Siena decided to kick my ass on my arrival. Getting of the bus at the train station, I had to walk to the city center with my heavy backpacks, and it was a pretty long walk if I must say. I found it weird, but funny, that you have to get inside a shopping center to catch some endless rolling stairs (that are inclined by the way, so the entire time I had to force myself not to fall on my back because the weight of the bag would push me down) in order to get to the historical center of Siena.
As usual, I got lost, or couldn't figure out where I was from my map, so I just sat on some stairs in the middle of the ground and stayed there for a pretty long time, because I had seen the pictures of how the street from the hotel was suppose to look like, and I was sure I wasn't even close to getting there!
I finally decided to get up, but for some reason my backpack didn't want to get on my back, or I was out of strengh, but a very nice man came running from across the street to help me - saving the princess in distress I see! And then I just found a policeman and asked him to help me with my typical phrase "Hello...I'm lost!" and he was great, got his map of Siena from the car (because it seemed my map sucked!) and told me where to go, endind the phrase with "it's about 2km from here" (Oh Great! 2 more km to go!). Backpacking is like going to gym every three days. I feel like my legs shall look pretty hot by the time I get back home because the poor things are working hard these last few weeks!
The path to the hotel was hard, but OH MY GOD was it worth to climb the stairs to the 4th floor after such a long walk! I was first put in a room right next to the reception that was ok, but not amazing for the thirty euros I was paying. And then, for some reason, the owner went to ask me if I wanted to change to a room with a balcony for the same price and once he showed it I was like "Hell, Yes!"
From then on, everything got better, I was right in the center of Siena, I had my own balcony in Siena, I was offered free cappuccino and a thirty minutes massage for free as well (didn't take the massage...not sure why, because my back really needed one).
From then on, everything got better, I was right in the center of Siena, I had my own balcony in Siena, I was offered free cappuccino and a thirty minutes massage for free as well (didn't take the massage...not sure why, because my back really needed one).
Can I say these two days, wandering around Siena and drinking cappuccinos in my balcony made me feel like a princess? And for a moment there I also felt like Elizabeth Gilbert while she was in Italy, because all I wanted to do was write, write, write, and I was so happy to be in Italy that I can't even put it into words!
After exploring Umbria, Siena was just what I needed. I got two nights of a room all to myself, away from the hostels and sharing a room with ten people, and it made me good. I got to relax and enjoy Italy in a different way and it felt so good! I remember thinking "I could so get used to this life! I love this!"
Tip: If you're getting from Perugia to Siena, I suggest you get the bus instead of the train (you'll have to go to Florence and change to Siena and it will take you 3 to 4 hours and it's more expensive). The bus leaves just outside Perugia train station, across the street, and if someone tells you to buy the ticket inside the bus, it's not true! Go a little before the departure time and on the left side of the street you have a travel agency where you buy you're ticket for 18€. The bus ride will be of 1h and it will leave you at Siena's train station.