Bottini

Today’s adventure was visiting the Bottini—the old aqueducts that brought water to Siena. They are no longer in use for bringing water to the people, but it is how water gets to the fountain in Siena. The guide told us that even though the water is super clear, it is not safe to drink. It comes from rainwater and is not filtered like the drinking water.

We only walked a very small portion of the Bottini. It extends a long way but it was really interesting to see this piece of Siena’s history. We entered through the pubic library and climbed down. It was a little bit scary being below the city, and in such a small space but it was really cool. Also, it was very dark and quiet. We brought flashlights so that we could see. There were a few places where there were bricks to slow the flow of water, and there we could hear it moving, but mostly, it was completely quiet.

When we exited, we climbed back up a few steep steps and though a metal door in the wall. It is one of those doors that I probably would disregard if I were just walking down the street, but we stepped up, and it was as if we popped out of nowhere. We had to reorient ourselves as to where in Siena we were too. There’s nothing like being underground to help you lose your sense of direction! I couldn’t take pictures because it was so dark, so I can’t show you what it was like, but you can imagine a dark tunnel underground J

Also...some other somewhat random thoughts:

Something about living in another country is getting used to the little differences. These things include light switches, toilets, and doors. The light switches aren’t so confusing, but you do have to turn on a light to the main stairs in the apartment. These lights are on a timer, which is a super great idea. It saves tons of electricity in comparison to at home where public hallways are lit at all times. However, I’ll admit I’m still not sure where the light switch is in my building. This means that when I come home at night, if it’s super dark, I’ll use the flashlight on my phone to make my way up the stairs. I know, typical American…it’s embarrassing.

The toilets are different too...mostly in the way that they flush. Some of them have a handle to push on the wall, and others have a little piece on a fixture above it that you pull down. Also, while we’re on the super fascinating subject of toilets, I will share that I had my first experience with paid toilets in Italy. I remember paying to use the bathroom once in Poland about four years ago, but this was still pretty new to me. It has one of those revolving…um…things (I don’t know the word for it), that let’s through one person at a time. You put your coin into the machine and go through. My next challenge was operating the sink. Turns out, these sinks turn on by pressing a lever with your foot on the floor. Also genius! This totally eliminates the problem of unsanitary bathroom fixtures. I was impressed (once I figured out how it works of course).

And lastly, for doors: it seems like every door in Italy is different. I’ve gotten confused on several different occasions about how to either unlock, open, or relock a door. To get out of my apartment building, you have to press a red button that unlocks the mechanism from the inside. This was scary the first time. In my mind, American buttons are for emergencies only, but I use this one on a daily basis. However, even though the doors are more confusing, they are about ten times more likely to be gorgeous. Everything in Siena is old and beautiful. It still amazes me to look at these old buildings and all the care and detail that when into the architectural design. Sometimes doors are intricately decorated, and other times they are simple, but still beautiful, with big doorknobs in the center.

Well…there is an exception to this. I’ve found quite a few automatic glass doors. These doors feel quite out of place to me. They open quickly, and usually you have to get quite close to it for it to open. It feels very high tech to me though. Even though we have automatic doors all over at home…these doors have a different feel to them. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it kinda feels like I’m entering some top security lab where the government is doing secret research that involves dangerous chemicals…ok, that’s probably over the top but still…

Sorry there were no pictures today. I could show you another landscape picture of Siena but I'm going to save those for a little while more :)