aroma

I'm here in Siena, for a work conference that I am a part of the organizing committee, so it's been pretty demanding so far. Siena has wonderful green rolling hills, and the skyline off the outdoor patio of our hotel is gorgeous, but the best part is it's smell. It's this warm flowery fragrance that I can't quite place. It's almost as if it's a mixture of jasmine, lavender, and maybe some gardenia, mixed up with about 85 degrees of sunshine. It's truly amazing.

Siena is a small walled-in, medieval town. There are 17, or so, different compartments - and each one has their own flag and mascot and they have these compitions sometimes. Last night we were in the fish village and they had these lights all over. It was actually very beautiful. One evening there was this parade or march through the main piazza - Piazza de Campo - with representatives from each group and their flags, and drums and acrobatics. It was pretty awesome to see.