Ciao from Siena!

            Ciao everyone! Sorry for the late pre-arrival post. My arrival into Siena wasn’t very pleasant because I ran into some flight difficulties since it was my first time flying international. I was so excited to arrive into Siena. I actually did a two-week coach tour of Europe before my arrival into Siena for the program. I’ll tell you a little bit about it! I first flew into London on May 31^st then the very next day we drive to Paris, the city of lights & love! We were there for three days and it was so beautiful! Then we were on to Switzerland for two and a half days.  We were in a small town and I went paragliding. What an experience. Then on from there we made our way to Italy for five days first stopping in Pisa then on two Florence, Rome, and last but not least, Venice. I adored Italy and I was excited to return for my study abroad program in Siena. Then after Italy, I went on to Germany and spent a few nights in Munich and in Frankfort. I loved seeing all the castles and hearing to all the stories along the way. Net was the Netherlands.  My favorite part about the Netherlands was visiting the Anne Frank House. Wow was that an experience. To finish up our final two days, we went to Belgium then finished back in London. If it wasn’t for me already coming abroad to attend my program in Italy, I wouldn’t have been able to visit all these beautiful places. I am so grateful for that.

            My arrival to Siena was the opposite of fun. It was actually miserable. It was my first time flying international and with the language barrier, I missed my flight from London to Florence. Because of this I had an adventure awaiting me for sure. I spent the night in a hostel when I finally got to Rome with chickens running around the place. I guess the saying “you get what you pay for” is true. With a hostel that I only paid 17 Euros for, I shouldn’t have had high expectations. But after many buses, trains metro lines, I finally made it to Siena! What I was really nervous for was to meet my host family. I knew there would be some difficulties picking this option for my housing but I wanted the full Italian experience and I knew I would get it by living with an Italian family for seven weeks.  I won’t spoil the surprise just yet. Keep reading and I will let you know all about my first night in my new Italian home! Ciao!