The Longest Day of My Life: Siena

Now from this title please do not think that the day of the Siena trip was the longest day of my life because I hated it. It was just literally one of the longest and fullest days I've lived through between being up really early and really, really late. So, with that little forward, here's my trip to Siena.

We had to meet in the Piazza della Reppublica at 8am Friday morning (yuck) to get onto our group tour bus. It was the same deal as Fiesole except this time most people slept the whole way to Siena. I stayed awake because I had had coffee that morning and I wanted to see the view on the drive up. Sadly the fog obscured all of the Tuscan countryside. I read a few pages of A Room With A View instead.

We arrived at Siena in the wet and cold morning with the sun creeping up into the sky. We had to part outside the city walls before making our trek up into the medieval town. Before we began to work our way up the hill and to the city, blessed Sue gave us an espresso break. I felt bad for the poor woman working at the bar that we stormed, but she was so friendly and efficient. She even ground the coffee fresh for each cup. She was quite the pro. I also took advantage of this time to use the restroom facilities. Now, while I know most people would not be interested in where I went to relieve myself I somehow feel that Mom and Aunt Janet will appreciate knowing that I took bathroom opportunities as they came. I have learned well.

The Siena trip was exciting because it was the first hill town we had been to, and they are one of my favorite things to see in Italy. From far away it looks almost like the towns sprout up from the hilltops, and once you are inside the winding streets and the unexpected glimpses of the Tuscan countryside are exciting and breathtaking in turn. It was breathtaking to walk through the city in the morning light. I think we got to see the streets at their most beautiful.

We began the trip at the Opa Museum next to the cathedral of Siena. Interesting fact: the what is now the nave of the Siena cathedral was actually meant to be the trancept. If you've been there you know that there are these large walls that are in the same black and white striped pattern as the rest of the cathedral. When the plague hit Siena they ran out of money and manpower, so they had to downsize the cathedral and built the one that they have today. See how informative I am?

My British Art History teacher led us on our tour. Now, I really like Professor Reynolds. She knows more about art than any other person I have ever encountered or imagined. She also is a good lecturer. However, this was not my day for listening. Her soothing and quiet British voice can sometimes drone, especially if you are tired. Coupled by the fact that we spend a good hour looking at one alterpiece which was displayed in a dark room, I had so much trouble paying attention.

One thing I really did like about this museum (and I liked the altarpiece by Duccio too) were the statues that had been taken off the cathedral and put in the museum (they put replicas on the cathedral). The way they loomed over us and were so expressive they seemed to speak to the people walking beneath them was exciting. They were stone and yet there were alive. It was like the middle ages was still able to speak to us. Pretty cool.

After the Opa Museum we went to the city hall and had another tour with my professor talking about the frescoes and such...yeah, that was when I wanted to take a nap. It was around noon and I was hungry and so ready to be out of there. I just stared blankly at the walls or ceilings or whatever we were looking at and just kept on thinking "I can eat soon, I can eat soon."

Oh, and did we eat. I had one of the best meals of the trip. We had a traditional Sienese meal: pici. I explained this on a comment, but again it is a noodle made out of flour and water and it is heaven. They served it with a simple pomodoro sauce. OH MY GOSH!!!!! It was amazing. We also had turkey rolled with egg and prosciutto with potatoes which were basically french fries but better. Then we had torta di nonna and vino santo. Some of my friends had a little too much vino santo.

In the afternoon we had the option to either go on a tour of the cathedral or do whatever we wanted. Since I had already seen the cathedral and I was not about to walk through another tour, art history junkie or not, I wandered around with some of my friends. It was a ton of fun. We got lost, took pictures, had gelato, bonded, the whole deal. It was just a fun afternoon.

We left for home around 5, and by then we were wiped. Again, a lot of people slept on the way back to Florence. It was dark by now too. We were left to fend for ourselves for dinner and then just do whatever.

Now, on a normal night, I would have gone back to my apartment, gone out for dinner, and come back and played cards with my roommates like a bunch of old women (we do this almost every night, though some nights we sit around our kitchen table and read). However, this day was Alysse's 22nd birthday. So, to celebrate, we decided that we would go out to a club for the first time since we went to Italy. I will spare details here, but one thing about going out in Italy is that it happens late. We left our apartment for this club (which was relatively close) at 12:30 and left the club a little after 4. Most clubs open at 12 and close at 5 or 6. I guess Italians have to do this because they eat so stinkin' late. Also, for those of you who are worried about our safety, our friend, Kieth, a very tall guy on our program, walked us there and back.

So, waking up around 6:30 and going to bed around 5 made this day one of the longest days of my life. I slept late on Saturday and went back to playing cards.