I have a story.

So I think that I mentioned that I met an Israeli in Pompei when I went last weekend? Anyway, he's important to this story. In Pompei, when we parted ways, he gave me his business card and asked me to contact him because he was thinking about coming to Siena. It was true.

Saturday morning, I met him on the street and I spent the day showing him around Siena. It was super cool to feel like I knew my city well enough to show it to another person. We went to the fortress for the view, ate lunch on Piazza del Campo, visited the Duomo and climbed the Mangia Tower. The Mangia Tower is the tower on the Town Hall building. I had climbed the original facade of the Duomo before but it was a new view of the city, and you know how much I like to climb things.

It was also cool to have an excuse to do something touristy in Siena.

Oh, also, it's a bell tower. 

There's Piazza del Campo from above. Isn't it glorious!

And I will never get sick of the Tuscan countryside....

There we are at lunch. He was born in Russia...and apparently doesn't like to smile in pictures :)

After that, I had to meet up with a couple of my friends to plan out trip to the Dolomites in April before going to a soccer game. I know, why would I go to a soccer game? I know nothing about sports. It didn't matter though, it was all about the experience. Italians love their soccer. 

After the game, Sam, Dana, and I, met up with David again and we had dinner and gelato.

Now fast forward to the next morning....

I had been meaning to visit the Synagogue here in Siena for some time now. It just seems like the kind of thing that I should do, no? Well, it was perfect because David asked me if I wanted to meet up with him and go in the morning before he headed to Florence. 

We went inside, saw the sanctuary and heard a brief history of the Sienese Jewish community. Also, it was perfect because, being Purim, they were having a Megillah reading for women, by women. I had to come back. 

Also, bonus, I hadn't worn my Jew skirt in quite a while. For those of you who don't know what I mean, I like to call my long ankle length skirts "Jew skirts." Don't worry about it. So anyway, I put on my Jew skirt and went back to the temple. I was able to follow along in the Hebrew and it was nice to have that familiarity. Also, the first time Haman's name was said and everyone started making tons of noise, I felt like I was right back in my childhood. It was great to be able to participate in a Jewish ceremony whilst here in Siena.

Afterwards, they asked me to stay for lunch and I hung out for a while. My Italian really isn't very good, but it was an excellent time to practice. Then, I decided to stay for their Talmud session and try to learn a little bit. Mostly this was an exercise in trying to pick up 5 to 10 words in Italian but it was still super interesting.

Then....I went to Sam and Dana's apartment to make pretzels. I know, kind of random, but we had been wanting to do this for a while.

Aren't they cute?

And lastly...

My aunt has a friend, whose sister lives in Siena. Think about that one for a minute, it's a little complicated. Anyway, we had been in contact for a little while and had been trying to arrange a time that we could meet. Finally, last night was a night that worked for everyone.

We met at Piazza del Campo and walked together to her home. It was a good thing that she met me because I definitely would have gotten lost if I had tried to find it on my own.

Anyways, I had dinner with Virginia, her husband, and her daughter. We had a great time! They asked me which language I preferred, and I explained that I've been practicing my Italian. The next four hours were mostly in Italian, which was exhausting, but excellent practice. And they were so nice! I wasn't worried about saying something that didn't make sense at all. At the end of the meal, Virginia's husband walked me home, which was so so nice of him! I probably could have found my way back alone, but it was nice to have company for it. 

All in all, this weekend was full of lots of Italian, taking advantage of new opportunities, and...not studying for midterms this week at all. It's ok though, I'm excited about my weekend's adventures.