Hello
again!
Even though
I haven’t done much travelling lately (I haven’t done travelling at all tbh),
I’ve had a great time in Siena. The weather has finally improved and literally
gone from rain to full-blown summer with sunny days of up to 28°C. It has just been calling for sunny chilling on the Piazza and
barbecues, so that’s what we’ve been doing.
On the
Tuesday I went to class and ran a couple errands including picking up some
books to read from the library’s very limited foreign language collection. In
the afternoon I went to the Piazza to start reading one of them. It was so
insanely warm I sat in the shade but was so warm anyway! Then I was joined by
Vero and we spent a good three hours chatting and catching up because it had
been ages since I’d last seen her! We got sort of hungry and decided to go to
Peterland for some chips and nuggets. Cheat meal but it was so worth it! The
amount of chips was insane and neither of us could finish them, but it was so
good because I hadn’t had chips in a very long time… We spent another two hours
and a half just lying on the Piazza chatting, “marujeando” like I say in
Spanish, until we decided it was high time we went home! It was such a lovely
afternoon-evening <3
On
Wednesday I went to class, did some bulk cooking… The usual. After lunch I went
to see the Storia Sociale teacher to have a clearer idea of what to expect in
the exam and he was really nice. Now I can structure the studying properly (but
actually sitting down to study it is a whole other story…). I did some work at
home and then went out for a run before having dinner and getting ready to meet
Vero in the Piazza for pres before Al Cambio. We bumped into the old man with
his rabbits which Vero always mentions but I’d never actually seen. He just
brings them to the square and sets them free and people pet them and take
pictures. Oh, Siena, sometimes you’re weird. Al Cambio was a strange night
though. I hadn’t been there on a Wednesday in like forever and it was quite
empty (I guess people have already started to study for their exams). The theme
was 80s and 90s music, but they were playing a really bizarre repertoire –
music 4/10. Megan joined us and we found Emilio and Tsubasa and also Ody and
his friends. I’d met Ody back in March when we were going to Vainilla but
hadn’t actually spoken to him until now. His friend Stefanos was leaving on
Saturday so they were making the most of his time left in Siena and we ended up
hanging out with them and their two Italian friends – it was fun.
On Thursday
I had one of those days when you just can’t do anything with yourself. It was
also quite hot which didn’t help. I showered and did some work, went to cinema
class (boring as usual) and then decided to grab some snacks in Conad and watch
a bit of Modern Family because why not? I cleaned the house and then had a
chill and early night because I was feeling tired.
On Friday
morning I ran some errands and had something to eat before heading to PAM to
meet Vero and buy some drinks and snacks for the barbecue. Ody and Stefanos had
organized everything and so we went to their residence which is outside Siena
near the Ospedale. It is amazing! I always find it interesting to see halls in
other countries and this one looked a lot like an English one except for the
shared bedrooms and the fact that it was right in the middle of the
countryside. So we joined them two and Pier, Matthew and Zoe (yes, another Zoe)
to head to the park and get the barbecue going. The guys took care of
everything while us girls were chatting (they kept saying they didn’t need any
help hey!) and we had a great lunch – everybody was starving! The meat was
great and they’d made chips and an actual Greek salad that was so tasty. And music and beers to top it
all off, it was a fantastic sunny afternoon and we couldn’t have asked for
anything better. Vero and I left around half six and then I got home and
decided to skip crossfit and instead take a shower and nap for a bit. We met up
with them all again on the Piazza at around elevenish for Stefanos’ last night
out in Siena and stayed there having some drinks until around half one when we
decided it was time to hit Bellavista. The music wasn’t great but we had fun
anyway and the guys kept the creeps away so it was a win-win situation. It was
sad to say good-bye to Stefanos, he seemed like a really nice guy I wish I’d
met him earlier.
On the
Saturday I woke up around half ten and went out for a run and workout at the
Fortezza. It took me some force of will to get out of bed but I felt so
energized after doing some exercise! After showering, doing some laundry and
having lunch I went to the Fortezza again to meet up with Emilia and Katy,
who’d come to visit from Naples. It was nice to see her; we went for ice-cream
at La Favorita (mint and lemon this time) and bumped into a parade from my very
own contrada del Drago. I had no idea
it was going on, as well as seeing a couple old cars from the Mille Miglia
who’d come past Siena earlier in the morning.
I then decided to go to Santa
Maria della Scala which is another museum in Siena opposite the Duomo. It’s an
old hospital and has historical sites and also pieces of art on exhibition. It
was interesting. I got a free audioguide with my free ticket (perks of being a
Siena student) and wandered around on my own. High-lights of the visit were the
Compagnia di Santa Caterina della Notte with the original archives, the
Archaeological Museum which houses the Treasury (so eerie to walk on my own)
and the temporary photography installation ‘Ten Years and Eighty-Seven Days’ by
Lucia Menazzi Moretti, about the experiences and statements of death-row
prisioners in Texas – it was very thought-provoking and definitely worth a
visit if you are in Siena before the 4th of June.
