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Italy 2025 - Day Six 9/19/25


Phew, today was a very busy, very HOT day, with temperatures nearing 90! After breakfast, we set off on the hour and a half drive to Siena, one of Italy's most beautiful cities.  On our way, our tour director Lia and our bus driver Antonio surprised us with a viewing of the Florence American Cemetery. Comprised of 70 acres of wooded hills, 4,392 American soldiers are buried there, most of whom died in the fighting that occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944.




Once back on the road, we continued our drive through Tuscany's low-lying hills and olive groves while Allyson Sheckler, our faculty host, gave us some wonderful insight into the "must see" items in Siena. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our local guide Carlo who gave us a walking tour of the city.  The first stop was San Domenico Church, a vast brick church founded by the Dominicans in 1125 as part of their friary, the church contains precious relics of the St. Catherine of Siena.  St. Catherine devoted herself to helping the sick and incarcerated in Siena between the years of 1367 and 1374. From there, we ventured through the winding hills of Siena on our way to the Piazza Del Campo, where the famous Palio Horse Race is held twice a year.  While some of the group opted to stick around in the Piazza to enjoy the lovely restaurants and shopping, other continued on with Carlo to the Duomo di Siena (Siena Cathedral), one of the most important and magnificent Romanesque-Gothic churches in Italy. After our stop at the Cathedral, we bid Ciao to Carlo and spent the remainder of our time in Siena exploring on our own.  


After leaving Siena, we drove to Il Ciliegio, an agritourism farm and vineyard located in the center of Chianti. Here we participated in a cooking class, learning how to make pasta and cantucci (biscotti) from scratch.  After class we were treated to a wine tasting and delicious dinner complete with our own fresh baked cantucci warm out of the oven! 

After a very busy day, we returned to our hotel just in time for some of the group to freshen up and head to the Montecatini Terme Spa and Thermal Baths for a fantastic performance of the music of the Three Tenors.  The setting of this outdoor concert was almost as spectacular as the performance itself, which featured a surprise stage appearance by one of our very own. Tomorrow we will set off bright and early to the west coast for a visit to Cinque Terre.






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