from my being: wine. water. wine. wine. water. wine.

italy has been a treat to visit. it took me a little while to get used to the italians way of life when it came to food a drink. being a backpacker, you always go for the cheaper option, in italy its always cheaper to drink wine over water. in fact, if you ever order anything but wine with, well any meal, you will soon be talked/forced into getting wine by your waiter. don't get me wrong, i love wine just as much as the next guy, but with the quantity i was consuming i was at a great risk of not remembering any of my time while in italy. after a day or so of silliness, i had come to realize that I was going to have to splurge on water at the local convenience stores if i wanted to be able to see the sites and not just skip around town like a giddy school girl.

rome was a bit of a whirlwind experience. i only had one night, 2 full days, but for me that was long enough. i blitzed around and saw the classics like the coliseum, the vatican city, and a few other sites. again, it was my first couple days in the country so it was a bit of a blur.

on to florence, a much smaller, and to me, a much more enjoyable city! florence is a city i could easily see myself living in. before coming to italy i had heard many mixed reviews on this city, but the second i got off the train i fell in love with it. i guess it just depends on what you are looking for. if you like wild parties and giant cities, the places that all north american tourist go, florence might come as a disappointment. but if you are looking for quaint small cities where there is still loads to see and surprisingly a ton of high end shopping, go to florence! while in florence, i visited the david, loads of authentic italian markets, duomo - cathedral of santa maria del , and many more other beautiful sites.

i also had the treat of falling asleep the the italian opera every night. my hostel was situated in the old opera house. the new opera house was just a paper thin wall away. in fact there was a 3 inch gap at the top of the wall between the old and the new. needless to say, i had backstage passes (aka my bed), for free. it was incredibly loud, and most of the time i didn't know if i should just enjoy it, laugh my head off at the situation, or be mad because i couldn't sleep. i think at various points in my stay i experienced a little bit of all three.

the longer i travel the more care free and laid back i become. i have realized that you of course need to be smart and aware of your surroundings, but it's a waste of energy to plan everything out in great detail. travel is much more fun when you are able to loosen up and be spontaneous. i had previously heard of a few small towns surrounding florence that were nice so i walked to the train station to see where I could get to the fastest. lovely siena was my destination!

siena, a precious little walled town is chalked full of brick buildings and cobblestone streets; heaven! it was a fun little adventure and a wonderful way to wrap up my stay in italy!