Duomo

Well, I have officially spent my first weekend in Siena, Italy. It has all been a bit of a whirlwind experience and I am still exhausted, but so grateful.

Saturday was spent with Anya, touring the city and becoming a little more familiar with our city. Followed by time spent at the school discussing our hopes, dreams and all the other things you talk about on your first day. At night we went to dinner and had, Italian, weird. It was amazing, and about 11 euro. It is not common to tip in Italy, if at all, there is a "service charge" per person. You also do not get water in a glass, but rather a bottle of water to share. As always, a learning experience.
This morning, a small group of us attended Mass in the local Duomo. Each Italian city has their own Duomo, Siena's is extremely beautiful. The mass was about an hour long, and though I did not understand anything but two words, I appreciated the experience.

Today we also attempted to do some shopping as my straightener is not liking life over here in Italy. There is also only 1 more day left of "saldi" or sales going on. The sales in Italy are controlled by the government, and only allowed to occur in January and August. Since everything over here is fairly expensive, I'll take all the discounts I can get!


We then did a scavenger hunt during which we had to find the stables of the Contrada horses. The Palio in Siena is a HUGE event that takes place in July. The city is divided up into 17 regions that all compete. We had to wind through the city streets to find the hidden stables. My group was the first one completed so we rewarded ourselves with some fritelli, which is uh-mazing. It is made of flour, rice, orange flavor, and sugar. The rice and flour is fried into balls and then the top is covered with sugar. Hard to explain, easy to eat.


The night finished off with the Tea Room. We all got a pot of tea for about 4 euros. No sharing is allowed between pots, which leaves one person to A LOT of tea. Delicious of course. A couple people had white hot chocolate which in Italy, is more like pudding again, delicious.


We start Italian language classes tomorrow at 9 AM, or 1 AM for most of you. These classes last for three weeks. In the afternoon we have culture labs, where we do different activities in dealing with and relating to the Italian culture.


Here are some pictures I took on our Scavenger hunt today and 1 of the Duomo

Ciao Ciao!

Liz

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.. the Italian Version

I have finally arrived in beautiful Siena, Italy. After cancellations, re-books, additional layovers, delays and a bit of airline food, all is right with the world.

My trip was long and tiring, but I am so thankful to be here. My apartment is great, and I have yet to meet my roommate. There are 14 girls in the group this semester, from all over the USA.

The staff at Siena School have been so helpful and kind.

After arriving in Rome, we took the train to the Roma Bus Station (8euro) and the bus to Siena (20euro). If my calculations are correct, I have been traveling for 28 hours total.

Time for some much needed rest.

The view from my room

Till next time,

Liz

Contact Info

I leave tomorrow! It is so unbelievable... I am almost finished packing my things, and have overcome all  hopes that my bag would be under 50 lbs...

Since I know you all are dying to send me packages and other sorts of mail related goodness.. here is my contact info..The staff at the school said it would be easier to send my mail to the school to ensure that it is getting checked everyday.

Liz Tyler
c/o Siena School for Liberal Arts
Via Tommaso Pendola 37
53100 Siena Italy

I will post some pictures hopefully by Friday once I get settled.

Bon Voyage!

First Blog

Well, it's the typical first blog entry... I am leaving for Siena in 10 days and I could  not be more excited!
I will be there until the end of May, attending Siena School for the Liberal Arts.  I will be writing, traveling, taking photos and otherwise keeping all of you up to date on my life in Italy.

Here's to the adventures to come!