And So It Begins

This is Siena!

4-4-10

My journey to Europe has been just that, quite a journey. Upon arriving in Rome, (with Don, another person in my program) we hailed a taxi to take us to the Roma Termini (train station). It was a eight-thirty a.m. and a beautiful morning. The sun was shining as we dodged through the busy streets of Rome, sunlight forcing me to put on my sunglasses – an action I was not mad about. General traffic in Rome is absolutely insane and pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way – I swear our taxi almost hit five people in five minutes. It was all thrilling and surreal until we pulled around a corner, and large grassy opening exposed the Colosseum – then it hit me. Holy shit, I am in Italy. For the next four months. Is this real life?

Our train ride was filled with miles of gorgeous scenery – but with my lack of sleep and jetlag already setting in, it was quite and effort to keep my eyes open for longer than a minute at a time. We took the train to Florence because we were going to spend the night with my friend Sara (who has been studying there since January). Now, don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful that Sara let me crash at her apartment (as my program didn’t start until the next day) but my smart self insisted on bringing almost every piece of clothing I owned – nearly 150 lbs worth…. And Sara failed to mention that she had a seven-floor walk up. Operating solely on adrenaline (trying hard to ignore my sleep deprivation, starvation and three large suitcases) I was able to use every muscle in my body to lug my baggage up those seven floors - cursing my high maintenance qualities the whole time.

Paris, Espy and Mike arrived later that afternoon after Don and I had a few hours to get a much needed nap session in. Once we all congregated we ventured to a little restaurant near Sara’s house for dinner. My first real dose of Italian food was delicious! Pasta, wine, Caprese Salad and fresh bread, at the time it was the equivalent of heaven on earth. Following dinner, we rallied our energy and went to Shot Bar, which literally served every kind of shot one could imagine – and to our appreciation - quite cheaply. From Shot Bar we went to Twice, a disco in the heart of Florence! The excitement of being in Italy hit Paris and I almost simultaneously when our feet hit the dance floor, and shut the club down at around five a.m.

The next morning we caught a bus to Siena from Florence to finally see the town we would call home for the duration of our time abroad. We met our group – all of whom were absolute dolls! So sweet and friendly – including our program directors Silvia and Claudia! The first night in Siena we had a group dinner at a family owned restaurant, in the basement of a hole in the wall doorway. Stepping into the basement was like stepping into another era. It was just gorgeous with arched brick ceilings, rich colors and hearty wood furniture. And I must say – it was the best meal I have had in a very long time.

After dinner all the students went out to a bar called Barone Rosso, which was quite fun, complete with American techno and hip-hop and lots of people. A few locals told us about a disco nearby called Gallery – it took Paris and I all of five minutes to convince everyone – IT WAS TIME TO GET OUR GROOVE ON. Gallery was amazing, we danced and drank and go to know the fifteen friends we would experience this term with.

Needless to say that on Sunday I was running on about 5 hours of sleep in the last 4 days and needed to recuperate. I curled up into my bed and read Chelsea Handler until my eyes could no longer stay open.