"He does it with more grace, but I do it more natural."

There's so much commotion, yet everything feels calm. It's natural, here, to have such a diversity of people sharing the same space.

Pizza del Campo, meaning field, is the gathering spot of Siena. It is the first place in the city with water, pumped to the Fonte Gaia in 1419. It's where, in Etruscan times, the three hillside neighborhoods that later joined to form Siena, would meet. It was a market. It was and still is the main gathering spot for inhabitants and visitors.

The little girl frantically chasing yet another pigeon down the slope of the piazza, those awkward teenagers sharing a pizza, the tourists spending exorbitant amounts of money on mediocre Italiano food, the frazzled waiters trying to please the customers and of course, those ever exuberant Oca Contrada members, still reveling in their not-so-recent Palio victory. Wait, how do you know they're from Oca (Goose)?

Oh, right. That's how.

The city pulses with a natural rhythm. The street performer in front of Monte dei Paschi, a bank built in 1472, lit by orange and green neon lights feels... natural.

To satiate your curiosity: this is the bank that developed the mortgage. And the concept of a salary. In Roman times, Siena was one of the main stops for travelers on their way to Rome, and thus the city where travelers would go to exchange their money. This was done on tables set up along the street. Thus, banca, meaning bench or table, is the word that the English bank is derived from. Neat, eh?

The Fortezza Medicea echoes with talented strains of jazz mingled with the voices of the thousands of individuals who fought, rejoiced, celebrated and grieved in this immense structure since it's construction in 1561.

The Medici family also built fortresses in Arezzo, Cortona, Grosseto, San Martino, Siena, Piombino, Poggio Imperiale, Volterra and Firenze.

Siena is a place that helps you find yourself. Much like these poor sheep who are becoming shockingly aware of their impending fate.

"They told me Aunt Fritzy went to the happy farm in the country! You don't mean to say those things hanging around Pinocchio's neck are...? Oh dear..."

Our laughter rings out into the emptying street at the absurdities of the city. People meander by, each absorbed in their own thoughts. They are oblivious to their connection with everyone else, all the people sharing that same moment in time, in that same space; oblivious to the celebrations, trends, languages, wars, governments, diseases and renovations that have grasped and released this city for centuries, that this enveloping moment will pass like all the others.

There's nothing these ungraceful cobblestones haven't seen- they support the life of the city. Natural they certainly are.