No wonder my happy heart sings

Friday night was our last night in Rome, and I was sad to leave it... until I got to Siena. 

To recap the last few days in Rome, we basically went to museums and churches. They were all beautiful and I learned a lot.  

Tuesday we got to sleep in! It was much needed. Rome wiped me out! Then we went to the Capitoline Museum, which is fairly close to the Colosseum. The museum was interesting and there were many beautiful pieces of art but after a while everything started to look the same. But at the top of the museum there is a gorgeous view of Rome! After the museum a few of the girls and I went on a quest to find a bakery and pizzeria we found online. They were both were incredible! The pizza was the best I've had in Rome. And I always love a good pastry. 

It was closed so this is the closest I got.

 Wednesday my roommates and I were supposed to meet the group at the Villa Borghese but ended up getting very lost and had our own little adventure instead. The Villa Borghese is the equivalent to Central Park pretty much. It is very beautiful! We spent some time there just people watching and enjoying the beautiful day. There was a guy sitting on a bench close to us playing beautiful classical guitar. It was a nice little moment :) We then started talking to the owner of a gelato place in the park for a very long time and ended up making plans with him for dinner that night. So we met up with him later that night at his gelato cart and little caffe and had appetizers before we even got to the restaurant we were going to, it was a lot of food! He also owns a golf cart business so he had this big eight person golf cart to take us to dinner. It was so magical driving through the streets of Rome on that thing. It was the closest thing to riding a vespa through the streets. Very cool way to the see the city especially at night, Rome is so pretty at night! The restaurant he took us to was one of his favorites and he knew the owner. This place was everything I wanted it to be and more. I felt like I was going into someone's home, the food was amazing, the restaurant was quaint with romantic lighting. I was in heaven. It was nice being able to talk to an Italian about the culture and the food. We also got to talk to the owner of the restaurant. Her name is Fatima and she told me I can come back and cook with her anytime :) This was exactly what I wanted to do here. Enjoy great food with a local and be able to learn more about their culture. It was such a perfect night! I am so glad we didn't end up with the group for the day. I don't have pictures of the dinner but here are a few of the park.

Thursday and Friday we went to some beautiful churches. And Kaity and I went back to that restaurant. Fatima remembered me (she told me I have her cat's eyes) And we enjoyed another fabulous, delicious meal. It took us three hours to eat! We had four courses but we took our time enjoying each dish and talking with each other and just enjoying life. I love that people enjoy meals here and don't just try to rush through a meal. I am definitely going to do that more especially back home. After dinner Kaity and I went to the Colosseum to see it at night and just enjoy something beautiful from Rome one more time.

Saturday morning we all loaded on a bus and drove out of Rome and into Tuscany. The drive was beautiful! We drove past sunflower fields and wineries and olive trees. Tuscany is so beautiful! On the way we stopped at a little Tuscan town and had some lunch and then Kaity, Forest, Stormie, Dr. Stanford and I took a tour of a medieval castle. The view from the top of this castle was breathtaking! The whole town looks like a postcard. Everything is so cute. We came at lunch so a lot of shops were closed and no one was out. So the sreets were very empty, which was a little weird but it was a very nice break from the busy streets of Rome. 

When we got to Siena, we were dropped off at a train station and everyone was just waiting to be picked up by their host families. We all felt like orphans waiting to be adopted. It was pretty funny and nerveracking at the same time. 

I am going to have another post dedicated to my new home and my Italian mom and my classes and my new ward. There is so much to say and this post is already too long. To sum it up for now, I am in love with Siena and I feel at home already! Stay tuned for lots more pictures and stories :)