Eating with the Locals

We got told to eat at the winning contrada's party that night, so we turned up, payed 10 euros each and got included in the dinner which included Spaghetti Bolognese, hamburgers, bread and potatoes. For those who don't eat meat (Mommy and Ashlynn) all they ate was the bread and potatoes. 

Another day, Another Church

The next day we walked around the other side of Siena. 

A view of the other big churchy thing

A Night in Siena

Before dinner on the first night we decided that we should go geocaching. So we did. And it failed. We looked for two Geocaches and couldn't find either of them. But it was fun to walk around town just us kids. 

Looking for a Geocache

On the way back to the hotel

Dinner was up to us. The parents went out to their own place so we went to a pizzeria and ate....pizza. It wasn't the best ever, but it was pretty good. And then we went out for gelato. Probably one of the best things about Siena is the abundance of gelaterias and the number of flavours. I was pretty boring and got chocolate and mint, but it was very good. We ate our ice creams in the Piazza del Campo as the sky began to get dark.

At the restaurant

GELATO!! 

Eating our gelato in the Piazza

The Piazza in the dark...

After we'd finished our gelatos we played tag/don't let the balloon drop in the Piazza. A little boy came and played with us. He didn't understand a word we said, and we didn't understand anything he said, but he played keep the balloon away from Zach with Sam, Ashlynn and I. 

The Duomo

While Ashlynn, Sam and Zach stayed back at the hotel, I went with the parents to walk around Siena. It included ice cream. We went to the Duomo (cathedral) which was a black and white, stripey, big building. Heres some photos from the Duomo:

Siena

When we got to Siena we went to our hotel and dropped off our luggage before walking the short distance to the main square, aka the Piazza del Campo. 

Look at that pigeon!! It's drinking from the lion's mouth! So epic! 

Sam, Zach and Ashlynn in the Piazza del Campo

Ashlynn

Meeting up with old Friends

In the morning Zach, Samantha (Sam), Steve and Carolyn met up with us at our hotel for breakfast before we were off to Sienna on the train. We knew them from when we lived in North Carolina. Zach is a month older than me and Sam is 19. The train was about an hour long, and when we got to Siena we got into taxis and went into the historic center. It was beautiful. 

Mommy, Carolyn, Zach and Steve

Ashlynn and Sam

Playing the Logos Quiz on the train

Italia!

School got off at noon and we got incredibly soaked as we cycled home. And then Mommy, Ashlynn and I were off to the airport at five for our flight to Italy at 8:30. Unlucky for us our plane kept getting delayed. And delayed. Of course, all of the stores at the airport were closed by nine and AlItalia only provided us with 3 euros for dinner each, which was enough money for one cookie each. So we were hungry and bored and there was no internet. So we sat in the terminal and waited as the time just kept getting more delayed. 

I slept.

The plane was finally scheduled to leave at 11:59pm.

When we finally arrived in Florence we managed to get a cab to our hotel, which was really nice. It was a two floor bedroom with an ancient wall. Very cool.