alrighty

so days ten and eleven were spent at our hotel. we didnt do much those days. me my mom and my aunt decided to go to Messina (which is in sicily) what's in Messina you ask? well ill tell you. its full of confusion and frustration which makes you lost. ya. so we went there hoping to be there for a few hours right? wrong. we were there all day. my aunt wanted to go to a Harley Davidson store and a mail boxes etc. thats it. i wanted to mail postcards. my mom was the driver. so we couldnt find any of those places at all and we found an electronic store. so we magically found a parking spot and went in there and bought a GPS and a cell phone. the gps is gold here. we found the harley place finally around 6pm so of course it was closed and we didnt even bother trying to find the mail place. so we went home. that was day ten. day eleven we hired a guy to come pick us up and take us anywhere we wanted. so we went to Catania and had a successful day. we found mail boxes etc., i finally mailed my postcards, and we found another harley store! it was great. so while we were running around trying to get some stuff done, sophia was in a italian hospital. she was being like a normal five year old and running to the elevator near the pool, and slipped and fell and crashed right into the marble wall. she had a concussion and a crack on her skull. not a very big crack or anything but enough to make a giant goose egg on her forehead. so my aunt and uncle were busy being at the hospital and trying to understand the doctors. shes all better now of course. but the new rules are no running, or jumping off things, or climbing, or anything a five year old thinks of. just cuz we dont want her to strain her head or anything. day twelve we flew back to rome and then flew to florence then drove to tuscany. and now we are in a villa in Montespertolli.

Day 13: it is soooo pretty here! we are surrounded by grapevinyards, olive orchards, and prettiness. today we went to the leaning tower of pisa which was super cool. we didnt go on a tour or go inside it or anything cuz the next tour available was at 7pm. but it was still fun to go there and pose for the typical pictures. like we are pushing over the tower. ya know the touristy stuff. i got some pretty cool shots which you will be able to view on my fb sometime in the near future. after pisa we drove back to the villa and went over to our neighbors and had a wine tasting party. it was pretty fun. we met a nice family from san diego that is vacationing here. the wine was really good and so was the food. they served appetizer stuff as well as pasta. it was a great way to end the night.

Day 14: today me, doug, my grandma, and my cousin richard drove to Siena. we went on a tour of the old city and saw a beautiful basilica and a giant courtyard. we learned that the courtyard there is used for a horse race that happens every july and august. the districts in Siena all choose their own jockey and horse and compete with the other districts. its not for money, its for the glory and the honor. the day before the big race, the jockeys and the horses get blessed by the priests. its a very serious event there. about 40,000 people are packed in the courtyard. they transform it to a horse track by packing down about 2 feet of dirt around the center of the courtyard and they really make it look like an arena. in the center is where people can stand for free but they dont really see much. approximately 10,000 or more can stand there. then on the outside edge of the track, about 20,000 or more people are crammed in like sardines to cheer on their district and of course they pay a small fee. surrounding the courtyard are apartments, balconies, and rooftops that are rented out to people for a much larger fee just for the race. the race is only 3 laps long and lasts about 90 seconds or so. this year the even happened july 2nd, so we just missed it by ten days. the next event happens in late august, which we will still miss. the riders compete to win a flag that is decorated in bright vibrant colors and intricate designs, and of course the honor. it was a pretty interesting tour. after the tour we wandered around the courtyard and went in the cute little shops. then all of a sudden a thunderstorm broke out and immediately hundreds of people ran to the sheltered outdoor restaurants and cafes and the nearest archways. we got a table at a cafe and had lunch and watched everyone scurry around getting drenched. it was pretty fun. eventually we had to leave and hike back to our car. it was still raining though. so of course my grandma bought a umbrella which came in handy because i didnt want my camera getting wet. when we got back home we were fed a delicious meal. everyone that didnt go on the tour with us, stayed here and had a cooking class with a real chef lady named lucia. she was very nice and really knew how to make delicious gnocchi and pesto sauce. later on i got sucked into playing hide and seek with all my cousins. it was pretty fun until natalie started counting to 15 and kept finding my hiding places. (the rule was to count to 75 because the house is pretty big) so i quit playing and went on to play this card game called 31 or geronamo or something like that. my uncle kalin taught it to everyone. its a pretty fun game. im gonna go to bed now becuz its super late here. i dont even know what time it is. so goodnight whoever is reading this!