17 June: Factory Outlet - The Mall

The factory outlet, The Mall, is definitely very different from the one I saw in US. Largely the branded names selling ladder goods! OK, that's definitely not my cup of tea.

 

The most comforting thing to do at the factory outlet was to hide in the restaurant that came with free wifi access that I tapped on to kill my boredom for almost 3 hours :)

An eye-opener (to me) was the buying power of some members in the group. Wow! Bags, shoes, watches...
Big carriers, small carriers, these were common sights at the factory outlet... (note: This lady in the photo was not a member of our tour group)

Well, well, in my eyes, I think it's too spendthrift to spend thousands of dollars on some of these "wants", of course, in others' eyes, it's simply an investment. Anyway, it's different philosophy in spending, which is neither right or wrong, I suppose. It goes back to the "reasonableness" in spending.

Something new that I learn: Why these leather products are so costly? Because animals are specially farmed for their skins and there's even quality control to ensure the 'best' skins were chosen to turn into leather products!!
 

17 June: Siena in a nutshell

Another well-preserved city surrounded by high city wall built on 3 hills. As such, it's not surprising to be moving uphill and downhill most of the time.

There are a total of 17 districts, each named after an animal.

Here's one named after the caterpillar:

Another district at the town square, the dolphin district, with its streets lined up with these "decorated" lamps.

Indeed, this is where the world's oldest bank located:

Look here, it's a local bank - pay attention to direction that these statues are looking at? Florence! For some historical reason!

The religious aspect of city:

Political aspect of the city which is where the town hall is situated. In front is a non-level open space used for horse racing that takes place only twice a year. It is divided into 9 sectors that represents the disricts of 9 poliiticians who are elected.

17 June: Lunch at Siena