Tuscany Weekend

Thursday

We got our first sight of snow in Italy. The locals tell us that when it snows here it doesn't last too long. They have not had a good amount of snow come down in awhile. That sounds about right because the snow only lasted for about 10 minutes. Since I've been here I decided I need some new clothes to fit in with the locals. My Old Navy winter jacket that I've had forever just isn't cutting it anymore. I'm done looking like a stupid American (I know- that will never change). I went out in search of a nice coat and a scarf. Yeah that sounds sort of fruity and I know I would never even think about wearing a scarf unless I was in Italy surrounded by others wearing them. I will never give in to the "skinny jeans" fashion though, that's for sure. I found a nice clothing place and picked out a jacket. I didn't even notice that jackets were on sale for 35 Euro so I tried to bargain the price up to 40 Euros, thinking the jacket cost 45 as the tag stated. Yeah, I'm an idiot. After my great purchase, I decided to go for a run. I wanted to find the track stadium where the local running club meets. I did find it but it has been difficult to find a time when I can actually meet up with the coach. I approached some kids at the track and asked if they spoke English. They did not but they found me someone who did. After talking with this woman I found out the coach was not there but I could meet up with him another time. In the meantime she let me run on their track. It was a little rainy so the other runners stayed at the top of the stadium, jogging under shelter. The track stadium was very nice, with a lot of seating. If I had to compare it to another track in the States I would say it reminded me most of Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island. I ran a little further to Fiorentina's soccer stadium too, since they are right next to each other. I can't wait to go to a Fiorentina game while I'm here.

Friday

We took the train to Pisa for a day trip. We didn't stay too long, only a few hours. The only reason Pisa is famous and tons of tourists constantly visit is for their faulty architecture. There really was not a lot to do there unless you're into the museum scene. After taking our cheesy tower pictures, we ventured around to the church in the same square. It was the only exhibit with free admission so we figured, why not? It was very cool inside. There was no detail left out of the architecture. For lunch we found a side street with a nice little Italian eatery. We try to avoid the touristy places right off the main drag as much as possible. We could tell we found a good place, because they didn't speak English. I sat down and ordered a "calzone wurstel" which was basically a calzone with cut up hot dog. It was pretty good. I ordered a birra Moretti to drink since it was only a little more than buying water for 2 Euro (how stupid?) After lunch, we walked into a museum to see what other exhibits there were to visit. We didn't feel like doing any museums so we just watched a virtual tour of some church and a historical video on the leaning tower. Not much else to do unless you feel like buying some fake watches or bags from the annoying "vendors" in the street. Once we got home I bought a scarf from a nearby store. It was really tough to pick out one I would actually wear. Here, it doesn't really matter what kind of scarf you have. I have seen guys wear anything from pink to Burberry patterns on their scarfs. I decided on a basic black scarf. That night we went to a small bar called Kikuya. It was pretty crowded with Italians. We ordered Dragoons, the bar's specialty drink and watched some rugby (Conor should be proud).

Saturday

Saturday was a day trip to Siena. It was a slightly longer train ride than Pisa. Two of my friends from high school who go to Siena College are studying abroad in Siena, Italy for the semester so I met up with them. I called one of them after getting off the train so she could meet me. Unfortunately she went to the bus station to look for us, which led to a bit of confusion. Once we picked up a map and found out we were about 20 minutes away from the center of town we started walking. Siena is a nice little town built on a hill surrounded by walls and gateways. Once we finally met up with my friends in the Piazza del Campo, it was time to find some food. I liked the food in Siena better than Florence. You can actually get a slice of pizza without buying the whole thing. I ordered what looked like a calzone type of slice with melted ham and cheese in the middle, soooo goood. We visited Siena's Duomo (Italian for cathedral), which is not nearly as big as Florence's but could be more amazing on the inside. There were so many pieces of art and sculptures inside. Very similar to the church we visited in Pisa the day before. We also went to the St. Dominic Basilica. My friends told us this was a main attraction because St. Catherine's head and finger are preserved inside. After searching the entire church we finally found it. It was kinda creepy but pretty cool to think human parts could be preserved for so long. Siena's soccer stadium is right next to the church so we went in there to get a better look. The last thing we wanted to do before leaving was climb to the top of the tower in Piazza del Campo. Unfortunately it was too late in the day to go up. Before heading to the train station we decided to try a local dessert. There was a small wood cabin set up in the Campo with customers swarming in lines. We went to order whatever everyone was raving over. It turned out to be "frillettes" a fried dough sort of thing cooked with rice on the inside. This may not sound that good but served warm with sugar on top, it was delicious. After getting lost a little bit, we made our way back down the hill to the train station. We passed out on the train after another long day. We needed our rest for the night ahead. We started off with our bar, Bigallo, and eventually ended up at 21 where we got a VIP table with a bottle of champagne. It was fun but definitely not worth the price. My budget is getting tighter as I plan for the trips ahead.