For the 2nd time, I can't think of a dumb title!

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Geo: 44.0964, 11.7963

Ended up sitting with two Spanish ladies and a Brazilian at breakfast. It was a good opportunity to practice my crappy Spanish - turns out that they were all going to Siena as well, today. Alejandra and Carolina were both from Buenos Aires and Beatrice was from a town in Brazil (the name of which I've forgotten). They had all met on this trip.

I found it amazing that they could understand each other perfectly - Beatrice spoke solely in Portuguese and Alejandra and Carolina stuck to Spanish. Though I've been told that Spanish speakers can easily understand Portuguese, I've always been pretty lost with the language.

On the train ... I saw someone that looked like the Italian version of Kate Beckinsale!!! All I can say is "WOW". Other than that, the train ride was uneventful. But I have to say, seeing a Kate Beckinsale look-alike is pretty eventful. If only that would happen on every train ride!

We arrived in Siena - it's fairly quiet and is a nice place for a walk. Over to Piazza del Campo - very lively, with lots of restaurants, shops, and people. It's the site of the famous bi-annual "Pallio" - a famous horse race.

Off to the duomo - not much happening there. Next was the Fortezza Medicea (as in the famous Medici family of Florence). There wasn't much to see there, but it did have the best free views of Siena. We sat awhile and drank yerba mate.

I find it very difficult to understand Spanish when I'm not concentrating 100%. I really didn't take part in many of the conversations, as a result. I guess I've been down a little bit today because I realize that my time in Italy is ending VERY soon, and that my time in Europe is ending shortly after. But the most depressing thought is that my time of copious gelato ingestion is ending. Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

We went to the train station to return to Florence. An "Ugly American" sighting .... this lady kept asking us if she could butt in line because her train was leaving in 2 minutes. I was willing to let her butt in if it was legit, but she couldn't even tell me where her train was going. I pointed out that the departure board didn't show any train leaving in 2 minutes. Her husband told her not to worry about it ... I guess they read the schedule wrong. The train probably didn't run today - or perhaps she was just hoping to jump the line and was lying. I feel sorry for the husband - the lady was incredibly irritating.

Back in Florence - I bought my train ticket for Interlaken. It was "only" 75 Euros. I expected to pay more than 100 Euros based on pricing I had found on the internet. I am NOT looking forward to the high prices I will soon be paying in Switzerland.

Had some gelato - papaya (good) and rose. It wasn't like I expected, though I'm not sure what I expected. Difficult to describe ... very good and very refreshing. After, I grabbed dinner with a bunkmate (Dennis). The service was incredibly slow. We were told that we would be seated in 5 minutes but it took over 40. In all fairness, it was very busy but there were still many empty tables. The kicker? A group that arrived after us was seated before us. Just as we were about to walk away, we were told that a table was ready.

Dennis asked (in all seriousness) if we would get a discount for having to wait so long. The waitress was offended and asked if he was joking. He said no and she got pissed off. It was quite childish, actually - she actually got other waitresses to take our orders and serve us food. No big loss, as she was a pretty crappy waitress to begin with. She seated us without giving us any menus and when we asked for them, she only gave us the regular menu, and not the fixed-price one, as well.

Started with a Tuscan bread soup - it was bland and more like a porridge. Had some truffle pasta - I could smell a hint of truffle, but could taste none. I guess you can't expect much for the price. I cancelled my salad (after the big pasta plate), but they forgot it anyway. We bitched to each other about the service that night, and went back to the hostel.

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Photos

a
a

b
This should be my street address!

c
View of Siena

d
The tower of Palazzo Publico

e
Piazza del Campo

G
L-R: Alejandra, Carolina, Beatrice

H
This always makes me laugh - the church was being restored so they put up a facade, instead. I think I'd rather see the real, but less than perfect original.

I
What do you think this high-security doorway leads to? It's a pay toilet!

J
Carolina with her yerba mate (tea). It's very common for Argentians to carry around their special tea cup and straw wherever they go. I got to sample some ... a little strong, but very nice.

k
Sitting atop the Fortezza Medicea

l
I fell asleep on the train ride back and felt someone throw something at me. I woke up and found this huge bug crawling on me. I squealed like a little girl and brushed it away. The girls tried to contain it, but they were all laughing at me. But the worst thing wasn't the embarrassment .... it was that I was awoken from dreaming about the Kate Beckinsale lookalike from the morning! Nooooooooooo!!!!!!