It was quite surreal, leaving a Wellington summer’s day and then arriving in Rome god knows how many hours later on Friday to something just above zero!

We are settled in our Air BnB apartment in Siena now, but not without incident. John’s back pack was stolen on the train from Fiumicino Airport to Tiburtina Station in Rome where we were heading to get the bus to Siena. It’s not really a tourist service and we stood out. We were targeted with a scam and they got a bag. We don’t regard ourselves as that naïve when travelling but we had let our guard down and paid for it. We were told when we reported it that they get italians too.

But, I have to say we have nothing but praise for the Railway Police we dealt with. I had to dredge up my italian language in an entirely different set of circumstances and while it was by no means perfect we were understood, made our report of the theft (necessary for the insurance claim we thought we would have to make) and then headed on to Siena. Less than 3 hours later we had a phone call to say the bag was found – it had been handed in.

So on Saturday John made the journey to Civitavecchia (an hour from central Rome) and lo and behold we got back everything except some cash, a pair of gloves and my laptop charger. His credit cards and an ipad were not taken. Clearly cash was king and then the other bits were opportunistic. We had temporarily blocked use of the cards in any case but some hassles were avoided by not having to replace them from here.

So, today is the first day we have really had in Siena. Church bells started to ring at 7am in the historic centre where our apartment is. It’s a great location – just off a main street but quiet, and this part of town is essentially pedestrian only – only cabs, service vehicles and residents vehicles of which there aren’t many.

We have found my walking route to language school, two supermarkets and a good local produce deli/bakery/wine shop. Sundays seem relaxed, mainly locals around. The days are short still – the sun comes up a bit after 7:30 and is gone by 5pm, but the light is gentle and the town is very atmospheric. And, our apartment is light, warm and well set up for an extended stay.

So tomorrow I head to the university for my ‘placement test’ and the study actually starts!