Hey ladies and gents!
Here is a little (or perhaps large- lets see) slice of
what’s been going on in my life over the past week! This is my first proper
post from Siena, Italy, where I am going to be spending the next 10 months or
so for my Erasmus year abroad. I’ve only been here for a week yet it is already
crazy and living up to my expectations!
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| Il Duomo |
A bit about how I got here, and how bloody awkward it is to get to Siena.
Seeing as Siena is way
too cool to have an airport, I had to fly into Pisa with three bags, weighing
in at about 45kg in total. The journey from Pisa meant that I had to lug
aforementioned bags up and down many flights of stairs and onto a few different
modes of public transport, including a bus, two trains and a taxi. Choosing to wear my thickest items of
clothing (to save room in the bags) was the worst decision I made that day.
Also, there I was, busting a gut and almost haemorrhaging from every orifice underneath
a tonne of wooly jumper, as I tried to lift my cases up the train station
platform steps- when I realised halfway up that there was a lift. I of course,
struggling, sweating and hating life, missed my train. And possibly slipped a
disk. (Seriously, I really hurt my back and could hardly stand up straight for
days!)
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| PDC |
My dear friend Sion from my university is also in Siena, and
very kindly met me at the station. He lives in the same apartment block as me
so I fortunately had his assistance with carrying my bags up to my top-floor
flat. If it weren’t for him, I think I would still be stood panting at the
bottom of the stairs drenched in sweat from carrying the bags 10ft from the
taxi. After battling with my keys in the old wooden doors, I met two of my
flatmates who seemed lovely from the get-go. Ada is from Poland, and she was cooking pasta when I walked through
the door so I knew we’d get on instantly. Olga
is from Germany and has a cheeky sense of humour so I also knew we’d get on
just fine! My third roomie, Emma
arrived a few days later and she’s a complete babe, so I’m having some
housemate luck (for the first time ever)!
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| Girl band moment (and Sion) |
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| *I don't actually know the name of this building*..... and PDC |
I was absolutely knackered after
travelling and having a little look around beautiful Siena with Sion, that I
just couldn’t face going out that night with other new arrivals. I stayed in my
lovely and spacious new room and rested my poor, poor aching body. Sion,
however, went out and put in some groundwork with a good bunch of Erasmus
students. This meant that the next day, I had some ready-made friends lined up
which I really appreciated, especially after arriving a bit later than the others.
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| My roomies and I, plus Mia and Amy |
So, since that next day when I shook the hands of my new
friends in front of the fountain in Piazza del Campo, (or PDC as we now call
it) we’ve been having a whale of a time together! We have almost daily pizza meetings, lunch outings,
gelato sessions, too many nights out,
and of course, the ‘squad’ FB chats have been well established. We’ve even had
angry neighbours threatening to shut down our pre-drink parties with the police
already! It’s a bit like freshers all over again! There is a
solid group of ten of us, and that number is rapidly growing every day. *A
really helpful tool for us guys out here on Erasmus, is the FB group(s) that
are created so we can meet and arrange things. (Definitely look out for these
groups if you are going/currently on Erasmus!)*
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| "I'm not drinking tonight" |
I think I’ll leave it here for now before I ramble on about
the amount of pasta and pizza I’ve eaten, or how truly incredible the view from
my kitchen window is….
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| THE VIEW! |
Until next time!
Olivia x
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