Busy, busy, busy

I'm sorry that it's been so long since my last post. I have limited internet access during the week, none during the weekend, and none when I am not going to classes because I am sick. That's right, I wait all of my life to come to Italy and sono ammalata. But no matter, because I'm obviously better now, which is great because I have my midterm tomorrow (ugh!) and we went to Santa Maria Della Scala today. Santa Maria Della Scala is one of the oldest independent hospitals, if not the oldest, in Europe where the poor would come and receive food and care from monks. I loved the frescoes in the Sala del Pellegrinaio (Pilgrim's Hall) which told the story of how the hospital grew and the daily activities.

But the hot springs were beautiful! It was a spa about 30 minutes outside of Siena with an amazing view. We got there in the early evening right as the day was cooling and the water was a perfect warm temperature so it felt wonderful. The water also had sulfur deposits which proved to be a great exfoliant. Sadly, we had to say good-bye to Kim in the language intensive program that night, but what a last night, huh?

This past weekend I went to Italy's tourist central Cinque Terre with Cathy for a couple of days. It was gorgeous! We spent some time on the beach, hiked around, and relaxed. We stayed in Monterosso al Mare for the first day and had a lot of fun. We went exploring on some trails and found a beautiful church and a cemetery farther up the mountain. It was interesting to translate what was written about the people. Later we went to a dance party at a nearby pub and danced to the mixes of D.J. California which included the Village People and my new favorite song. The next day we woke up early to travel back towards Siena the next day, visiting all of the towns except Corneglia. Cathy and I agreed that our favorite was Vernazza because it had a lot of nice, quaint stores, yet retained a lot of breath-taking views. We took the train from one to the other, but decided to walk the Via Dell'Amore from Manarola to Riomaggiore. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!