Blogs from Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 17

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. The city is best known worldwide for its famous leaning bell tower (The Leaning Tower of Pisa). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900 BC to 400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill-forts. ... Siena's cathedral, the Duomo, begun in the twelfth century, is one of the great examples of Italian romanesque architecture. Its ... read more

Under the Tuscan Sun just like the movie. However, we arrived late in the afternoon and spent some quality time trying to figure out the bus system. We arrived at our Villa (well maybe it wasn't our villa... Thank you Louise) a little unsure we approached the posted the street number and looked down the overgrown, dark, gloomy, pathway to the 'villa'. Hand in hand we approached the iron gates and peaked through to the grounds. Bravely Jill randomly pushed the intercom buttons beside the gate. A moment passed, then flashing rave lights interrupted the darkness and Ewa rubbed her St Christopher and cross necklace (Thank you Sunrise Health Region). Jill looked through the gates and noticed a man approaching with a golden lab. She was instantly reassured because what kind of evil monster keeps a ... read more

I am having trouble concentrating to write this entry because I think I am delirious from the extreme amounts of pesto I have been consuming in the last week. Over a matter of days I ate an entire, rather sizable jar of pesto. Basically, the pesto here is amazing. I bought myself an excessive jar, convinced that pesto is one of those indefatigable items (like peanut butter and honey) that you just sort of buy once and can keep sitting around for an undefined period of time. I was making myself a nice plate of pasta and pesto when I read the jar and realized that it said it must be used 3-4 days after opening. My roommates confirmed that this was true. While I thought that I could maybe get fancy and freeze it to ... read more

Ciao a tutti! Here is the long awaited update on my life that I hereby dedicate to Sarah, Leslie, and Steph for urging me to write. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the end of the summer. After arriving in Italy last Tuesday evening, I really have not stopped moving at all and this is the first chance I’ve had to write. As a result, I cannot promise how coherent this entry will be. I think that after the students get adjusted and the weeks of orientation are over, I will definitely have more free time. Although it has been a busy and somewhat confusing (details to come) week, it’s really incredible to be back in Siena and I’ve enjoyed just walking around and re-familiarizing myself with the city. Ok, let me go ... read more

A Day trip to Siena and San Gimignano The Treats of Tuscany Before we start our description of the day trip, many apologies to our loyal blog viewers (if we actually have any left) that it has been so long since our last entry. Ironically, the last thing we said in the last entry was how our blog entries were getting more and more up to date. Lets hope that we can recapture the beauty of two weeks ago. After a day and a half in Florence we booked a day trip to Siena and surrounds. This excursion was highly recommended by Tim as he did this exact thing 9 years back, when he was still little Tim touring Europe on his own. We met up with our local Italian tour guide at 9am and headed ... read more