On the Road to Siena From Rome
We are now on the road to Siena from Rome. I am kind of glad to be leaving Rome. The Roman ruins are impressive, but I was somewhat unsettled by how the ruins and the city buildings were all intertwined. I like cities that are neat and orderly, and Rome is anything but orderly. Many of the "newer" buildings are built on ruins, and some even incorporate the pillars and walls of ruins into their own. I say "newer" because, as Anna Maria informed us, "new" in Italy means it was built in the last 100 to 200 years. How different it would be to live on land that has been home to civilization for centuries.
I love the countryside, however. All around us now there are rolling hills. Often the steeper ones are toped by villages of old stone and brick houses piled on top of each other so that they look like a fortress. There were even a couple of little castles a ways back. On the hillsides there are rows of grape vines and olive trees. Anna Maria, our tour guide, tells us that this area makes some of the best wine and olive oil.
Samantha Symon '07