A Failed Excursion

I have discovered that traveling from Siena is not as easy as I expected. Last Friday we had a day off from class so a few of us decided to try and go to Elba because we heard it was beautiful. There was a page on the bus website that said they ran a direct line to the coast where we could take the ferry. So Friday morning we woke up super early to head to the bus station only to be told that the beach line no longer existed. Molly, Bri, Gio and I decided that we would go back and sleep for a little and then come up with a new plan and maybe go to Elba on Saturday instead and try and go to Florence later in the day. So after a little nap we reconvened at Molly and Bri’s apartment to find a new way to get to Elba. The bus website with schedules are extremely hard to understand and the fact that only the home page can be translated into English doesn’t really help. We searched and searched but the only thing we could find was super expensive, especially since we only wanted to go for a day trip. Finally we just gave up and decided to go to Florence for the day Saturday.

Saturday at about noon Molly, Bri, Chris and I hopped on an express bus for Florence. It was actually a really quick little trip, it only took about an hour which was great. We didn’t really have anything specific in mind or planned for our outing, which probably would have been good. We ended up just walking around and I was a little underwhelmed. I think that since I’ve seen all the big sites before it just was not as exciting. It actually made me feel so much better about living in Siena. After the debacle on Friday I was feeling pretty frustrated with Siena and second guessing my choice, but after being in Florence which was so crowed and hot and just a big city I was so happy to get back to Siena. Florence is a good place to visit but for me I think Siena is better for day to day. Like everything is life there are trade offs. Sure it’s harder to get places and there may not be as many places to go at night but I am ok with that. I like not having to worry about where I am walking in Siena at night or that it’s quieter. It was worth the price of the bus ticket just to get that perspective.