Last Day in Tuscany

Tuesday: May 15th: After three months in Italy, it is my last day and trying to fit everything into my suitcases is just one of my challenges before I leave.

Of course I want to go home to Santa Barbara, one of my favorite places in the world and see my friends and enjoy many things that I have missed (food, movies, beach, my car, English...just to name a few), but...

I am very sad to leave Tuscany and Siena in particular. I truly felt settled in and really appreciate and got used to the lifestyle. I wouldn't refer to my time in Italy as a vacation either; I didn't want to be a tourist and didn't feel that way most of the time. Time away ("vacation") for me is about actually living an experience rather than just visiting if that makes any sense.

I had a daily routine and my favorite spots to eat, sit in the sun, grocery shop, go for coffee and I made great friends and contacts, people I saw everyday. I had activities and projects that made me feel like I was working and productive and not just touring the next museum.

Not to mention the countryside; it is beautiful right now and is getting more and more lush. The red poppies are popping up now in the green fields and it is so beautiful and vibrant.

For my last day in Siena I first indulged in a triple scoop (instead of my usual double) of gelato at my favorite place. I got crema, chocolate fondente (extra dark) and Fantanocciola (I honestly don't know what flavor this is, but it was delicious). I sat at a great spot which Julia showed me, a stone wall with a view of Siena, to eat my gelato quickly before it melted. Then I went to Piazza del Campo and people-watched for about an hour. Sitting in the Piazza, in the sun, and watching children chase pigeons, lovers make-out and Italians speak to one another with lots of animation and hand gestures is sooooo entertaining!

I said my good-byes at Saena Iulia, the school where I studied Italian and made many good friends with the other students and the teachers themselves. I seriously felt a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, telling each person good-bye, before I left in my "hot air balloon" back to "Kansas." Besides just language, I definitely feel that Mauro, Sabrina and Giorgia taught me many things that they may not even realize now. So...is there no place like home? I am glad to go back to real life in wonderful SB, but I wouldn't hesitate to click my heels and return to Siena, a place that I also feel at home.