Sunday in Montepulciano

I should be studying but I keep falling asleep! After I explored the market at the piazza, Seymour and I walked around town. I noticed that many people smoke, but there must be a law against smoking in buildings because they all stand outside. Speaking of outside, although there is a street outside of my window but no bars, people seem to congregate to talk and laugh most of the night outside of my window - especially on weekends. No wonder I'm always tired!

Anyway, we walked to the supermarket and found that it is only open from 9 am to 1 pm on Sundays (it was 2 pm) Seymour has some canned dog food left but it is not his favorite. Hopefully it will hold him over until after school tomorrow.

I stopped for pizza and a coke - cost about 3.7 euro - which was reasonable. Here is a pic of pizza and beer I had the other night.




As you can see, their pizza is very thin. It has some sauce and some cheese but it is not overdone. Maybe I am just spoiled, but I prefer Betos pizza in Pgh! Looking at this picture makes me want another beer right now, but I do have to study! I will have to write down the name of this beer because it was good.

Here, you order your food and stand at a bar to eat or drink. If you want to sit at a table, there is a table charge of about 20%. They do not expect tips in Italy so it comes to about the same as a tip. I don't like standing because by the time I stop to eat or drink, I am tired and want to sit.

I am wondering if people in Italy live longer than Americans because of the exercise, olive oil and red wine? Hopefully, I am working on extending my life :)
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A Few More Siena Pictures

This was the ceiling of one of the courtyards we explored.




Another crowd picture from Siena. Obviously a popular place on weekends. I didn't take a picture of the tours, but there were quite a few groups of people following a person with a flag. Not my idea of a fun time.

Siena Pictures

This church is more beautiful and big than a picture can show.



This is the man who was playing the violin - I loved it, Seymour, not so much



One of the street performers. I wish I had asked him to hold Seymour but I guess statues can't do that!




Here are some pics of the square in Siena where they have a horse race every year. This is also where I paid 4.5 euro for a can on Coke!






There was a wedding here on the square and you can't see her, but the bride just came out of the church.


One of the streets in Siena. Every place is hilly! Oh, my legs!!



The new sandals I bought in Siena for 10 euro. Notice the swollen feet.


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Pictures of my room in Montepulciano

This is the front door of the house where I am staying




Here is my room - small but has what I need - the fan!!




Blurry but this is the bathroom and there are stairs beside the sink that lead to the combo toilet/shower. I am used to it.


This is the combo toilet/shower

Siena

Yesterday we spent all day in Siena. It cost just over 5 euros each way by bus and the trip takes about 1 1/2 hours. The last time I was in Siena I really only saw the square but this time I walked all over for 7 hours. Paulina and I went together but shopped separately and met up when it was time to catch the bus back.

I found a pair of sandals for 10 euros and a pair of culotte-type pants for 10 euros. Both on sale. I also found a 99 cent store and bought a few things there. One over priced item I had at lunch was a Coke light. It cost 4.5 euros or about $7 for a can of Coke! I guess they were charging for the view of the piazza - and for some ice they added. Another telling thing I saw was a picture of a line of dogs, all dressed for different countries. The one for America had a dollar sign on their tail. I guess they think we are all rich.

There were street musicians and those people painted gold that look like statues. I loved one man's violin playing and bought his cd. I talked with him and found out he is from Czech Republic. BTW, Seymour HATES violin music and church bells - both very common here due to all of the churches and music in the churches :)

If you remember the Seseme Street song "One of these things is not like the other", someone could have sang that talking about me in Siena. " One of these 10,000 people is not like the other" since I was the only one in long pants, a long sleeved shirt and regular shoes! Now I at least now I have one summer outfit.

Fiorella let me wash clothes today and was surprised that I had a single packet of Tide since they also use that here. When the clothes are dry, she has a drying rack I can use. I had been washing small things in the sink and hanging them out the window.

I am at the Piazza Grande and they have set up a little market here. I am going to walk around it and then go back to the house to hang up my clothes and study. Later I Will come back and post some pictures.

One week is already over. I am butchering the Italian I am trying to use. I called myself an ancient building instead of "old". They said they have no word for a person being old - how nice.

Oh, and a correction - it is not true that all the fruits and veggies here are organic. The person who told me obviously wasn't from here. As in the USA, Fiorella said it would be too expensive if they were all organic but there is a store that sells organic.

More Pictures from Montepulciano

Seymour in class - his favorite position




I think this was one of the streets used in New Moon where Bella (I think had to run to get to the Piazza)



Here is another view from the city.



Here we are touring the market today. One of our teachers, Sara, is giving us a lesson in what to say.




Here is a small portion of the market




I thought that this was a cool vehicle


This is another view of the Piazza Grande - I sit by this old well to get internet connection at night.

Il Sasso - Italian Class Day 4

Our school day consists of class, 30 min break in the late morning for espresso, and a 15 min break around lunch time. BTW, coffee here is espresso that you can add milk or water to. I am drinking 2 cups of that strong stuff every morning so even though I am tired, that could be the reason I'm having trouble sleeping. Anyway, we get out about 1:15 pm which is when most people get ready to go to lunch. Many shops are closed from about 1 until 3 pm.

We have been given a course book called Caffe Italia to use in class. If we want to purchase it, it is 18 euros. The book is all in Italian so I must say that after class I sometimes stay and use Goggle Translate to find out what I did not understand! I won't purchase the book because I don't want to carry anything else around Italy but they have given us many handouts and I have a few notebooks of words and phrases I need to learn. Right now we are learning to conjugate verbs - and it is only day 4. Fiorella (my sweet hostess) is still talking to me in Italian and now I can understand about 2 words. It makes for short conversations!

There is a market here every Thursday but it only goes from 8 am until 1 pm, which is when we have class. Today all of the classes went there and practiced saying our fruits and veggies. I can say "banana", "melone" and "pera" - and I expect that you also know those words.

We then had an hour to shop around. I found a tee shirts for 1 euro which will be worn often. I wish I had found 1 more pair of capris or long, cool pants. I did end up purchasing a wind up watch for 5 euros because I can't figure out how to change the time on my watch. The last time I tried, I accidentally set the alarm to go off at midnight every night and I had to hide the watch in a drawer so I wouldn't hear it!

Of course the market is at the very bottom of the hill and our class is about 3/4 of the way up the hill - more exercise!

At the end of class today we had a pizza party - 6 euros. I do have to keep track of what I spend here since I still have over 11 weeks left in Italy.

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