Thick stone walls create a sense of velvety silence and the stone stairway, leading up to the second-floor apartment, is worn with footsteps of the ages.

There are so many options of where to stay while traveling that it makes the decision all the more challenging, but also intriguing. I love to pour over the images and descriptions of each destination under consideration; our trip to Italy was no different. After months of flirting with various lodging ideas - a villa in the countryside perhaps - we happened upon a charming apartment in the historic city center of Siena. The second-floor apartment is housed in a former monastery and it looked like the right place for us.

As with most of our travels, Scott and I crafted what we wanted our experience to be in Siena. We wanted an authentic, medieval city living situation in the heart of the city.