Hello again faithful readers! A lot has happened since I have last wrote to you, but I want you to know that all is well and I am loving Italy so far.
Last Saturday a group of us went to Siena to do a little exploring. It was a pretty good day trip because it is only an hour long bus ride from Florence. Siena is a pretty neat town. It has a lot of winding and hilly roads and is in the heart of some wine country. We visited the Campo and the Siena Duomo. The Campo is a big slanted courtyard that hosts the towns horse races twice a year. Unfortunately when we were there, they werent going on. If any of you have seen James Bond: Quantum of Solace, the Campo is the big area that he is running in at the beginning of the movie and the horses are running around and he's chasing some guy. Anyway, this was cool. The Duomo is another huge church that was made a long time ago and is really pretty. We were going to go inside, but it cost a lot, so we just looked at it for a while. After that we just walked around and found some sweet views overlooking the city, and then headed back to Florence.
I also started classes last Monday. Unlike classes at Iowa State, my classes here meet once a week for about two and a half hours. Its kind of brutal sitting in a classroom for that long, but the professors usually give us breaks halfway through. My favorite class so far is definately Introduction to Italian Cuisine. Basically I learn about Italian food and then make some every class period. No worries, I will make you some when I get back to the states. Im also taking some Italian Language classes, but I can tell they are going to be a challenge for me.
Today I went to Pisa with a couple of friends. We saw the tower at it was still leaning, and we were able to take the stairs to the top. It was a little trippy walking up because inside there is no sense of what side of the tower I was on, so it was a challenge at times. At the top was a cool view of the city and the Duomo which is right next to the tower. We also went into the Duomo, which again is a big church, and it was filled with a bunch of paintings and other cool churchy things. Weirdest thing was that someone was buried there in a glass coffin so I could see inside. Im not sure who it was, but they must have been somewhat important if they were buried so everyone could see them for all time. There was also a skull of someone in a glass case. Again, someone more important than I.
Well friends, thats all I have for this exciting edition of my blog. Tomorrow I will be going on a winery tour of the Ciante region, which is close to Florence. Hopefully it doesnt rain like it has been everyday since Sunday. Aparrently February is the rainy month. Fun.
Arrivederci!
