Mass

Do you remember the picture I showed you yesterday of the Siena Cathedral? If not, you can scroll down a bit and see a picture of one of the most beautiful buildings in Siena. Got that? OK, well, I went to mass there today. I know it sounds strange. What is a nice Jewish girl doing at mass? I decided to go with one of the other girls on my program to mass to see what it was like. I'm here to learn aren't I? So that's exactly what I did. It was a fascinating experience, and one that I'll admit, went mostly over my head. I was so incredibly far out of my league, but I don't think that was a bad thing. I was there to observe and see what it was like. And bonus: I got to see the inside of the building. I think I will go as far as to say that it is even more beautiful than the inside of the Duomo in Florence. I didn't take any pictures because that didn't seem appropriate at the time, but there was a ton of art and intricate architectural details. I definitely want to go back there during the day when I can see the stained glass (the service was at 6pm).

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I did some more walking around and trying to do some planning for trips later in the semester. I'm facing a tricky balance of wanting to plan things now and fill up every moment, and wanting to leave my time open so that I can do things as they come. However, I was noticing that transportation costs increase tremendously as you try to book things without advanced planning. I'm not sure this is a challenge that I will conquer completely during this trip. There are definitely pros and cons to advanced planning and no "right" way to do it so we'll just have to see how it goes.

I also spent some more time walking around the fortress. I think I showed you a bit of this yesterday, but I think this is one of those places that I will never get over how gorgeous it is.

Besides, I wouldn't want to get through a whole post without putting in some pretty pictures. I wouldn't want you to forget how gorgeous it is here. If it makes you want to visit, then I'm doing my job.

I also went into a super adorable bookstore today. Monique and I were looking at the cookbook section (what other section would I be looking at?) and there were so many beautiful books to look at. I wanted to buy all of them so I decided I would have to think it over and then go back and buy one later in the semester. I don't think it would be super practical to fill a 50lb. suitcase with cookbooks, but I'm certainly considering it!