Once Upon a Time, in a Medieval City Far Away…

Well, here I am in Siena, Italia!! I’ve been waiting to study abroad for so long, and suddenly my everyday life consists of walking down winding medieval streets eating gelato, even though it’s February. It’s been almost four weeks, and I still feel like I see something different every day! I take a daily walk beyond the bus station to explore my very favorite place, the Fortezza and adjacent park because I always see something different – the old ladies in their long fur coats taking their afternoon stroll, the masses of children that have just gotten out of school and are playing tag – it’s a beautiful place to walk or jog, and has a great view of the city and the countryside, where distant mountains are sheathed in fog and Tuscan houses on hilltops stoically keep watch over this walled city. It feels like springtime even though it's still winter - it's been sunny and there still seems to be lots of green in the park.
And the food...My favorite restaurant so far is right near the CET building, called Fonte Guista – we went here on one of our first outings with the program. The food at this restaurant was INCREDIBLE. Plate after plate of salami and prosciutto came, fresh bread, big pitchers of the red house wine, bruschetta, then three pasta dishes. The third pasta dish was pici (a thick, fresh spaghetti-like pasta) with wild boar sauce. Dessert was a plate of three tiramisu samples. To me, food is one of the great delights in life, and Siena is not disappointing so far whatsoever. Prosciutto is swiftly becoming one of my new favorite snacks, definitely going to keep the fridge continuously stocked with it for these few months, plus probably back in the states, too. I also keep buying nocciola (hazelnut) gelato on my way home because I can’t resist the temptation. Hazelnut. If you ever get the chance, please try this. I literally died and went to heaven.
Classes started with an intensive three weeks of Italian - three hours a day, five days a week. Hopefully I'll be much more comfortable with speaking after this!! So far I love “Sienese Art and Architecture” the best, I'm a history fanatic so I was in heaven learning about the origins of the city today and also finding out that my apartment on the Via del Poggio is right in the most ancient area of the city, dating back to the 5th century BC. I sleep in the same spot an Etruscan did 2500 years ago! This is the area surrounding the Duomo, next to the famous Piazza del Campo. Anyway, I get to spend the next few months walking around and observing ancient and medieval structures, so I'm excited.
It’s taken some time to adjust to my new surroundings, which means something new each day. The past couple weeks have been full of CET outings, including a cooking class at Fonte Giusta. I got to see the kitchen from which all the gorgeous ravioli and cinghiale and pane, etc. are born, and the owner of the restaurant was enthusiastic about having us get our hands dirty and mix ingredients with our fingers to create batches of almond biscotti, homemade pasta, and eggplant/spinach/ricotta-filled tortellini. He didn't speak a word of English. Unfortunately, this meant that I am not much closer to achieving my goal of becoming a master Italian chef by the time I return home, but I did get to see some pretty cool stuff. Eggs yolks here are vibrant shades of red-orange, and I learned how to fold up a square of pasta around some filling into a fancy napkin-shaped tortellini. Afterwards, the real chefs topped our wobbly creations with fantastic sauces and kept the food coming until I thought I was literally going to explode. We got a doggie-bag of biscotti to bring home, too!
Another highlight was a visit to the Onda Contrada museum near San Agostino, several blocks behind the Piazza del Campo. A unique little church houses the memorabilia of this contrada's Palio wins, and serves as a neighborhood stronghold for baptisms and other blessings. The space within Siena's walls is divided into 17 contradas, or neighborhoods, and people are very, very loyal to their communities. If you are born in one contrada, you remain a member of it for life even if you move to a different one. This unique kind of society makes for strong internal bonds among the people of the city, but also makes it difficult for outsiders to truly integrate. The Onda (Wave) contrada museum and crypt were full of ornate religious decorations, tons of hand-painted silk banners, and historical Palio costumes. These banners are the prize for winning the famed Palio, or contrada horse race, that takes place in the Piazza del Campo every July.
The weekends are reserved for traveling, so at the beginning of February some of us left Siena to take a day-trip to Arezzo, where they were having their monthly antique market. This occurs the first weekend of each month, and was so much more widespread than I expected: tables and furniture stacked with treasures covered every street of the city. After browsing, I also saw the inside of the Duomo, the famous frescoes of San Francesco, and Giorgio Vasari's house. It was remarkable to see the difference in style between the two cities, Arezzo was much airier and open than Siena. However, I find myself loving the ancient stone palazzi of Siena and the feeling of medieval history and authenticity that radiates from every brick of every towering building.
The rest of that weekend, I wandered the streets of Siena intending to visit all 17 contradas, but I only made it to the end of my own (L'Aquila - Eagle) before I came across a pretty park behind San Agostino near Porta Tufi that overlooks the Tuscan countryside. I ended up spending the entire afternoon lying in the grass bathed in sunshine and reading a book. La vita è perfetta.