After the
museum I dropped by Conad and did some work before having dinner and getting
ready to go out yet again. I went with Vero to a friend of hers, Amber, for
pres and Hà and Tsubasa happened to also be there, along with a few other
people I didn’t know. We played a couple of games and left around midnight to
hit the contrada party at Oca before it finished. When we got there it was
packed! It was outdoors and they’d set up tents and the music was great, but
there was so many people we had a hard time finding a familiar face! Ody and
another Greek girl ended up joining us and we danced for a bit before heading
to Al Cambio, where Megan joined Vero and I. I had such a fun night dancing and
chatting to people outside the club. I saw Andrea, Sarah, Francesco and a few
other people. The post-club slice of pizza was heavenly and much needed and I
got home just in time to avoid the rain.
On Sunday I
was really tired and kind of hungover so I slept in and had breakfast, then did
some cooking and showered before lunch and sat down to study. Of course, it was
not easy to concentrate, especially with the lovely weather outside, but I did
what I could. I also spoke with Moni who caught me up on the Fécamp news while
she was tending the bar in the Mill. I can’t wait to see her in Glasgow!
Monday was
an average day. I went to class, I went to the gym and died, I bought a flag of
contrada del Drago, cause you can’t
live in Siena without having a flag of your quarter (also the party is this
weekend so keep tuned for the next post!). After Power Pump I came back home
quickly to shower and get ready to meet Vero, Jess, Megan and her parents in
Pomodorino. Mike and Debra were so lovely inviting us for dinner – I had a nice
evening chatting and eating pizza and dessert!
On Tuesday
I was really productive for once. I woke up at 8 and went to do the grocery
shopping in PAM because it wasn’t too hot yet. Then I came home and grabbed my
packed lunch before heading to class and after Storia Sociale I had lunch under
the sun with Jess and we spent a good three hours and a half in Sala Rossa
which is an old church turned into study space. After that I came home, got
changed and hit the gym for an hour. I was knackered but it was so worth it!
Then I popped into Conad to grab a few bits I hadn’t found in PAM and came back
home to do some cooking and chill. My tortilla recipe was published on Piazza
del Campus and you can check it out here: https://piazzadelcampus.it/tortilla-espanola-5971/
On
Wednesday I wanted to be efficient but that went out of the window. I went to
the last Storia Sociale class and then came back home and sorted some stuff out
and did some bulk cooking. I then had lunch and decided to take a short nap
because I was kind of tired. At around fiveish I met with Grazia to catch up
and speak a bit of Italian which was really nice. We sat in the Piazza – it was
so hot!- and she also took me to a bookshop in Via Camollia with massive
discounts due to closing so I got myself a copy of a thriller in Italian. I
went back at around seven and had lunch and got changed to go up to UniStraSi
for a Notte di Poesia or poetry night. Vero and Simay were reading so I went to
listen to them. The event involved reading poetry in foreign languages and then
their translation into Italian and was a nice evening, but I thought it dragged
on a bit too long. We left before the end because they had an exam the next
morning.
On Thursday
I woke up early and went out for a run and workout in the Fortezza and then at
home I did some laundry and a bit of revision before lunch and going to class
for the film screening. We watched ‘À bout de souffle’ by Godard and I really
enjoyed it! I want to watch more of his films. I then wanted to watch ‘I
Vitelloni’ by Fellini because I didn’t go last Friday but the film guy was
nowhere to be found. I borrowed a copy from the library instead but I didn’t
realize my disc reader doesn’t work so I was left watching only half of it
through online streaming fml I then decided to do a bit of work and organizing
for the next day, as we were going to the beach! I didn’t do much else that
day.
On Friday
it was only Megan and I going to the beach. We decided to go to Castiglione
della Pescaia which is about 2 hours away changing in Grosseto (which is a very
sad looking town in my opinion). The trip was fine and we got to the beach in
the morning and spent a good couple of hours sun tanning and swimming (even
though there were no waves and it was very shallow). It was great to feel the
sand and salty water again – once an islander, forever an islander!
We got back
to Siena around six (and we managed not to sunburn so kudos to us!) and I
decided to nap before getting ready to go out. We went to the Piazza for some
drinks with Andrea, Sarah, Etienne (who came to visit for the weekend), Dan and
Leona, Vero, Megan and Francesco and then hit Chiocciola for the outdoor party
that everybody was raving about. It was really cool – the garden is amazing and
the place was packed! The music was great and we had a tonne of fun. Afterwards
Megan and I went with Emilio to Bellavista but there was no more music so in
the end I just got some pizza and went home. Not bad at all.
As a sneak
peak, just know that the next post starts with the Contrada del Drago party on
my very own road, so definitely keep tuned to read that! Happy times!
Don’t
forget to follow me on social media!
Snapchat: zoeamma
Alla
prossima!
Zoe
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