th-century baptistery doors in Florence.

Close up of a panel of Florence's 14th-century baptistery doors.