It’s kind of crazy, but this past weekend we a made fairly spur of the moment decision to head to Siena and Pisa. We planned the trip Wednesday night and decided to leave Friday morning via bus to Siena. We would then spend the day there, catch a train to Pisa and spend the night in a hostel. On Saturday tour Pisa and head home Saturday night by train. The plan was a success. Friday morning we woke up and we were in Siena by noon. To our surprise a lot of other students had decided to check out Siena also, but we all broke off into our separate groups. To be honest when we first decided to go to Siena I wasn’t that excited. Seriously, what is there to see in Siena? But I figured it would be cool anyway because how many people can say they have been there. When we first arrived it was a cute little town. Not too different from that of Perugia. Then we found the cathedral. No big deal. It was AMAZING. No matter how much I try and describe it, I will never do it any justice. So here is my weak attempt. The cathedral itself was built of black and white marble. Every inch of it was filled with minor details and the sculptures were incredible. For a mere 10 euros, we got to explore the Cathedral, the crypt, a museum and the bastille. There were endless paintings, and sculptures of saints and such. It was awesome to see all this unbelievable history. Brit and I also stumbled upon this amazing view. Literally we walked up a set of shady stairs and BAM; we were on top of the world. It was an unforgettable day!
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| The Cathedral, when we first walked upon it |
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| A more front view of the Cathedral |
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| It was HUGE! |
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| The Sky was an amazing backdrop |
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| The details were absolutely crazy |
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| The cathedral was literally covered with some form of sculpted detail |
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| There I am...hi! |
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| This was the view I was telling you about...it was pretty crazy stumbling upon this. |
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| The sun was shining :) |
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| The town below us |
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| The Cathedral from up high |
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Did I mention we made a friend while on the roof!
He saw us and yelled over..."Ciao"
**Unfortunately I have no pictures of the Museum and sculptures because we weren't allowed to take them inside** |
After the exhausting day in Siena, we took the train to Pisa and found our hostel. The hostel itself was kind of a hoot. The décor was colorful to say the least (pictures below). Despite the decorations it was a nice hostel. We had 2 rooms of 3 all to ourselves, which was of course nice and we could lock stuff in there and feel safe about it. But when we arrived in Pisa the only thing we really had on our minds was our stomachs. We were all starving (figuratively speaking) and getting a bit grouchy. So we decided to check out the place we had passed on our way to the hostel “Taverna Emma”. It was a tiny little authentic Italian restaurant. We had to wait to be seated because there wasn’t enough room. About 20 (long) minutes later, we were all sitting, stomachs growling and ready to eat. It was probably the BEST meal I have ever eaten in my life (so far). We decided to go all out and started with antipasti, then had the most amazing pasta, followed by dessert. But it wasn’t just the food that was great, so was the atmosphere. The restaurant clearly wasn’t meant for tourists (the menu was strictly in Italian, so there was a lot of guessing when ordering), and there was a table nearby of about 14-16 Italian’s enjoying a great meal with great wine and great friends. One highlight of the meal was grappa. It is tradition to have grappa after a meal to “aid with your digestion”. The nearby Italian group (who were clearly friends with the chef) came over and showed us what grappa was and poured us all a shot (on them!) It was…strong…to say the least, but not bad I guess! Two hours after being grumpily seated for dinner, we were all happily fed and had enjoyed the best meal ever! It was an awesome time! Then off to bed.
The restaurant and the meal....
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| The Menu, all in Italian! |
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| Delicious bread |
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| Part of the Antipasti dish |
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| Pasta Ragu (my dinner). Yummy! |
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| A meat dish that Sarah and Sam enjoyed! |
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| Dessert! Ice cream, and a chocolate cake thing... |
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| The other dessert option, similar to Tirmasue |
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Brit before she enjoys dessert.
*Note the Italian group in the background! |
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| Dessert Decoration |
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| Grappa! |
Our Hostel....
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Our rooms were called "Michelangelo", and "Galileo"
...but James Bond made an appearance in one of them! |
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| We had epic sticker art |
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| Our Beds were very colorful, and the walls, and pretty much everything else... |
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| It didn't really match... |
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| Dog Butt hooks...great for hanging anything! |
Saturday morning we woke up and started our day in Pisa. Our first destination, the leaning tower of course! As we walked up to it, we just started laughing. It’s a leaning tower. Pictures don’t do it justice because they don’t show how much it really does lean, but it’s just a humorous leaning tower…that’s all I can say about it. The best part was seeing everyone pose for “the picture”. After we were done we got ourselves some food and headed home for a lazy Sunday!
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| THE Leaning Tower of Pisa! |
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| Yup that's right, I was there! |
Let the photo montage of people holding up the tower begin...
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| "this is easy" |
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| oh hey, a two for one deal... |
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| "Look! One Hand" |
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| "I can hold it up with my finger" |
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| "Using my legs to keep the tower from falling" |
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| Ballin' |
Clearly I was creepin' hard core on people
...and I got a picture holding up the tower too...unfortunately it isn't on my camera so you will all have to wait until I get home to see that pic!
Anyway, Pisa was fun, but if you ask me…go to Siena over Pisa if you are ever in Italy, there is much more to see! It was a great weekend! Looking forward to some more adventures to come!
Grazie, Arielle!
P.S. I had my first cannoli, delicious!
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