Whatever is reasonable is true, and whatever is true is reasonable.

24 October 2013 day 9

I started the day early at 6, manage to sleep quite well. Today will be heading to Siena. It was raining so heavily after I arrive at the station early, done with all my ticket purchasing, was in real luck coz I didn't change the departure date and almost got my Milan ticket wrong, I quickly went to the counter and have a fix, after that my usual breakfast - mcd it is, what else, ha! Today is the heaviest rain I'm getting by far during my trip and it only happens during my ninth day, I'm so lucky.

SMS my friend and confirm on my arrival in Milan plus he will be there at the train station to pick me up, I just hope that he won't send me off, because he will be busy with his brother anyway plus I can't stand another crying emotional moment to be frank. The train to Siena was delay a little due to rain for about 20min or so, luckily a bunch of gentlemen in nice business suit were kind enough to translate that to me, it won't be too long now before I reach there. Let see how it goes later.

I arrived at Siena station at 10am, which is not so bad really, then as usual I tried to figure out how to get to the center, shoot some pix here and there as marker. Then I saw a sign that directed me to take the bus to the city center, I followed it after a couple of rounds only to realize that I ended up the same place I started, so without anymore waiting, I purchased a local bus tickets plus two maps, coz I think the previous person didn't take the map, or else I could've saved my two euro. So then after all that at the bus stop I saw a same guy that was there before so I approached him and ask for direction, he agreed for me to tag along because he is going the same way. He speaks a little English but he was kind enough to refer to the map and tell me that Siena is a small place and quite easy to get around.

I arrived at the center after 15min, I say thank you to him once more and kick off Siena with a map. After only two minute walking I already saw this nice big church and taking photos. Then after I look around for a bit I can see sign directing tourists which way to go to most of the tourist attractions, which makes it really easy. That's actually like a tourist walk or route, which makes Siena a much more tourist friendly region plus you don't see too many black fella selling goods to tourist too, so that's a good sign.

Siena is a very quiet and hilly place, so I start to follow the sign and visit all those mentioned on the map one by one, well at least the important one. I have to say I'll make one lousy tourist because I don't follow the map at all and just care more about how to get back where I came from later coz I'm afraid I might get lost. Nonetheless, as I mentioned, I did visit couple of hot spots on the map, well it's impossible to see it all, I don't think, but at least to me I covered enough for myself, that should do. I have to say the weather has been real kind to me, coz earlier on the train it rained like crazy but after I arrived at Siena, it has stopped and even have a bit of sun.

So as a useless tourist, I wrap up Siena by 1.30pm, eager to get to the bus station so i won't miss the train, there I bumped into a nice nurse who is actually heading the same way, again she speaks little English but she is very helpful. The thing with travel to foreign country is that you always feel so much warmer knowing that people genuinely want to help even though they don't speak your language plus also she wishes me have a good trip at the end of it, which I totally don't understand in italian, but I can instantly tell that's what she was saying and that felt so nice.

So with some much time in my hand, I decided to walk into the shopping mall right across the station and look for lunch. I ended up do a little shopping in the supermarket, gotten myself a salad, fruit salad, yogurt, fruit juice and a sandwich. it's not that I don't want to try out or spend money on the local delicacies which Im sure it's very nice, it's just that again as a sucky traveller, it doesn't bother me much if I don't, unless I have the right company to try it with, I guess.

Sitting here in the park outside, enjoying my light lunch and thinking italy will soon be over for me, once I get home is it another chapter starting for my life? But my guesses are it won't be so much different as what I have been doing all this while. I will still keep on working hard, keeping in touch with close friends and won't let those nasty people that should not be bothering my life bother me, I guess in the end no matter what I believe, things all happen for a reason, for whatever it is better or worse, maybe I've been cheated for money, maybe it's something I trapped myself with in a past relationship, maybe it's a new relationship that will never come, maybe it's the communication struggle with my sister, maybe my relationship with my brother keeps getting better and better, because really no matter what it is, at the end of the day, my fundamental self will never change and all these things shape me into who I really am now. I will still be that unassertive person, always mitigative at some point being too polite and causing being told as fake, but this is who I am and nothing in the world, no one in the world will understand what going on inside of me, let alone to change me.

Today is my last day in Florence and i concluded I had a good time so far. The journey continue on, let's see later where it's gonna take me. The host is nice enough to return back my money fully, so the money I gotten back ill use it to buy ticket to Milan so all and all, I'm spending the same as it is for this trip.

I reach Firenze SMN at almost 5pm, then I actually saw a dome from the other side of the train, so after I get off from the station I decided to just walk to the dome afraid that it might be something I missed. What is so random about not sticking to certain route is that surprises always pop out of nowhere. Here I a, looking for days those black n white four frame photo booth and what do I know, I actually pass by one when I walking towards that dome, ha! Of course then I seize the chance and took two bnw pix and now that will be my italian souvenir.

I continue my walk and found that dome which I did actually visit together with a stretch of night market that again I have seen before. In fact I bought my bag here. The thing is I just keep on coming back to Florence center for some reasons, I have been here for four days and almost every evening I'm am here at the square looking for something, eating something, people looking, taking photo, I can't get enough of it. As for this evening, it's exactly the same thing, someone I reach back the cathedral, i found a place to sit down and have my ham cheese sandwich that I bought earlier, sitting there eating it slowly with my beer, and having a cigarette, then suddenly the bell started to ring, that's when you realise these are the time when religion somehow get into you and it just brings such great calm and make me sort of wonder, if I live here in Italy for the rest of my life, will I then be a religious person, which it makes sense to be so.

Finally after enough of sitting, again it's time to head home for some packing, pretty excited about Milan tomorrow coz I get to see my friend again. At 8something, he texted, so we skype for a while and tell him about my day, eh complaint he didn't get enough alone time, but how much alone time is enough, I wonder. I know deep down, somehow, somewhere, someway, eventually something will happen. But for now we just have to wait and see, plus I decided to give him that Outliers book as a gift. So we'll see then.