From the Beautiful to the Bizzare- Siena & Pisa

As I was departing from Roma, I was looking forward to a more quiet less touristy experience and I was granted my wish when I went to Siena.

Siena is a rather small town located North of Roma in Tuscany. There were a good amount of people there but nothing in comparison to Roma.

When Jake and I got on our train to Siena we looked at our ticket and saw that our stop was called 'Chiusi'. We assumed that Chiusi was the name of the train station and that either way we would be in or close to Siena. Boy, were we wrong.

As we got off at Chiusi we began to walk around and scope out the place. We didn't realize that we were in the wrong city until it was too late. As we walked around the entire city (it took 13 minutes) at 11 at night we looked at our ticket one more again. We had to get off at Chiusi and then wait ten minutes for a second train to take us to Siena. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh

At this point, all the trains had left for the night and we were forced to sleep in the train station. Well, I take that back. It was our plan from the get go to sleep in the train stations as part of a save money/good experience/why the hell not type thing.

So, we slept in the train station. (more like taking 17 minute naps while constantly waking yourself up over paranoia of someone robbing you or just because you cannot sleep sitting straight up on metal chairs) We then caught the 4:31 A.M. train to Siena and everything was cool.

Siena, as I said, was nice. I walked around a bit and even got to take a nap in the Botanical Gardens of the University of Siena. I used my backpack as a pillow, had Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the Ipod (HP on the Ipod is top 14 greatest things in the world) and was straight kickin it.

Being able to see parts of Tuscany and the lushes green hills and amazing views was very peaceful. I highly recommend going to Siena and Tuscany in general.

As Siena wasn't large, we only spent the day there. We took the train to Pisa (direct train, do not pass go, do not collect...) and got there at dusk.

We headed straight for the leaning tower. I didn't quite know how tilted it was but HOT DAMN! THAT SH*T BE LEAAAAANNNING!

As I was staring at it I kept seeing it lean further and further. I swear the longer I looked at it the more likely it was going to fall over. As I mentioned before, Jake and I made no plans for a hostel (there was no availability anyway) we kind of fell asleep in the main complex of Cathedrals right next to the Pisa.

Now, let me explain something. It was not our intention to go to sleep there. We just happened to fall asleep. We never agreed that this was our 'home' or 'beds' for the night. In actuality, Jake and I said nothing to each other before dozing off.

We were, however, interrupted. As I was comfortably laying on a marble stair (huge upgrade from sitting on a metal chair the previous night) I was awoke by the sound of a whistle. I immediately shot up and was greeted by 3 Italian police officers.

I was shook. I thought they were going to search and interrogate us. Fortunately, they just informed us that the area was closed (as it was 1 A.M.) and we would have to move. Oh okay, cool. As I rushed to pack away my Ipod and fasten my backpack I noticed that Jake, my boy with whom I was traveling with, was in no hurry at all. I mean wow. This guy had no sense of urgency in him. Maybe he did and I just couldn't tell. Either way it was a sight to see. Here we are: two American students sleeping in the complex of the leaning tower of Pisa we three Italian police offers standing over us with their hands on their hips. It honestly to Jake 3 1/2 minutes to fasten his backpack. Nobody spoke. Not me. Not Jake. Not the officers. After a minute or so I began to laugh and had to turn my back to the officers as to not offend them. Jake was real tired and kind of out of it. He was focused on his straps and was not panicking at all. At one point, although I'm not sure, I think one of the officers thought it was funny and we made eye contact. All in all, great moment.

As we had to depart our luxury Pisa spot, we headed back to the train station and caught a Z there. The next day we went back to the tower and chilled out some more. Before we left Pisa, we did what we always do: had pizza. The pizza in Pisa was the best I have had so far in Italia. wasn't impressed with Roma's pizza (way to thin, not a lot of toppings) and have yet to venture to Naples, the birthplace of pizza.

After Pisa we left for Bologna with the intention of sleeping in the train station because we arrived a day before we were suppose to. However, your boy made a few calls and we were given housing for that night. I am now currently in Bologna which is an hour North of Florence. I will be studying here for the next 4 months and I am liking what I see so far.

Every part of Italia has been amazing and different in its own way. I look forward to traveling some more as well as having more adventures.