Siena 1

Monday November 15, 2010
Apparently I snore. Rosie told me I'd kept her awake because of my snoring. This was news to me, I really didn't think I snored, I'm hoping it's a one-off, because I don't want to be a snorer, it's just inconsiderate when you're sleeping in a room with other people all the time. And I can't remember anyone telling me I snore before. It seems just an inefficient way of breathing.
Anyway, I went to buy milk for breakfast and it's so difficult - all the labels are different and I can't understand them, and the prices aren't listed. I just want milk that tastes like real milk!
Here is a picture of Rosie's flat:

Rosanna's flat (the ground floor) in Siena, Italy.

Rosie went to class, and I was feeling so lethargic that I collapsed on the bed and dozed for a few hours. I just didn't feel like doing anything, I don't know how I would have managed a day on the bike. I guess I had mentally prepared for a rest, and that's why I was feeling so lethargic. Maybe if the previous day I had known I had another long day on the bike, then my body would be ready for it and I would have felt less lethargic. Who knows?
Rosanna brought and prepared lunch for us (salad rolls), then I tagged along for a walk to Rosanna's faculty, the faculty of literature and philosophy, where she had a two hour class.
I walked back to the Economics faculty and surfed the Internet on my iPhone there for a while.
Later on in the flat, Rosie's tandem friend, Lorenza, dropped in. She is an Italian friend Rosie has organised to meet up with a few times each week and they help each other learn English/Italian, a language exchange type of arrangement. Seems like a pretty good idea to me.
We went for a walk and saw a few of the sights, including the famous Duomo di Siena:

The Duomo di Siena (Cathedral of Siena), designed and completed between 1215 and 1263.

We went to the Mensa for tea, which is a place students can go for a cheap feed. There are two of them in the city, and they serve a variety of food each day for lunch and tea, and students with their Mensa card can get a meal for only €2.50 or €2. It's kind of like how we got food provided to us at the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne.

Rosanna eating a meal at the Mensa.

Students eating at the Mensa.

This set-up is good because it means all students have access to it, not just the ones who are fortunate enough to be living in a residential college as is the case for Melbourne University, for example.
After that we bought tickets to the Serie B soccer, Siena were playing Grosseto. We hurried back to get our cameras and in our typical fashion we got to the stadium late, and heard the crowd cheer for the first goal as we approached, but didn't see it.

Watching a soccer match: Siena vs. Grosseto, in Siena, Italy.

Me and Rosanna at the soccer stadium in Siena.

I haven't seen a soccer match for a long time, so this was pretty cool. Siena were the favourites and won 3-1. All the Italians shout out "forza", which means "come on".

Just outside the soccer stadium in Siena after the match.

Afterwards we headed to the Piazza Del Campo, which is the city square in the centre, and we met up with some of Rosie's uni friends. There was quite a mix of nationalities: Belgian, French, Brazilian, Dutch, Libyan, I think that was it.
We soon headed to one of the cities three bars: Bella Vista. It was a little bit like Bimbos Deluxe on Brunswick St, Melbourne, same sort if lighting, decoration and atmosphere, but much smaller, and the bar tender would walk around and try to sell you drinks, so you didn't have to go to the bar for a drink.
They closed at about 2 am and we walked home in the rain.

Ride stats:
No riding