Siena: Forever a Part of Me

Well, it's been three and a half weeks since I made my way home from three months abroad. While I really miss the people I met and the places I went, I am by nature a homebody, so transitioning has been fairly seamless. It has been great to catch up with family and friends and fall into the familiarity I missed while abroad. However, I know that the time I spent in Italy will always be a formative part of my life. Just the other day, my mom told me, "every time you talk about Siena, you light up!" The history, culture and passion of the people has awaken the passion for life in me. 

There are a few things I didn't get to cover in my blog before I left, and with the whirlwind of graduation, finding a job, 4th of July, and rodeo festivities, I'm just now getting around to finishing up. So here it is: the last post of my trip abroad. Thanks for taking the journey with me!

Italian Play: The Imaginary Invalid

While we were there, our program was nice enough to arrange for us to attend a play. The money from ticket sales benefited charity, and we got to experience Italian theater. It was a win-win! Claudia, Sylvia, Becca and I went to an adorable old-fashioned theater in Siena, Teatro dei Rozzi and watched a play entirely in Italian. It helped that Claudia and Sylvia gave us an outline of the play ahead of time, so we kind of knew what was going on. We were able to catch a few phrases and sentences, but trying to translate word-for-word was quite exhausting, so eventually I was content with following the general plot and enjoying the experience.

The gorgeous ceiling

The panoramic view of theater. In each little booth sat two or three people. It was such a charming theater!

Stanza della Memoria

Sylvia also arranged for us to visit the Stanza della Memoria, a museum designed to educate people about the time when Italy (specially Siena) were under the control of fascism. Many Italians avoid the topic because it is not a time in their history they are particularly proud of, but this museum both commemorates the bravery of those who resisted and also painted a realistic picture of the awful things that happened in Italy during that time. 

Portraits of all of the Sienese fascists. It's quite a lot, considering how small
Siena was at the time. 

Picture of the Sienese people rejoicing when the Americans liberated them during World War II. Men, women, young,
and old celebrate their freedom from the Fascist Party.

Palio Lottery

Every year, the people of Siena gather in the Piazza del Campo to await the revealing of the last three contrade that competed in the July 2nd Palio. Once their flag was posted, members of the contrada ran to the bottom of the main building and celebrated wildly. The passion of the Sienese for their community is incomparable to anything I've ever seen. Below is a video of the event.

There were so many people crammed into the Piazza del Campo

Snail Contrada Party

Our acquaintance, Michele, invited us to his contrada's party. When he invited us, I was not sure what I was expected, but it certainly wasn't this. All types of people--very young and very old--attended the party at an outdoor venue just outside the city walls. I can't imagine how much money was invested into this event. They had food, drinks, a huge stage and dance floor. We had a great time dancing and experiencing contrada culture.

Calcio (Soccer)

Soccer is by far the most popular sport in Italy. Our flatmates went to play against the sister residence, so we
had to go and be their cheerleaders.

Jewish Synagogue 

We also got a tour of the Synagogue of Siena. Although the Jewish population is not
very large, Siena has a long history of being friendlier to Jews than the rest of Italy

Water Museum

We got a tour of Siena's Water Museum. Since there is no river that runs through the city, intricate water tunnels had to built in order to get fresh water to the people. We got to tour the virtual museum, which explained the geological aspects, and then got to walk through some of the tunnels.

Siena Night Life

Italians are night owls! Events would be going on at 11pm, and young and old alike would attend. Young adults usually don't leave to go out to bars until midnight (and that's when they're accommodating their boring American friends).

A basketball tournament. It's not typically a popular sport here, so I was surprised to see a game going on,
even if it was half court;)

Boxing match going on in Piazza del Campo

Our last Saturday night we went out with some of our roommates to the Cuban bar in Siena.
We each had two delicious mojitos and then wandered to the Piazza del Campo, enjoying
the view and each other's company. From left to right: me, Antonio, Becca, and Teresa.

