Post by Lydia!!!!

Hey y’all, it’s Lydia here! Kirsten coerced me into writing a post... “If you’re bad at math you have to be good at writing”. We shall see. 😂 I write this sitting on the bus, out of breath, thanking God we could literally flag our bus down and not have to be deserted in San Gimagno. But more on that later, let me start with Siena. After arriving in Siena around 1 pm, we flagged down a taxi to give our aching legs a break. (See blog post about standing on train for hours!!) As our taxi driver told us he was from Albania, our eyes went wide with fear. We have seen “Taken”!! When he questioned if we were traveling alone, we quickly replied that our father was arriving in one hour!(#NOTtaken) Siena is a charming, beautiful city with many hills and narrow streets. Grace would shriek with terror at Kirsten and I to get out of the road as the cars would speed by. We narrowly evaded death many times... 😂 With my (lack of) sense of direction and our inability to read google maps, we miraculously found our way to the Duomo, a beautiful church dedicated to Saint Catherine of Siena. The church was magnificent and after we viewed it, Anna said she was in “need” of a gelato break... (different city same need. 😂) We then went into a different church and saw the head of Catherine of Siena; Kirsten remains unconvinced it is the true head of the great Saint! Kirsten introduced us to apertivo time and then we enjoyed a lovely dinner of pizza margherita. (Splitting it, as we were all full from said apertivo time. 😂) The next morning we took a bus to San Gimagno, a tiny town outside of Siena with a stunning view. As we walked the cobble stone streets, Kirsten laughed and told the story of how my mom, Rebekah and her had sprinted through the streets to catch their bus just a year before as they had unknowingly gone to the wrong bus station. Little did we know the same fate bestowed us. Our phone batteries and our will to walk in the bitter cold were dying so we ducked into a cafe to recharge our phones and spirits. Poor Anna laid on a chair and slept as Kirsten ran to the near pharmacy to get her cold medicine. The time was nearing 2:30, our bus was about to depart and Kirsten still was not back. At 2:27 I saw her walking down the streets and we motioned for her to RUN. We sprinted towards the bus stop just to see our bus drive away. Kirsten then said the bus arrived at 2:40 and I had gotten the time wrong. We waited and waited for the bus that would never arrive. We decided to run to the other bus stop across town. As we walked, we saw a bus coming towards us... OUR bus!!! We stood in the road and waved our hands and hallelujah, the driver stopped! He could not leave the bambinos in the street!! We made it back to Siena safe and sound! Getting to Assisi is a different story I am too tired to write at the moment. Now, I am sitting in our hotel in Rome reflecting on our trip and feeling thankful for my parents who gave me the opportunity to go on such an incredible holiday with my sisters!!

Ciao,

Lydia 💗🌟