Hotel Il Sole Massa Marittima

For the last couple weeks my Italian culture class has been on and off again because my professor was hospitalized with pneumonia. This week she finally resumed lectures, however we are in a different class room that is literally right across from her apartment so she doesn't have to walk a long way in the cold. And it is getting really cold in Siena right now.

This, unfortunately, means ...

... over the rocks into the pools and the first Roman designed showers. Since it was night time it was hard to make out everything but I could easily see the mist and fog rising off the hot waters. Hotels and fancy restaurants and shops have now built up around the baths. He also took me to visit Monticciello, Montipuchiano and Pienza, all are etruscan hill towns. The streets are narrow stone paths built on a slant winding up between the connected ...

... sink. At the lowest point of the square, the spare but elegant Palazzo Comunale, also known as the Palazzo Pubblico, is the town hall (containing a civic museum on its lower level). From the palazzo, the Torre del Mangia – a graceful bell tower built in 1297 – soars above the entirety of Il Campo.

Il Campo was huge, and spectacular, and full of energy – and by the time we got there around 12 noon, it contained throngs ...

un autre jour, une autre destination! Aujourd'hui, nous somme parties pour Siene. Arrive a siene, nous avons traverse la ville pour y trouver un bureau d'information touristique. une fois la carte de la vile en main, nous somme aller dinner dans un resto, un peu a l'ecart des sites touristiques. Comme dans tout les restorant italien, il y ...

... life time on this trip already!
Climbed the tower in the main piazza, saw an enormously large pizza and had wild boar sausages for lunch which were a bit gamey but nice.
Went for drinks at Lochness bar and ended up drinking long islands as there wasn't much in the way of wine or beer there.

... we need to be in Morocco by the 18th Dec as Kim promised me I would have surfing on my birthday - yay!!!! Then we have Hayden and Gill joining us for Christmas in Marrakesh - whoo hoo! It was text message city in Scooby this morning as we got another text this time from Gill in London giving us the fantastic news that I had been accepted as a British citizen. I had lodged my papers before we left London but did not expect to hear so soon as processing times can be up to 6 months!

... I get along really well with all of the girls and my actual roommate coincidentally enough goes to Davis as well. So all in all I am very satisfied with my living situation.

A little bit about school, I have Italian language class Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 12:30 with like a 20 minute break (during which everyone usually goes to a bar to drink coffee and eat pastries). As a side note, I LOVE Italian bars. I think it's one of the things that I will miss the most ...

... with the O'Calahans, Orrs, Harpers and Ina. We had a competition where some riders told a story explaining the empty farm houses in the valleys that we rode pass. The evening concluded after dinner when we retired to our rooms.

Italy Day 14

We rose this morning and had breakfast with the Orrs. Today was planned off day with everyone taking a bus into Siena for a day of touring. Kathie and I had a head start from the day before but joined in for the tour also ...

... walked for about 45 minutes along the river Tevere (Tiber) to the Trastevere ("across the Tevere") district for dinner. This was a little more meaty/"real" part of town with a younger and more rambunctious crowd. We had dinner at a place Andrea (did we mention Andrea is a man?) recommended that was typical of Roman food. It turned out to be fine but very expensive. We walked back through the city via a number of small streets interspersed with small restaurant & cafés to the Piazza ...

... it rung. Our inside joke was that it probably had not been rung in ages and all the people in the plaza must have been wondering what the big occasion was. Of course no city trip is complete without a stop at the local Duomo so we checked that out too.