Despite not feeling well, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning and took a train to Siena. Not only was it my first real train ride, but my first spontaneous, alone trip in a foreign country. I had no clue where I was going and I was a bit freaked out by the whole deal. But after powering through the day and figuring out everything as I went along- I felt empowered and ready to take on another Italian city!
I have many more pictures of Siena to share, but in an effort to keep caught up on my travel blog, I’ll just post a few.
It has been snowing off and on in Florence for over a week with no real accumulation… I was surprised to arrive in Siena and see so much snow. The snow-covered roofs were one of my favorite sights on this trip.
I was completely lost, upon arriving at the train station in Siena. I needed to take a bus to the city center, but COULD NOT for the life of me find the darn bus stop. After wasting an hour, I finally found it and boarded a bus- only I had no clue if it was even going to the correct place. I tried to stay calm and tell myself that it was ok if I got lost. I rode around for awhile and finally got off the bus when half of the passengers started to evacuate at one specific stop…. Lesson learned- follow the crowd. I just happened to get off, right near the middle of the city. It is the small triumphs, I tell you.
Another favorite was all of the arches through THE most narrow streets I have yet to see. Seeing these, you’ll understand why everyone rides bikes, vespas or little 3-wheeled trucks. 
A partial view of the Piazza del Campo and the Torre del Mangia. I wanted to climb the stairs to the top of the tower, but it was closed due to the snow.
Ahhhh, Tuscany….
When you see hoards of Italians lined up at a little shack near the middle of the main piazza- you know there must be something good.. In this case it was Frittelle di Riso (or rice fritters) that are apparently very popular during Carnevale. Balls of rice cooked in milk and mixed with flour and egg and fried. Although the ingredients list on this particular place listed only riso (flour), farina (wheat) and another ingredient that I cannot remember that was not “latte” or “uovo”. Anywho, they were fantastic! Fritelle di Riso and pizza was my dinner of champions for the bus ride home.
