Well, I haven't written in about two weeks now. Since my return from Rome and San Gimignano, we've just been spending most of our time hanging around Siena, exploring the city a little more. This is probably the best part of living here. Siena is about the same size of the city that I live in back in the U.S. Exploring and searching for new restaurants or cafes or favorite lunch spots really isn't all that difficult, as it probably would be in a larger place such as Milan or Rome. In those cities, it would be impossible to see everything there is to see during the four months we have. Here in Siena, most of us have found our favorite places to grab a cappuccino before class or a bite to eat afterwards. For instance, just today when I went to get my morning cappuccino before Italian, I went up to the bar in the mall next to the school. I walked in and the older barista said “Cappuccino, bella?” and of course I responded with a big smile, “Sì!!” They know my order and I love it! It helps too that there’s a really cute younger barista there that smiles at me every time he makes my cappuccino. LOVE IT!
This past weekend, a few of us reserved spots for a mushroom festival type of thing. It was in this placed called Vivo D’Orcia, about an hour and a half away from Siena. This is one of my favorite places I have visited thus far. We got off the train and took a bus for about thirty minutes that winded up a mountain to the very top, where we got off. From there, we followed the group to a small, outdoor patio. It smelled like summer grilling but they were actually roasting chestnuts on an open fire!! I wrote that in italics because it’s just like the song! It reminded me of Christmas and Christmas carols and now all of us just want to sing Christmas carols all day long. After we wandered a little, we made our way onto the “mushroom tour” where we walked through the woods and saw all types of mushrooms - edible, “not recommended,” deadly/poisonous and everything in between. We left our group after walking through the woods and wandered around on our own for a while. We chose from a few dishes offered and ordered lunch, all of which came with some kinds of mushrooms. Once again, we walked around on our own post a fulfilling lunch complete with vin brule (a hot, spiced, red wine with fruit) and delicious dolci. Walking through the woods, we stumbled upon a waterfall. A WATERFALL! There were actually a few but this one in particular was incredibly beautiful. It was small but hidden in the middle of the lime green colored woods. We were all thoroughly exhausted but satisfied with everything we had done and seen that day. Definitely a success.
Also this past week, we got our down feathered blankets that CET so gratefully lets us use while we’re here. It’s beginning to get pretty cold and our apartments are not heated as much as they are at home, so we are always freezing, walking around the apartment in sweatpants, sweatshirts, and socks. Thankfully, these blankets keep us warm and toasty throughout the night. The thing is, though, that feathers are everywhere! They fall out of the blanket onto the floor and are stuck in our scarves or on our clothes. We never figure this out until halfway through the day though. I’m sure the Sienese locals have a good laugh at that. This week we all took our midterms. After studying for a while for each class, I am confident I did well enough in all of them to receive good grades. I sure hope so at least. We just knew that once midterms were over, we were off to our first field trip to Florence and then fall break!
Today in Florence, we visited a bunch of churches that, if I were not a part of this program, probably would never have visited. We saw Brunelleschi’s San Lorenzo, orphanage, the Medici Chapel/Palace, Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, the Duomo, a female monastery, the tomb of Donatello, and San Marco. Inside all of these places, we saw original frescoes by Masolino, Masaccio, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Filippino Lippi. I think next time we’ll hit the more well known spots such as Santa Croce, the Uffizi Gallery, Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Rucellai, maybe go inside the Baptistery and stroll along the Ponte Vecchio. I’m also hoping we can have more time to walk around the markets; we had a few minutes and found a bunch of stands full of fresh and dried fruit and of leather goods. I might just have to find a hostel and stay overnight so I can actually explore more! I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay in Florence longer?
Lastly, I leave you with my upcoming fall break trip. It is currently 10pm while I write this, hoping to finish before heading out extremely early tomorrow morning. We are waking up at 3:30 am, walking to the train station, and taking that to Pisa, where we will catch a flight to Brussels! From Brussels, we are going to Amsterdam immediately for two nights, then back to Brussels (complicated story as to why we are doing this J ). After Brussels, we are heading to southern Germany, right in the middle of the Alps, in a place called the Black Forest. Lastly, we are going to Prague for a few nights and flying into Milan. I’m really hoping we’ll take the time to wander around for a bit and see the Last Supper. We’ll be there in Milan, so why not? The best part of this program definitely is all the travel both within and outside of CET that we can afford to do. If I were not participating in the CET program this fall, I don’t think I would ever be able to make it to the places that I already have. Anyway, I’m leaving you here for now and I’ll be back in touch after my whirlwind trip through Europe!
Melanie Bianco
CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010
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