So my first couple days have been amazing. Since we are only staying in Siena for two weeks, Kaili and I are really trying to make the best of out time here. We venture to a new restaurant each day, of course getting lost along the way, but we have managed to actually find our way around Siena pretty well! We have found that the Sienese are extremely friendly, which is making the transition into living in a different country much easier and also tons of fun.

Siena is such a beautiful, quaint little town. Although it is usually overcast and rains daily, that doesn’t take away from its charm. I love just walking through the streets—everywhere you turn there are cozy little bakeries, restaurants, and of course lots of gelato places. Also, you can find locals on practically every street walking their dogs, which I have obviously loved!

While in Siena, we are enrolled in a “language emersion” course—we have class each day for four hours where we learn solely Italian. By the end of these first two weeks, we basically will have taken a full semester’s worth of Italian. Although class is early in the morning (which needless to say has been rough), it has actually been very helpful and I have found that I can already somewhat hold conversations with locals. It’s actually really fun trying to talk with them and practicing what I am learning—it makes sitting in class all morning fighting heavy eyelids worth my while.

Things I'm loving so far:

 - being aloud to leave class if I want an espresso

 - dogs wearing coats

 - tiramisu gelato

 - glasses of wine for fifty cents 

Beautiful Sienna countryside 

How we celebrated our first night out -- OBSESSED with the grapefruit drink and our adorable shot glasses. 

Well we are off to take a cooking class, Ciao!

Becca