My study abroad adventure to Italy was absolutely incredible. It was not without its challenges, but it is incredibly empowering to know that I flourished in a foreign country independently. Everyone in the program helped me so much, including Sylvia, Claudia, Ginevra (our Italian teacher,) and Jeff (our art teacher,) and all of our roommates. And of course, my trip would not have been nearly as amazing without my partner in crime (otherwise known as my roommate,) Becca! There is no hiding your flaws when you spend that much time with someone, but she put up with me. She was the best travel buddy anyone could have asked for and I'm so glad she will only be 45 minutes away for the next two years. This quote perfectly captures how I feel about Siena and its people: "You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of knowing and loving people in more than once place." I'll be back someday, Siena. I promise.

Another Place and Time {Venezia}

After our class trip to Florence, Becca and I hopped on a fast train to Venice. The fast train was a very cool thing to experience; the ride was extremely smooth, despite traveling at 190 miles per hour. Inside the cabin felt almost like an airplane, complete with assigned seats and tray tables. I thought of my dad the whole time and wished I could have experienced it with him. His passion for trains would have made it that much cooler:)

Our hostel was a five minute walk from the train station and very easy to find (thank goodness!) We thought we had booked beds in the dorm-style room, but it turned out we got a room to ourselves, which was absolutely marvelous!

When we got to Venice, we were in the middle of one of the worst thunder storms I've ever experienced. It was around 8pm, so we tried to brave the storm, but we were chased back to our hotel by the weather. The thunder was so loud, our hotel room shook.

The next morning, we woke up and the storm had completely cleared up, leaving only blue skies and perfect weather. Venice is one big maze and would be impossible to navigate, but thankfully there are signs that pointed us to the square. There were even signs leading back to the train station, which was very close to our hotel, so we hardly used a map at all, which was a welcomed change. We decided to go exploring through the streets of Venice and make our way towards St. Mark's Square.

Day One

The flag of Venice. On it is the Lion of Saint Mark, so the figure is a political as well as religious symbol

My hair has gotten so long! I haven't done anything to it in nearly three months. We
bought a hair dryer, but I haven't straightened or curled it in forever. My hair is probably
happy, but I'm really excited to be able to do my hair again!

Boats are the only means of transportation around the city (other than walking.) Becca
and I both agreed that we would never want to deal with it on a regular basis, but it
was really nice not to be constantly looking over our shoulder for cars like we have
to do in Siena.

We didn't get a chance to ride a gondola this trip. It was 80 euros just for a short trip!
We decided to invest our money elsewhere:)

One of the many churches hidden throughout Venice

Cute little kids causing trouble:) Fountains like the one next to them are found all
throughout Italian cities. There is a constant stream of cool, fresh, drinkable water.
We filled up our bottles a time our two to keep ourselves hydrated.

Apparently, Venice likes Heisenberg too! It was crazy to see familiar faces from a TV
show I used to watch, Breaking Bad

Rialto Bridge

Another church

St. Mark's Square

First glimpse of St. Mark's Square

The outside of St. Mark's Basilica was under intense restoration, so we didn't get any
good pictures of the outside

Clock tower in the square with a 24 hour clock. At the top of every hour, little figures file out of the door and circle around the statue above the clock.

Inside St. Mark's Basilica. Admission was free, which was refreshing. Most churches
charge around 5 euros just to get inside

Real bronze statues that used to stand on top of the basilica. Most bronze statues were melted down and used for their raw materials, so these are extremely rare.

View of the square from the terrace of the basilica

Pirate ship! :)

Campanile di San Marco (Bell Tower)

Unlike all the other towers we've come across in Italy, this tower had an elevator! Crazy! For a small fee, we were taken straight to the top for a gorgeous view of Venice.

Love the huge bells!

One of the many islands of Venice

More Exploration

We walked around the covered area of St. Mark's square, which was full of restaurants
and ridiculously expensive shops

The Bridge of Sighs. Local legend says that if lovers float under the bridge on a gondola at sunset as the bells of St. Mark's toll, they will have eternal love and bliss.

