Lauren Goes to Italy

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Sorry there wasn’t a post yesterday! Not only was it raining and a bad day to take pictures, but I’ve been very busy with schoolwork. But as promised, here’s some pictures of Siena!

Here’s the gorgeous campanile, or bell tower, that’s on top of the Palazzo Pubblico. Yes, this is the same photo as on the top of my blog. I took this photo the first day I got to Siena, but hadn’t had a reason to post it until now.

Here’s the cobblestones I was warned about! Good thing I only brought comfortable shoes on my trip! I’m always amazed when I see women wearing high heels in Siena- I’m surprised they don’t topple over! Speaking of shoes, footwear is very different here. For example, Crocs are condoned, even popular! My professor Fiora told me that once when she was in college, she had to write a paper about whether teenagers could be identified by their shoes. At first she thought it was a stupid prompt, but then as she looked around, it turned out to be true. Teenagers usually wear colorful tennis shoes from Nike etc. or “skater” shoes, like Etnies sneakers. Younger kids wear shoes similar to the kind *I* wear: sneakers, sandals, and ballet flats. Adult women wear heels and adult men wear leather shoes that encase the whole foot.

And that’s just while we’re out of the house. At home, everyone wears shoes, too. In America, when I get home I take off my shoes. It’s just to be comfortable, but I know some people take off their shoes at home as to not scuff up the floor or carpet. But here, the first time I took off my shoes, my host family was very confused. They asked why I was walking barefoot. It was actually sort of humorous to them. At home, Italians wear slippers, clogs, or other comfortable shoes. I think it’s because people don’t clean the floors as often here- before I started wearing shoes full time, the soles of my feet would get black with dirt.

Animal statues like this elephant one can be found all over the city. They serve as markers so you always know what contrada, or neighborhood, of the city you are in. There are 17 in all, each with its own animal or mythical creature mascot. Each contrada of Siena gets a chance to choose a horse for the Palio each summer, and in the May election, three contradas are selected. My family’s contrada is Bruco, the caterpillar. All over the house we have caterpillar ceramics, paintings, and a flag out front. We don’t even *live* in the Bruco contrada- people might choose their contrada by being born into a family that has habitually cheered for a certain contrada. I didn’t choose Bruco, but since I live with a family that has, now its my contrada too. I am genuinely happy that Bruco was one of the three contradas to win the lottery this year, and will get to select a horse and jockey for the Palio.

My goal right now is to take a picture of all 17 contrada markers, but I’m only at 8 or so. When I’ve got them all, I’ll do a more detailed post on what each contrada stands for.

My feet again. I took this one while sitting in the Campo. It’s actually less busy than usual in this picture, because the weather hasn’t been very nice.

There has been a lot of rain this summer: only half of the days I’ve been here have been sunny. But there’s a benefit to this- because it doesn’t usually rain much in Italy, by June all the countryside is brown. Because of the rain, it’s stayed green all through May and into June. But it’s still a but dreary. So in order to add some color to my life,

I bought this beautiful scarf!  I fell in love with it a few days ago, but was shopping around to make sure there wasn’t a better deal than seven euros. I bought it in the non-touristy part of town, quite a hike but great for shopping for things that would otherwise be very expensive, like for example, shower gel. Sick of using my family’s smelly bar of soap, I went to the Italian version of K-Mart, called UPim, and bought some coconut scented shower gel for a couple euros. I’m so cheap, and so wary of the euro, that these have been my first purchases in Italy besides tickets and water bottles! Well, and gelato. But gelato is more of a necessity than an expense.

Speaking of water bottles, the best thing about Italy is that you can refill your bottle anywhere, whether from a water fountain or a bathroom sink. All the tap water here comes from the mountains, is packed with calcium, and tastes ten times better than American tap water. And much better than bottled water, too!

I especially liked this piece of graffiti, which is written on the side of the aquaducts that surround the Sienese walls. It really fits with my visit to Siena right now; while I’m learning a lot in class, I learn the most from being in the city. From walking around, learning to read signs and ask for directions, talking to people… The city itself really IS my teacher.

I really wanted to post a video I made today while sitting in the Campo, but I’m having trouble uploading it onto YouTube. I don’t see why a 50 second video is taking fifteen minutes to upload! Any suggestions?