Blogs from Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 25

I think that to really get to know a culture, it’s quite necessary to pay a nice visit to their medical facilities. For the past little while I’ve been having this problem with my eye where I really can’t see very well, especially out of my left eye, which is definitely kind of a problem. The school decided it was time to take me to the hospital to have it looked at, so I was driven to the hospital right outside of Siena, to the ‘pronto soccorso’ or emergency facility. They directed us downstairs to the eye specialist and, after explaining my status as an American student and filling out the necessary paperwork, I took my seat in the waiting room (ok, so it was actually quite more of a waiting hallway, but anyway..). Now, from ... read more

The weeks are really just flying right by and I can’t believe I’ll be home in almost exactly a month! Although it will be hard to leave, it will be really exciting to come home and see everyone (and I’m also looking forward to chowing down on some foods I haven’t eaten in awhile...really high on my list are Chinese food, Mexican food, bread and butter instead of olive oil, eggs and bacon, and definitely cutting back on the pasta for awhile). A quick update on my plans for Christmas: my flight doesn’t leave Rome until December 26 at noon, so I had been planning on either spending Christmas here and taking a really early train that morning, but I wasn’t exactly sure how that would work....but....one of my best friends here, Sarah, is from Austria, ... read more

The weather feels like it's 30 degrees! I made a day trip to Siena tody, the most scenic train ride for me so far with the views of the rolling Tuscan landscape. Sienna is south of Florence and is smaller than Florence but not without its tourists. Most of my time was spent at the Campo a sqaure that's different from the other squares in Italy in that it concaves making it comfortable to lie down on and picnic. The pigeons also have their own bath so they're occupied doing their own thing. I mostly wandered about in attempt to soak in as much rays as I can in hopes of a tan. Hard to believe it's the end of October! The late summer weather has inspired me to check out the Cinque Terre later this ... read more

Now for my first entry as my 21 year old self. Hopefully my writing will sound more mature, as I think I have gained much experience and insight since turning 21.... The weekend before my birthday was a very relaxing and beautiful one. On Saturday, I went with school to a vineyard in the countryside to participate in the vendemmia, the grape harvest. We arrived, energetic and ready to get out there and get some grapes! We had a warm, sunny day, and armed with ‘fornice,’ the clippers, we went out to the fields with the workers, who were all very friendly and welcoming, happy to talk to us about our experiences in Italy thus far (some of them called me ‘Regina Elisabetta’ ‘Queen Elizabeth’). Now, if you will all recall, in the personal profile of ... read more

Geo: 44.0964, 11.7963Ended 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 ... read more