My first experience with the Palio hoopla!

Yesterday was a free day, and I was able to explore Siena some more. After breakfast, Ana Rose and I went to the Fortezza, the fort in Siena. It has an amazing view of the city and the Tuscan hills. Later that day, I went running around it (about a mile loop) and loved taking in the views and the beautiful temperature. You could imagine the history embedded in the fort walls. Siena has a lot of hills, so on the way back I could not make it up a hill near Stella’s apartment – my goal by the end of the trip? To be able to run up the big hill! Stella was joking at dinner when I told her about my goal, that she and Ana Rose would be standing at the top cheering me on during my last run up the hill! Ana Rose and I went to Upim (like a JCPenney) to get toiletries then went to lunch and got pizza near the Piazza. During Ana Rose’s class in the afternoon, I went on my run and Skyped to my parents. Stella and Ana Rose met Mom and Dad via Skype, and Stella could not believe how “bellissimo” the beach was out their window (they were in Vero). Ana Rose and I then went to get gelato, which Ana Rose treated me to since it is an Italian tradition that whoever graduates buys everyone else the food, and it was her last Italian course today before her next one starts up. We sat in Piazza Salimbeni for two hours enjoying our gelato and talking. Afterwards, Stella taught Ana Rose and I how to make eggplant, and around 8pm we had another delicious dinner together. We started with pasta and tomato sauce (made from fresh tomatoes of course!), then had carpaccio with arugula, eggplant, bread, and fruit salad for dessert. Of course you put olive oil on everything, and the fruit salad was made with limoncello. All of the ingredients are fresh and homemade, making them so flavorful! We had great conversation as usual, and after dinner Stella gave me my first Italian lesson. She is a retired Italian teacher for foreign students, so she was very excited that I knew Latin and loved teaching the similarities between the two! I should be all set for My Italian class on Monday! After dinner, Ana Rose and I got ready to meet up with the rest of the CET students. We wandered around Siena, trying to find the contrada party that some of their Italian roommates had told them about. After asking directions from several Italians, even yelling up to some who were sitting by an open window of their apartment, we finally found the Tartucca party (the Tortoise contrada). It was so much fun because we were basically the only Americans there – it is a local party in celebration of the upcoming Palio, with Italians of all ages (but mostly fairly young) socializing, dancing to the music, hanging out etc. They even had karaoke with Italians trying to sing “I can’t get no satisfaction”! At the end with met up with some of the Italian roommates of the other students and their friends, who helped us find our way home.