Siena from City Tower...

After visiting the Duomo in Siena, we walked back to Piazza del Campo, waited in line and climbed the claustrophobic steps to the top of Torre del Mangia, the clock tower adjacent to Siena's town hall featured in a previous post.

Torre del Mangia means Tower of the Eater and is an homage to the first guardian of the tower who must have been a prodigious eater indeed! The view of the surrounding town and countryside from the top was intoxicating.

Here is the Duomo from the Torre del Mangia. Apparently the tower was built to be taller than the tallest building in Florence (Siena's bitter rival) but also the same height as the Duomo's tower signifying equality between church and state. I hope this story is true because its a damn good one.

It was dreadfully hard to get a view down to Piazza del Campo from the top of the tower without actually crawling out to the edge of the tower. Here was our best shot at it.

After reluctantly descending from the tower, it was time for some food ... and wine.