siena, san gimignano, pisa

best trip so far. a weekend in the medieval part of italy, immersed in the countryside, the simple life, the gorgeous views, and the fun times with people from all over the world. it was a trip organised by Erasmus Student Network (ESN) milano and everyone on it had only been in italy for as long as i have. the 3 little cities we visited were so quiet, so pretty, so friendly, i felt like i was in a Tolkien story the entire time.
it started out pretty bad with me going to the bus stop at 6 am and waiting in the rain after returning from the club at 5:30am. but all the bad start was worth the amazing time i had there. best part of the trip was a wine tasting session in san gimignano at a traditional facility that bottles their own wine. the bread, the olive oil, the cheese and of course the wine were extraordinary. i actually know now how good wine tastes like.


the last part of the trip was in pisa, where i was so eager to go and take a picture with the leaning tower. i have never seen a place where people do funnier poses than in front of this special tower which by the way you have to book in order to climb up.




now i understand why everyone i told i was going to milan told me that i would like the rest of italy much better. it was really sad going back to the city and school after such a fun weekend. however, ESN is having a t-shirt competition for all erasmus students and my submissions are totally going to win. the price the next trip for free. i can't wait for the results.
i started out on this trip all by myself, like coming to italy was too, but by the end i was really good friends with 15 people in the bus and we did everything together. i met 4 americans form new york, and they told me there is 50 people from their school here (why is there not from mine?), 2 canadians, 1 german, 1 french, 1 israeli, 3 turks, and some italians. we have already agreed to 3 different events to go together to in milan. i am really excited about taking advantage of all these friendships and visiting all their countries, too. i think it is the most awesome thing to have connections throughout the world and right now i feel like i have a lot.