And the beat goes on

Im sad to say that tomorrow is the last day of the program! I can't believe it has gone by soo fast. It seems like just yesterday we were all arriving, wide-eyed and compeltely unsure. Now we are seasoned travelers, I was even asked directions last night - must seem like a local. Currently we are in the middle of finals, packing, eating every last bit of gelato and savoring every moment in Siena. It is weird to think of leaving here, for good. Siena has become such a part of my life...it is my home here and the thought of leaving is quite sad. I know I am on to a new adventure but I only wish I could savor the last moments here and stretch them out for as long as possible.

Ciao for now :)

Firenze!

Last Friday we took a group excursion to Florence. We boarded the train in Siena at 830 and it was already looking to be a warm day. By the time we got there the sun was in full effect. We headed straight for the Uffizi Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world and with only 2 hours we were not able to see everything. But thankfully we had our art history teacher, Piergiacomo, along with us and he was able to give a detailed account of almost every piece we saw. After fighting the crowds in the museum we crossed over the Ponte Vecchio to a little Italian restaurant for lunch. It was, of course, a delicious 4 course meal with both red and white wine. My mom always comments, saying that it seems the group meals are my favorite part...but it would be yours as well with all the wonderful food we are served! After lunch we visited the Academia where we gazed upon the glory of David. If you have never seen the David in person, you are missing out. You turn the corner and suddenly, at the end of a long lit hallway, David stands before you - basking in the sunlight that streams in the window. He is strong, powerful and can't help but take your breath away. It sounds silly but his presence is undenialale. After visiting the Academia, we checked into our hostel and relaxed a bit before getting ready to go out. We were celebrating not only my birthday, Laine's birthday but also our last weekend as a group. We caused some commotion at a local bar and then headed to a discoteche called Twice. We danced the night away and when we finally managed to leave the club sometime late into the night it was still around 70 degrees outside. We spent the next morning shopping the street markets for last minute gifts and when the heat became unbearable, we caught the train back to Siena. It was a wonderful outing although bittersweet - knowing it was our last excursion as a group.

Barcelona

I just returned from a glorious five day vacation in Barcelona. We had a break in school and a whole group of the girls headed to Spain for sun and beach time. We left Tuesday morning taking a bus to the train station, a train from Siena to Empoli to Pisa where we then boarded our flight to Reus, Spain. After an hour and a half flight we touched town in the sunny weather but still had to ride an hour and a half bus into the actual town of Barcelona. That's what we get for going the cheap, Ryanair way. After the bus dropped us off in town we took the metro several stops to Barceloneta to find our hostel. It was literally located on the beach, in a building that is a bar in the front and hostel in the back. We checked in with a man named Paolo who had definitely adpated to the local culture with his long, dark dreds but he liked us because he is Italian. We chatted it up and finally made it to our room after getting the low down of places to eat, shop and go out at night. We were so exhausted from traveling all day it took all our effort to find food at a local cafe (nachos, yum) and pass out. Wednesday was much more productive. We awoke to cloudy skies and decided to see the sites since beach time was not going to happen. We headed up to the famous street, La Rambla, where there are dozens of street performers (tons, all about 5 feet from each other dressed in elaborate costumes), musicians, and street vendors. This street also has tons of fabulous shopping but is famous for pick pockets. Luckily we all made it out alright (although we did have a scary encounter with a pick pocket on the metro later in the week, luckily Hannah caught the man with his hand in her purse and was able to stop him). That isn't to say our money wasn't spent. The shopping dragged us in and no one made it out without at least one purchase. We finally made it up to a few of the sites (some of the Gaudi architecture buildings) before heading all the way back home. Despite our busy day we took a short siesta and made plans for the evening. We met an American guy through our hostel who is living in Barcelona and works with several hostels around the area taking people out at night. We met up with him aroun midnight along with others from our hostel and just hung out on the beach and enjoyed the night before we headed to a local club called Shoko right on the beach. No place in Barcelona gets going until after 1 am so if you want to party you have to be able to make it through the night. We got to the club around 1 or 130 and danced for a few hours. It was crowed and played strange music but it was a blast. Laine and I headed home around 3, walking back on the beach. It was a lovely night. The next morning we awoke to bright sunshine and headed directly to the beach, all of 5 five outside the door. We quickly staked a spot on the sand and set up for the day. By early afternoon the beach was swarmed with people, umbrellas and lounge chairs. We soaked in the sun, swam in the cold and beautiful ocean, and adapted to the Spanish-beach going culture. The beaches are beautiful apart from all the hundreds of vendors trying to sell you everything from a massage, sarong, henna tattoo, coconut, beer, hats, etc. It got a bit old. After getting our share of vitamin D for the day, we took the metro up to the famous Gaudi park, Guell Parc. It was beautiful with tons of trees, trails and funny looking houses that look a bit like gingerbread. From up top we had an amazing view of the city. We wandered around some more and then headed back. It had been a full day and after dinner we all headed to bed. Friday was our final full day in Barcelona and we spent the morning on the beach and then in the afternoon Laine, Rachel and I rented bikes near our hostel and rode around the whole city. We saw a beautiful fountain, another park, rode past the Sagrada Familia and back along the water. It was a great way to see the city but with so many cars and pedestrians we were glad not to have gotten in an accident. We returned our bikes around 5 and took a siesta on the beach. For dinner we stopped a great falafel place nearby and then headed to another park in the city where we witnessed an amazing fountain and light show. I felt as if I were in Disneyland and after the show we sat on the steps of the fountain and listened to a local guitarist while overlooking Barcelona. We sat there and contemplated how time seemed to go by so quickly here and how we can't believe we are almost done. Despite that, we all agreed how lucky we were to be spending a beautiful friday night in Barcelona. Today we made the long trek home, more buses, metros, trains and planes but it was worth every second. Now that I am home I can't help but question how fast time has gone. How is it already June? I only have 2 weeks left here in beautiful Siena, I don't know what I will do when I leave. It has been amazing.

