A few observations that have surprised/interested me lately about Siena:

1. Nobody is in any hurry to do anything. Shop clerks are in no hurry to sell you anything. Restaurant owners are in no hurry to have you order. People in the street are in no hurry to move, at all.

2. Public displays of affection are absolutely okay in any situation, anywhere! For example: leaning against front of my apartment door, in the middle of the day, when I’m trying to go inside.

3. Little children, I usually think they are siblings, kiss each other on the lips, girls & boys, boys & boys, girls & girls. Also, girls age ten and under never, ever wear bathing suit tops on the beach. Which really makes me think, why are little girls wearing tops anyway? How uncomfortable! They don’t need them.

4. Italian men (here, in northern Italy, in Siena.) do not usually yell cat-calls at women on the street. It’s more of a whispered “bellaa.” toward you when you pass, as if they were just speaking to themselves, although they obviously aren’t. Also, in my experience, they say more and approach you more often if you’re in a smaller group of people or even more so alone.

5. People live so incredibly, close together. I’ve gotten used to seeing the old woman across through her window opposite mine – shaking out her rug, hanging out her laundry, sitting in her flower-patterned chair with her flower-patterned blanket and flower-pattered outfit. And I am used to looking up and watching the old man a level up watching me watch her. It’s weird.

6. Bagels do not exist here. I never knew how deep my love for bagels truly was until now. Unlike you might think, pieces of bread with cream cheese and honey just aren’t the same.

Italy produces some of the best wines in the world. Everywhere I’ve gone in this country, I’ve passed vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. Wine here is delicious and so much cheaper than it is in the States. The other week I visited one of the world’s largest wine stores, located here in Siena actually inside of a Fortezza. So here are some photos from the store, the wine tasting, and also some grapes from a vineyard near an excavation site I visited.