It's hard to believe that a month has already passed. Yes, on June 30th we were packing up bright and early trying to catch the bus ride back to Rome for our flight back to the States. So much has happened since our last blog. Venice was delightful.. a city in which we hope to venture back to one day... But as our trip came to an end, we chose to visit Siena as our last day trip with the entire group. Duncan, our professor, was quite the tour guide. Siena you see, is not the average town. It is a town resting solely on tradition and has a culture which is nearly impossible to describe. The people are beyond passionate about their heritage and culture, and we were fortunate enough to visit the city right before their big event, the Palio.
To start it off, I should probably give a brief introduction of Siena. The town is most famous for its medieval character. Siena was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (around 900-400 B.C. That's olllldddddd folks). According to legend, Siena was founded by Senius, son of Remus, who was in turn the brother of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Statues and other artwork
depicting a she-wolf suckling the young twins Romulus and Remus are seen all over the city of Siena. The picture to the right is an example of just one of the many she-wolves located around the town. When roaming the streets of Siena, we also noticed the flags hanging above us. Little did we know that we were walking in the midst of different districts. Siena, you see, is divided into 17 neighborhoods. And they take MUCH pride in their neighborhoods. Thanks to our impeccable timing (more like luck of the irish) we were able to see neighborhood rivalry at its finest. The Palio, the event in which Siena is most famous for, began on July 2nd. We were fortunate enough to visit the week before and witness the drawing of the jockeys. After lunch, we roamed around Siena's center piazza.. and happened to come across hundreds of people gathered in the Piazza del Campo (the town's square).
The Sienese were gathered together in groups, according to their neighborhoods, and proudly wearing the neighborhood flag across their shoulders. Just look at the precious little girl representing her neighborhood. We stood in amazement as we watched men dressed in medieval attire draw the names of jockeys, matching each individual with their horse. The Sienese either cheered in excitement or were filled with rage as the names of each jockey were called out. Tensions grew, and our group just stood there.. still as a board.. just like your average American. We were puzzled by their reactions. As an American, it is hard to fathom the history we were witnessing that day, seeing as how our country is only a few hundred years old. The Palio is an event which has been around for hundreds of years, dating back to the 16th century. This wasn't your average May Day Play Day... this was an event in which their great great great grandfathers had been apart of, a story each Sienese was told as a child. It's nearly impossible for us to explain what we were a part of that day. But we encourage everyone to research the Palio. It's an event unlike any other. 
The town was pretty much shut down after this event so our group decided to catch the train ride back to Firenze. Our last night in town... hard to believe. One month is gone before the blink of an eye, especially in the midst of traveling. Time is nearly cut in half. We chose to close out the night by eating at our favorite restaurant "ZaZa's", and as anyone would guess, by visiting the gelateria. Gelato was a daily event for us in Florence and we couldn't have chosen a better way to end the day. We stopped at a gelateria close to Jaclyn's apartment, and gathered together in her piazza. The Santa Maria Novella is beyond beautiful.. the people, the church, the atmosphere. A delightful way to end our last evening in Florence.
Jaclyn's 21st, yes TWENTY-FIRST birthday was the following day. Leaving Florence with a bang as we might call it. A beverage for the bus ride to Rome at 7 in the morning along with a lemon cello shot to top it off.. followed by an Italian saying happy birthday to the one and only "beyonce" :) . What. A. Day. We cherished every moment and tried to capture every second. Our
parents and the Lord blessed us with a trip of a lifetime, one that we our eternally grateful for. We hope to continue sharing our adventures with you as we begin our junior year at Mississippi State together. So much is left to be lived, explored, and shared... and we hope to share it with you all. For now, so long Firenze... we miss you dearly. Molto Amare,
Jenn (Jack is in Asheville, hurry home!!!!!)
CIAO!!!
The closing pic is the view outside of my bedroom window.. what a beautiful way for Firenze to say farewell the morning of our departure.
