Tearing up Tuscany

So here's a little run-down of this weekend's trip to Siena and Tuscany:

I spent lots of time walking around Siena taking photos of medieval monuments such as the Palazzo Pubblico and Il Campo below,

took more photos of narrow winding streets,

and even more of laundry hanging out the windows.

Then I took a well-deserved rest out by the pool at Castle Selvole. It's a tough life.

This is the amazing farmhouse that we stayed in for 20E a night - complete with kitchen and living rooms, and on a vineyard (in the Chianti region)! PLUS I went wine tasting for the first time and actually enjoyed it. I guess I'm finally ready to embrace my Napa roots :)

Overall a very nice weekend. I went with 8 amazing girls from my program, so you can imagine we had a fabulous time!

I spent most of Saturday in Siena doing some independent wandering, It was nice to be in a slower, small town atmosphere after crazy, chaotic Rome. One of my favorite parts was getting lunch. I love that in Italy you have to buy everything at separate stores: the fruit store, the deli, the butcher, the bakery etc. So I had a good time walking to all these different places, getting my ingredients for a sandwich, and pretending to be Italian. It really is the way to go: you get fresher, local products for a fraction of the price of a panino you buy at a touristy cafe, plus you make friends (or at least have a brief 2 sentence exchange with an Italian, which is a triumph for me everytime!)

Then Saturday night and Sunday I spent hanging out with the girls: silly card games, vineyard walks, deep conversations, life-changing naps, and wine tasting with Marco made this time pretty sweet.

Then of course the train ride back was quite exciting as we ran into a group of drunk soccer fans from Sardegna who were not familiar with the word "No." But it was good, I got to practice some common Italian phrases:

vai via! = go away!

stai zitto! = be quiet!

sei schifo! = you're gross!

Anyway, that's all for now. I have more stories and photos that I want to share soon, but I didn't want to leave any of the fans hanging (I love how I've fantasized a fan-base for this blog when its pretty much just my mom - but thats ok because my mom is rockin'!)