Siena, San Gimignano

So as I expected I'm kind of bad at keeping up with this blogging thing. Hanging out on the internet has a tendency to be boring, though, and I'd much rather be out and about or even just watching Barbie in Italian. (By the way, Barbie movies are really weird.) Living here is really fantastic. Most days I go to school, sit through the three hours of Italian in the morning, and then through language labs which are sometimes actually tours around the city. (And which sometimes include TWO tours in one day, and as much as I like learning about Siena, my legs and feet get angry.) Then afterward I hang out with some people in the campo until dinner time, which is at 8:30. So this also means that I frequently need something like gelato to tide me over. I am going to be so fat.

I want gelato right now, in fact. Chocolate mousse gelato is probably one of the best things to happen in the world.

SPEAKING of gelato, actually, we took an optional group trip to San Gimignano which has a gelataria that's won world gelato championships. I got banana and nutella, and it really was ridiculously good, although in retrospect I feel like I should have gotten one of there more exotic flavors. There was also a really beautiful fortress and the view was great. Fortresses are great places for views. It was also free. There was a tower we could choose to climb, but we didn't feel like paying to get in. Also really lazy. Anyway, San Gimignano was really adorable and just a smaller, less touristy version of Siena. It was pretty great, although lacking in the piazza department. But then, I don't think there's a better campo than the Piazza del Campo in Siena.

San Gimignano is filled with towers that you aren't allowed to climb, but they're very picturesque:

The view from San Gimiagnano's fortress. The place you could go without paying. :)

Siena is fabulous. It's a city, so there are things to do, but it's mostly university students and tourists (depending on the season). It's pretty safe and small, but still exciting. And it has the campo which is where we've been spending a good amount of time. Not sure what we're going to do if it rains / when it starts getting chilly. We spend a good few hours a day sometimes in the campo.

Siena's tower is better.

Siena's campo is fabulous. Here's a contrada parade. No big deal. Party in the campoooo.

It rained today (this entry is taking many days for me to write, because I am bad at writing much at once). We made puppy chow. We cannot do this every day. Peanut butter is 3.77 euro for about a cup and a half. Not a good deal. (Nutella, on the other hand, is lots cheaper here, unfortunately for my weight.) We also looked up plane ticket prices. Trying to figure out where to go for fall break and also for some weekends coming up. There are so many options, none of them as cheap as I wish they were.

Unfortunately for our weekend plans, it's supposed to rain forever (until next Tuesday), so we're not gonna go to Rome as planned. Going to wait for a sunnier weekend, so that we can do more walking around and less bus ridin. Being thrifty in Italy during rainy times is tough.

SPEAKING of tough, my goal is to find Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Italian AND paperback and to buy it to bring home. I really really want it, but the hardcover is 16,80 euro, which I think is pretty ridonkulous. (That's like 24, 25 dollars. Amazon deals are way better.) I've been in four or five bookstores, to no avail. But I think I'll look in Florence and Rome for a copy, also. There's a whole Harry Potter store in Rome according to my host mama's brother, who is way cool.

All the family we're meeting is cool. I really love the family I'm with, and their family and the friends of theirs we've met. Basically the best.