SIENA!

HI!

So, SIENA IS FABULOUS! I absolutely LOVE it, studying in a smaller city was truly the right choice. But, so much has happened, so let me pick up where I left off.

Florence ended up being OK after we found my friend abby (who was an hour late to our hotel because she got lost, this is because we were in the outskirts of Florence). She took us to the REAL part of Florence, and we got to see the Duomo (the second largest church in Italy after Rome, absolutely BEAUTIFUL) and ate at a wonderful Italian place. So afterwards, Abby took us to a Irish Pub called the Lion's Den. The Lion's Den obviously catered to American Abroad students, because the wall was decorated with t-shirts from American colleges and universities, ranging from Indiana University, to Harvard, and California-Berkley. We had some really good ale (and got a little tipsy), and it was very sad to have to say goodbye to a familiar face (although we'll see her on Friday, as her class is coming to Siena for the day!). We then got back to our hotel and had a very good night's rest.

Now, the next day, we had to get a train from Florence to Siena. First off, when you study abroad you get a student I.D. card which gets you discounts on virtually everything. But anyway, when you buy tickets, you get them from a machine. It's easy, and in english. HOWEVER-you have several options of discounts when you buy your ticket. So, most places give you a 20 percent discount, and that was the one Jake and I selected (none of them told you which one was the student discount). We try and catch a train to Siena, and when I attempted to use my broken Italian, a fat balding and ugly man rolled his eyes at me and i know enough Italian to hear him say stupid american in Italian. The train then goes off and I'm about to start crying after the ugly man was mean and the fact that I had been carrying around 80 pounds worth of luggage with me around the train station. Long story short, we catch a train that left 45 minutes later. and finally settle into our seats.

So then a man comes around to check our tickets. He sees our tickets have been purchased with a discount, and asks us which discount we used. We show him our student ID's, and he says that we are wrong and have to pay an aditionally 80 Euro each (translation about 120 american dollars). Well, Jake and I do not HAVE 160 EURO'S TO GIVE HIM. I start to cry and luckily the man felt bad and checked his sheet just to make sure. LUCKILY, his sheet showed that we did indeed get the discount, but paid a euro more than we should have! He then apologized and wished a good day.

So, we FINALLY GET TO SIENA. Our hotel is beautiful, surround by gardens and olive trees, has a fabulous restaurant, relaxing area and swimming pool, along with miles of grounds for strolling in. Jake and I decided to take a walk into the main city center, and oh man was it BEAUTIFUL! It's everything an old medevial town would look like-surround by city walls, has a gate to enter, and small winding streets all leading to the middle of city at the Piazza del Campo, a big center where people gather and eat and just enjoy the city (look it up, its pretty cool). So we walked back and hung out at the pool for a bit, and then had a fabulous dinner at the hotel.

Now I am tired and need to sleep, but am very much looking forward to starting my program, going back to school and moving into my apartment!

Buona Sera!