Anyways, besides the terrible weather, Siena is absolutely breathtaking. When I talked to my family and friends back home, the best way I could describe it was "a typical, small Italian town. When you picture Italy in your head, this is it!" And I really think thats true. The streets are these skinny, stone roads accompanied by old, rustic buildings. Everything and anything is walking distance. Our furthest destination was probably a 20 minute walk away from our hotel. Its a very quiet, old fashioned place. There is maybe about 3 bars here total, so we wound up going to the same club every time we went out...but still managed to have a good time! We had a lot (maybe too much) down time, but then again, how could I complain because I'm in Italy.
Every day for the past 13 days has made me realize how much of a culture shock I am experiencing. Their way of life is so different from ours back in America, its actually unreal. And I think that in it of itself is going to be one of my favorite parts of being abroad; seeing how other people live. It also makes me realize what I take for granted (hair straighteners, iced coffee from dunkin donuts, my car, etc...). It's funny because back home in New York, especially the city, its so easy to spot a tourist. Just look for anyone walking remotely slow, taking pictures, looking up and carring a map...you might as well have a target on your back. And obviously, that was us in Siena; a group of 150+ American students dressed nothing like they are here and speaking a foreign language. But I didn't think I would be THAT noticeably American for some reason.....so wrong. Even when we simply walked into a store, or a restaurant without speaking, they knew we were American. We quickly learned the people here aren't too fond of us, and hated even more if we didn't attempt to speak Italian. This was an issue because I can assure you the only word/phrase in Italian I can confidently say is Ciao....(hopefully this will be a different story in May?)
When we weren't in basic italian class every morning from 9-1 (yes, it was as bad as it sounds), we ventured off to wine tasting and cooking class. Some pictures are on my Facebook, but I'm sorry that I was slacking, and I always forgot my camera. Wine tasting was in this beautiful building that had a wine cellar downstairs. These brick arches housed more wine than you could ever imagine. We tried 3 wines, 1 white and 2 reds, and learned about each of them. One of the red wines was 80 euro a bottle.....oh, it was disgusting. Cooking class was one of the last things we did and it was absolutely worth the wait. This cute, little woman instructed the class knowing not one lick of english. We got to make a traditional italian tomato soup, thats made with stale bread and tomatoes. It is UNREAL. Also, we made pici, the pasta you find here in siena, a sauce, and tiramisu for dessert. Food coma? yes. Which leads me to say, in general, the food is just amazing here. Surprising, right? Everything is really fresh and the portions are small. Oh, and the gelato? Tiramisu and "baccio" gelato has become the new love of my life. Just saying. (side note: this gelato place "GROM" in this picture is the best gelato in Siena. Personally, I loved it because it was more of a froyo/ice cream, not like a heavy gelato. But we all seemed to have mixed opinions.)
Overall, if you ever wind up coming to Italy, definitely come here on a day trip or something like that. As much as we got sick of it, I think it is so cool how this town has managed to stick to their roots and let very little crazy technology and/or modernization intrude. Their life is simple and like I said before, it's just a little, typical, cozy Italian town; the views alone are worth seeing!
So, I promise to upload more pictures on my Facebook! (If they ever upload with this atrocious wifi). One test and an hour bus ride stands between Florence and I. Words cannot express how excited, and anxious, I am to just get there. I can't wait to see where I'll be actually be living and going to school and we finally get to UNPACK! YAY! Sorry for the delay in posting, I just figured I would wait and do one big blog about Siena. Well, thats it until Florence. I miss everyone at home and I'll post soon! Thank you to everyone who has been reading :)
xo Bria
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