Touring the countryside

Its been a busy week of nights out, concerts in the Campo, group excursions and of course school. The weather is finally nice and sunny here so Ive been enjoying more gelato and sitting in the Campo. On Thursday we took a group excursion to Bologna, Rimini and San Marino. We got caught in a thunderstorm in Bologna but our group lunch definitely made up for it. This picture shows us caught in the rainstorm with nothing but our sweaters to cover us, the result made us look like nuns. We stayed the night in Rimini, a small beach town on the east coast of Italy known for the best discotechs in Italy. Somehow me managed to fail miserably at finding the "rocking" nightlife and instead walked 45 minutes around the city and ended up in a club full of middle schoolers. Needless to say the night ended with some gelato and nutella crepes to put us in a better mood. The next day we visited some churches and museums and had a few hours free time to hang out on the beach. It was wonderful although there was no one else in town it seemed, must not have hit the tourist season yet. After lunch we boarded the bus again to head for San Marino, a small independent republic within the heart of Italy. It has always been independent and the San Marino people are very proud of their heritage and independence. While touring the city we were caught in yet another thunderstorm however a nutella crepe made it all so worth it. We took the bus all the way back to Siena and arrived late Friday night. Yesterday we spent just walking around town and climbing the tower in the Campo, giving us gorgeous views of the town and countryside. bunch of us headed outside the city walls to the boys apartment where we cooked dinner and watched the sunset. We took the 930 bus back into town and cruised around the Siena carnival for the evening. It is beginning to feel like summer and with my upcoming trip to Barcelona I have to constantly remind myself that I need to do my homework because I actually do go to school sometimes :)

