Firenze

Spent a weekend exploring Siena and Florence - Firenze in Italian - and getting acquainted with our new Tuscan world.

Friday we set out to get lost, which in Siena isn't hard. Our perpendicular streets with alphabetized street orderings are a thing of the past. Living on "High" street in Eugene, I had learned to notice familiar houses as landmarks rather than street signs and the same goes here. I know coming back from the school and Conad - the big grocery store - when you see the modern gelato place on the right and then this really really cute pair of boots in a store window on the left you turn left. Lets hope those boots never get sold.

We walked along the wall which gave us a beautiful view into the agricultural lands outside of the walls. I'm still amazed at the amount of vineyards I see dotting the landscape. I see a plot here, a plot there which makes me wonder how it is organized? Does each family in the country have their own plot? I am used to seeing our own vineyards that are confined and obviously belong to just us, or King Estate's sheer mass of vineyards. We found a poster advertising a 35 euro wine tasting bus tour with four cities around Siena. We will probably be on this trip with middle aged British couples - the most popular tourists here currently - but we are thinking about it in order to attempt to understand their rich history with wine.

As we were walking around we noticed two younger boys following us. Every corner we took they seemed to be there. Because we don't know Italian, my genius idea was to say Ciao. Granted this was supposed to be a sassy goodbye, a hint that we didn't want them there. But alas, I forgot ciao was like aloha, it also means hello. This prompted them to follow us around for even longer and my friends have appointed me NOT in charge of the cross cultural connections for now.

Its been so sunny here we are exhausted at the end of each day from walking around for hours. We woke up early though on Saturday and went to Florence which is about an hour bus ride. Stepping off the bus you immediately feel a buzz in the air. The vibe is completely different from Siena which is smaller, more relaxed and less international. It was exciting to be there and we will be going back a lot on the weekends but we all agreed, Siena is our home.

The markets in Florence were wonderful. There were many merchants selling bruschetta toppings, jams, and olive oil and I was happy to taste test each one. The most popular stands were those for leather goods such as wallets, purses and jackets. Scarves and pottery were also all over the market. The market stands were often right outside of the actual store and with the approximity of all of the food, all you smell is leather and italian cooking. Delicious.

We wandered in Florence as well and found ourselves on a beautiful bridge overlooking a not so beautiful river. As we were taking pictures some Italian boys hopped in. They think we are the funniest creatures and often tell us we look like Britney Spears which is not the greatest image of America we were hoping to exude. We found a looking out designated for couples - one of many - because Italy is meant for couples. Everywhere we go romance and love are the main themes and the undercurrent of every city is sensation.

We found a plaza where people were laying down and sunbathing. With a nearby grocery store to supply us with Heineken, an ancient water fountain supplying us with water and our 5 euro sit-down lunch of pizza and salad, we were and all elevens out of tens. But to be honest, its hard not to be happy in Italy. We soaked up the sun for a while and walked back to the train station. Along the way we got coffee gelato and then we saw a waffle stand selling waffles coated in nutella, so we got those too. Our motto here is don't hold back which means I'll be getting new (and bigger) jeans soon.