well it wasn't so bad I suppose, my whole week away was pretty fun. Started off going to Siena via Pienza and there was snow all over Tuscany! So amazing beautiful, and very exciting for a bunch of aussies! Siena was gorgeous. Then we went off the next day to look at villas which was very exciting for me as I am writing on some f them for my PhD apart from one they were all in better condition than I expected and not covered with snow so i could take proper photos etc. Then Florence which was fun, did lots of sightseeing and a little shopping, it was so much fun having the students there as they were basically my age and understood well the need to shop for 4 hours, unlike the people I was hanging out with last time in Florence!

Then Parma which was slightly depressing because my hotel room was crap, it didn't have a proper window or anything, but the town itself was really lovely, and the shops were amazing, I only resisted buying heaps becasue the shops were shut on a Thursday afternoon, though I ama bit sad I missed out on this amazing cool bag of a style I love but which is usually in leather which I don't buy. Also got lots of work done and the staff at the library were incredibly helpful and nice which was great, and in great contrast to the attitudes of most Italian library staff, they even let me photograph a whole book of engravings!