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.