Care tutte,
Louisa, Hannah and me in front of the Siena Duomo
Whoever said all roads lead to Rome was sorely mistaken – I’m fairly certain all roads lead to Piazza del Campo. This Etruscan, spider-webbed city tugs me towards its Piazza valley. I can shut my eyes and turn off an alley only to find myself trampling back towards the square. And ah, it’s always a sight for sore eyes.
I am not immune to Siena: the city’s marvels are merely amplified as time passes. I spend half of my classes touring la citta. Knowing the history, function and engineering of the statues, squares and buildings bestows me a special, secret tie to each. Tomorrow, I head to the Duomo for an intensive tour of Duccio’s masterpiece. My class is an Italian taught medieval art history course entitled Duccio, Simone Martini and Lorenzetti Brothers, focusing on the art of Siena. It’s a wonderful treat to study the works surrounding me. The other day, I found myself exclaiming, “I would even pay for a tour like this!” Um, pretty sure I do.
We took a trip to San Galgano!
The magnificent cityscape of Italia extends to Siena’s Tuscan companion – Florence. Sam and I took a spontaneous jaunt around Firenze yesterday. We arrived Saturday evening and easily (almost too easily) found our hostel and situated ourselves. Sam’s parents had recently visited Florence and raved about a trattoria called Sant’Agostino 23. We wined and dined, relishing how “trendy” we felt – bless Siena, but trendy is few and far between. Afterwards, we met up with our dear old bartender bud Carlo in Piazza Duomo. He and his friend John drove us up to Piazza Michelangelo to see the David and survey the magnificent panorama. What a spectacular view!
Me and Louisa on a Chianti Wine Tasting
The next morning Sam and I set out with an ambitious bucket list. We accomplished Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, il Duomo, the Baptistery, Ponte Vecchio, and the Uffizi. We were sadly forced to trade Gusta Pizza (who stops serving pizza at 3?) for tagliatelle ai funghi e spaghetti alla carbonara. Um, could be worse.
As our bus pulled into Piazza Gramschi last night, we ran into friends apertivo-ing at the Irish Pub. A sense of comfort and familiarity rushed through my veins as I felt the Piazza del Campo pull me in and welcome me home.
Abbraci e baci!
Me and Venus!