Every year in Venice, they hold a festival called Carnevale. The festival ends on the
day Lent begins. Everywhere throughout the city sells these masks which are worn
during the festival. 

The masks with the long beaks were originally worn by doctors
during plague epidemics. They believed breathing air though the long snout
prevented the spread of disease.

Once again, another church

Adorable doorbells for an apartment building we passed by

Venice's version of an ambulance. I can't imagine having a medical emergency in this city; it is incredibly difficult
and slow to navigate

An example of the many signs that helped us find our way. Ferrovia is the train station.

View of a train coming into the station. The tracks seem to float on the water.

Day Two

Our second day, we decided to explore some more of the side streets and make our way to the Vaperetto (or water taxi), which could take us to some of the other island in Venice.

The Tabacchi: Italy's equivalent to a mini mart. They sell snacks, drinks, cigarettes, lottery tickets,
 and so much more.

We happened across a screen printer's studio, with some really cool modern interpretations of Venetian architecture. 

View from the water taxi. We made the mistake of sitting in the cabin for one of our journeys. It was hot, stuffy, and
reeked of body oder. Standing on the deck was a much better alternative.

Murano

Murano was the first island we stopped at. Although there wasn't much to see in terms of tourist attractions, Murano is famous for its glass blowing. The streets were lined with little shops selling unique and colorful glassware.

The first light house I've seen in Italy!

Me and the best travel buddy I could have asked for! I'm so incredibly lucky God blessed me with such a great friend to laugh with, to cry with, and to explore this crazy world with!

Cool glass sculpture in the town square

Line for the water taxi, on our way to Burano

Burano

Burano is a charming little island of Venice, famous for its lace making, but most of all, its brightly colored buildings. Pepto-bismol pink and McNary Celtic blue were a few of my favorites:)

As much as I loved Venice, I'm pretty sure its falling apart. Towers lean drastically,
buildings cave out towards the street. I guess that's what you get when you build a city
on a lagoon.

Back on the Main Island

View from the Rialto Bridge at dusk. I got eaten alive by mosquitos, which was
 pretty much the only downside to our trip

We got the chance to talk about the Mafia in our cross-cultural communications class. It began in the south of Italy,
but has control all over the world, including in the United States.

Day Three

We left mid-afternoon to head back to Siena, but we spent the morning walking around and looking at shops. It was actually really nice to just be, to not have any place we felt like we had to see, but to just wander and discover.

Such narrow alleyways

We wandered into this artist's shop, where he made pieces inspired by the puzzle concept. He spent a good 20 minutes with us, explaining his work and chatting with us about our experience in Italy. He did not pressure us to buy anything, and seemed to genuinely want to share his passion with us.

Sunken ship

"Pace" means "peace" in Italian

We tried to capture just how narrow the streets we walked down were

For some reason, Venice seemed to be obsessed with cats dressed up in fancy clothes. It
was totally random, but it made me smile every time I saw it

Fruit stands were also a popular thing in Venice. We got several cups of fruit salad for only a euro each. It was a nice change from the carb-overload diet we've had the past few months. Not that I'm complaining about a life fueled by wonderful pasta and bread. Things could be much, much worse;)

"I will never forget experiencing Venice for the first time. It feels like you are transported to another time - the art, music, food and pure romance in the air is like no other place." - Elizabeth Berkley

I have to agree with Elizabeth on that fact. The lack of cars or other modern forms of transportation definitely gave me the feeling like I had been transported back through time. Our trip was smooth sailing, both literally and figuratively;) We have only 8 days left in Siena, most of which will be spent working on final projects, last minute shopping, a day trip to Grosetto (a coastal town where Becca's ancestors are from) and packing for my journey HOME! I'm so glad I was given this opportunity to explore the world, but it will be so nice to see my family, my boyfriend, and to return to normalcy.