I have been told you have to try traveling by yourself, at least once. This of course came from my roommate who is perfectly content with traveling for weeks at a time by herself! But I figured I'd give it a try. Sooo I went for a little adventure this weekend ... by myself. I took a day trip to Siena, and it wasn't as scary as I thought! Siena is not that far from Perugia, and by bus it only took even less time than the train! But now if you know me, you know that doing anything alone is pretty much my least favorite activity. I like to be surrounded by people, and when I am making decisions about when to do things, I usually make them around when someone else can come with me. But for once, it was nice to do things on my own time, to make decisions based solely on what I wanted to do, and go where I wanted to go. Now I don't think that I could travel for long periods of time by myself, one day was enough for me, but it was interesting to realize that I can get around Italy on my own. I used my Italian, and I suffered through some interesting travel mistakes, but I'm still alive and I think I'm the better for it!
It didn't hurt that Siena was BEAUTIFUL! A friend of mine had studied there in June, and had told me all about it, so I knew I had to get there at some point in my study abroad experience and I very glad I did! The town is a lot like Perugia, its a city, but its fairly small. All of the streets are skinny and buildings are close together and most of the monuments and historical sights are definitely within walking distance. And the main piazza, Il Campo, is awesome! Everyone comes here to eat and hang out in the sunshine. The main civic building is in Il Campo and right in front of it is a raised walkway area, much like steps without the steps, or a theaters graduated seating, without the seats. And it was just an awesome little place, bustling with life and people!
And the civic center has some amazing artwork in it, including a painting that I'd been learning about in one of my classes, that I didn't know was located there, and was an awesome surprise! I love learning about artists and artwork and then being able to see their artwork in person. It is probably one of the coolest feelings ever, to be able to appreciate art because you know what it is and who made it. And after having spent so much time on this particular painting and then literally bumping into it in this museum, was unreal! It helps, too, that this painting is on a huge scale and probably 30 times my size, but still, it was awe inspiring for reasons other than its grandiose nature. And attached to this civic center is a bell tower, that I was instructed by my friend to climb, even though it was 330 steps up. But I did 414 in Florence right? So this, I thought, would be nothing! Well it was quite the trek up, but it was well worth it! The views were incredible! You could see all of Siena, and much of the surrounding countryside. It was breathtaking! You were only allowed to spend 15 minutes at the top, due to size restrictions at the top of the tower, but I could've spent hours. I couldn't take my eyes off of the expanse of rooftops that blurred into one another and the hills and countryside that literally rolled on forever. It was exactly what you think of when you think of a little town in Italy. So amazingly Italian that you literally want to stay there, soaking it in forever.
So all in all, I had an amazing time on my little adventure alone. It was a bit nerve racking at times, but I'm glad I did it. Not only did I get to see an amazing city, but I got to know that I can travel alone. Being by myself and on my own is not that scary over all. And I pride myself on being fairly independent in my life in general, but every once in a while, its nice to have a reminder that you actually are! :)
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