weekends that turn into weekdays that turn into weekends

With only a few weeks left in the program it seems that the days blend together more and more. I live for the weekends when I get to travel to some amazing place in Italy and yet the weekdays are just as fun, hanging around the Campo, eating gelato and exploring more of the town. I can't believe I'm going to have to leave this amazing place. It feels like I just got here. Here is a brief update of the past few days:
FRI - took the train to Cinque Terre with Lanie and Rachel and a few other girls. We got to Riomaggiore mid-afternoon and after checking into our hostel we headed for the beach in Monterosso. We spent the afternoon lounging on the rocky beach and exploring the tiny town of Monterosso.It is the northern most town of the five. We even stopped by the wine bar where mom and I had made friends with the people and had rented a room from them. The wife immediately recognized me and gave me a big hug and kisses. It was so nice to feel like I knew some people in this small town. When the sun finally set we took the train back to Riomaggiore (the southern most town) and ate dinner at the "most happening nightlife" bar in town. Bar Centrale happened to be right below our room and really was where everyone in the 1000 person town hung out. For some reason there was a huge group of college students also staying in our town so it was a fun atmosphere. We discovered an AMAZING gelateria right next to bar centrale - possibly the best gelato I've had all trip. Homemade and delicious, I definitely recommend it if you are in Cinque Terre.
SAT - Got up early and after breakfast we headed out along the Via Dell'Amore, the first leg of the 7 mile hike between the 5 towns. We saw some amazing views of the coastline and the turquoise water. It is more like a stroll than an actual hike and is decorated in one part with hundreds of locks that people have locked on with their lovers. is a popular tradition. This hike took us to the town of Manarola, very picturesque, and we continued on to the town of Corniglia. More amazing views and lots of pictures. Sometimes I worry that everyone back home looking at my pictures wonders why I take so many of the scenery; but you can't help it here, everywhere you turn is beauty. Since the last few hikes were closed due to mudslides we took the train to Vernazza and then to Monterosso where we spent the afternoon in the sun, swimming and enjoying a lemon festival. This included free tastes of Limoncello, chocolates, lemon cake and of course just plain lemon. We stayed and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean and enjoying fresh pesto pasta. Sometimes I forget that I'm in school here. After dinner we took the train back to Riomaggiore, got gelato of course, and watched the game at Bar Centrale with the rest of the town. And by "the game" I mean the Inter Milan vs. Munich for the Euorpean Soccer Title. Milan won 2-0 which made everyone extremely happy. As I said before, soccer here is the true religion.
SUN - Got fruit and crossiants from the local market and headed down to the shore where we sat upon the giant rocky cliffs and gazed out at the ocean. It was so peaceful I didn't ever want to leave, but unfortunately our train left at 1. to Siena was nice as it feels like returning home after any trip and the sun was still out giving hope for a beautiful week ahead.

Tuscan cooking

While here in Siena I have been taking a weekly cooking class with an adorable woman named Elisabetta. There are four of us in the class and every wednesday after class we head over to her kitchen. Adornded with aprons we begin the process to create a typical 3 course Tuscan meal. Throughout our five classes we have learned how to make several pasta dishes (including actually making homemade pasta), sauces, meat dishes and several delicious desserts. Elisabetta has us help her chop vegetables, grind nutmeg, stir sauces and even peel grapes. Usually we are all starving and just want to lick the bowl while we are still making the cake or tiramisu but alas we resort to simply gnawing on a piece of bread and sipping on white wine. My favorite part was making the pasta. No bowls or utensils were involved, simply a mound of flour with an egg in the middle and then you mix it together with your hands. After this has become a dough like substance, we ran it through the pasta machine several times until it comes out pasta! Amazing. After laboring over the dishes we finally get to enjoy all the food. We all sit around the table, sometimes accompained by Elisabetta's husband or daughter, and eat our way through the first, second and third courses all with some excellent red wine and italian converstaion. Elisabetta is sure to make sure we don't go hungry which means we finish most all of the food and defintely all the dessert. We happily wave goodbye as we make the steep climb back into town, with protruding but happy stomachs. Unfortunately we have no more classes but Elisabetta enjoyed us so much that she invited us to have a party at her own house ina few weeks and I promptly requested we make tiramisu again. Can't wait.

Top 10 of the past week

10. Daily cappucinos at meetlife with marmelade crossiant
9. Having a pizza and movie night with the group - watching "Francesco's Italy", a funnier, more entertaining Italian version of rick steves
8. Discovering a new gelateria - with amazing dark chocolate gelato- and enjoying it while basking in the sun in the campo
7. Art history class monday morning with Piergiacomo-my adorable Italian professor
6. Cooking class, making homemade ravioli, chicken with grapes and a creme tort for dessert
5. A four course group lunch during our all day excursion to some nearby towns, the only part of the day when we weren't in the pouring rain
4. Watching the inter milan vs. Siena soccer game at the cafe even though the game was in Siena we couldn't get tickets, too many people wanted to see Milan
3. Hanging out at the tea room, everyone with their own personal teapot and of course delicious dessert too accompany
2. Listening to "live" music at meetlife cafe, aka a dj and drum machine, while finishing off a bottle of red wine with my roommate and then getting take out Chinese for dinner
1. Visiting Brolio castle in Chianti to learn how the wine is made as well as the history of the baron who lived there and invented Chianti and finishing the tour with a private wine tasting

It has been a glorious week and the sun is finally deciding to show up. Can't believe I only have one month left here.
What will I do when I have to go back to living a normal life?