Day 12, June 11th
2:30PM
I’ve been a little lazy about journaling recently, but I’ll put some blame on getting sick. On my last day in Florence on June 7th, I woke up not feeling well at all. I thought it was just a slight cold, and just went about getting ready as I had a train to catch early at around 7:15 am. This was to Livorno, a coastal town in which I was to spend one night before moving to Siena for a week. I arrived at the Livorno train station with incredible congestion and a rough throat (don’t worry, everyone is wearing N95 masks and I sat far from everyone). After waiting at a nearby cafe until my check in time and getting into my Airbnb, I instantly just washed up, changed, and went to bed. I was feeling quite rough, adding chills to the list of symptoms. I thought I’d rest for just a little and try to go out in the town later, but ended up never getting out of bed as I was drifting in and out of sleep. That ended up being a waste of a night, as I had my train in the morning for Siena already booked and arrived here on the 8th. I really just went to Livorno to rest, I guess.
In Siena for the first few days I decided to rest up, because even though I was feeling a little better in terms of the chills and my throat, my congestion and cough were still quite bad. The airbnb is a recently renovated spacious flat on a hill, and feels luxurious compared to my other stays. I’ve really been living the good life here, with a nice sofa, a tv with Netflix, and instant and unlimited hot water. The kitchen is stocked with pans, utensils, and dinnerware as well, so I’ve gotten a few things I can make at home, like some fried mozzarella balls and sauces, juice, and milk for my one week stay here. It’s been a great time getting to relax in one place, unpacking openly and not worrying about making sure everything is neat and organized constantly.
Today, I walked around Siena using the Rick Steves audio tour, which was a great way of learning about the history of the historic parts of the city, which is most of it. If I were to be doing the research alone, there’s no way I’d remember every palace and square, but he describes each location and it’s history with great passion, and makes every little detail more interesting to acknowledge and admire. One of the coolest parts on the tour was walking down the marble steps next to the Duomo, the main church of Siena. These were the steps St. Catherine took every day on her way to the church. St. Catherine of Siena, known as one of the 6 patron saints of Europe, was the reason the Pope was brought back to Rome as their patron city. Because of some political conflicts with the earlier Pope, it was moved to Avignon, France, but most worshippers wanted the papacy, the pope’s establishment, to return to Rome and had been trying for almost 70 years. It was a very impactful feeling, knowing I was stepping on the same stones as such an impactful historical figure and potentially many others.
I’ve still got about 4 days here, and so I think I will go inside the Duomo and potentially the museum as well. I also want to maybe visit the smaller Tuscan towns near me, and so during the week I will look for the best bus routes for that. Overall, this has been a great trip thus far taking in the history and architecture in all my destinations. Coming from the USA, it is very jarring but awe-inspiring to see such old buildings everywhere. Seeing a 1000 year old church just casually in some random village that no one really thinks about, but has been standing for so much of human history. It never gets old how crazy it really is, and I can’t wait to keep seeing more and more of this as I go further in Italy, Turkey, and potentially Greece.
Click here to visit the Siena Gallery.
-Vismay
