Autobus... Bus, obviously... So FINALLY I'm going to write about Siena - I'm lazy I'll admit it but here goes :-) So Wednesday morning Kelly dropped me off at the bus station. I bought my own ticket and got on the bus. After 1 hour and 15 minutes we got to Siena, after driving through mountains looking down on quaint little villages and grazing cattle. I couldn't figure out which bus stop to get off at in Siena, but thankfully picked the right one and stood at the bus station, all alone, with no idea where to go. Since the weekly market only lasts until early afternoon I started to look for that first. Some sweet old lady handed me a tract as I wandered the streets, totally random but really cool. I finally found the market, which was actually right across the street from the bus stop. Wow. After looking at all the stands for a while (you have to be careful... all the stands with Chinese people working them aren't selling Italian stuff - so I only go to the Italian booths) I heard some girls speaking English. I got SO excited, because I hadn't heard English in forever! I found out that they were studying abroad there... although it didn't take me long to realize that Siena is a MAJOR tourist town... Then I decided to look for a place to eat, and for their city center. After following the tower I saw high above the buildings around me and admiring the ancient architecture on every building, I saw some stairs going through an archway down into what looked like a wide open space. (The Piazzo del Campo) So I went down the stairs and WOW there was a huge empty area with restaurants surrounding it.
And this amazing building with an old bell tower. So I sat at a quaint little restaurant and ate and read for a while. It was interesting to listen to the Americans there - I was thankful I blended in with the Italians fairly well. The waitresses spoke English pretty well, but the obnoxious, pushy Americans would speak loud and slow, like they were talking to idiots. No wonder people don't like us. Then I saw another tower and decided to try to find it. After wandering around admiring the dusty ancient beauty of the crumbling brick and stone buildings, a magnificent duomo (cathedral) appeared before me, shining in white, glorious splendor. It was very similar to the famous duomo in Florence - the Siena cathedral was built during the 1300s, the early years of the Renaissance. I stood gazing at the intricate carvings and brilliance of the facade for quite a while. To be honest, it is difficult to experience all these things alone, with no one to talk to about it... all I can do is shrink in the greatness of it all. But each day I am reminded of the steadfast love of God as He stands beside me, revealing His power and beauty in each incredible aspect of Tuscany! After admiring the Duomo for a while, I found my way to the bus stop (surprisingly- it was quite a maze), and went back to Grosseto.
Today I was pretty busy with the Christmas play - it's coming together and we got a lot of practice in tonight. I also sat on the roof for an hour or two today, while reading and soaking up the beautiful, sunny day :-) It was a nice break from the freezing hours of the morning - apparently tile floors and cement walls make your house a giant ice box. No wonder the Italians don't use ice. Anyway, it's now 1:30 am because I had to retype this - it got deleted. awesome. haha - miss you all, keep in touch!
Yes, I know you all know what that means... Yesterday I spent a wonderful day in the beautiful city of Rome! I got up early (yuk) and rode a bike to the train station, to get on the train at 7:30! I then rode for 2 and 1/2 hours to my stop - Termini. I walked to the McDonalds and met Sammy and her sister Melissa. After walking around a little and looking at some cool old church, Melissa had to go to class, so Sammy (now an official Roman resident) and I took the bus! We went to a Piazza (square) first where the lion fountains are, and everybody has to take a picture on the lion... Then we ate breakfast. The Italians eat these cute little pastries and stand at a counter and drink espresso or Cappuccino for breakfast. It was good :-) We then proceeded to the "Via dei Condotti", the famous street where all the Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc. stores are. We went in a few, just to look around. When you walk in some model doorman with an expensive suit will open the door and breath some rehearsed Italian welcome. There are about 10 items in each room, the average price usually in the thousands. Snooty women are walking around and occasionally there were some men wearing tight pants carrying purses... interesting. It was fun, though, and all these shops were in beautiful old buildings. Then Sammy and I walked up the Spanish steps (keep in mind, I wore boots... with heels... stupid, stupid, 
stupid.) and back down. We stopped at some other cool places on the way to Trevi fountain - I didn't throw a coin in, because I know I'll be back :-) I also saw the newspaper building which was huge and cool, and then Sammy and I ate at Hard Rock Cafe, haha. I got cherry pepsi which was incredible, because it literally does not exist in Italy. Then we decided to go to the mall! :-) It was fun, the first Italian mall I've seen, and there was even a store like a walmart, haha. So I got to see the tourist Rome and the real Rome - it was an awesome day. Then I traveled back to Grosseto by train and made it back to the Childers'. It was a fun day, and I can't wait to go back soon! 
