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One of my favourite trips happened 5 days after i’d arrived to Tuscany in 2016 and led me to start creating a puzzle called Italy. I settled in the hostel(first time in my life), still in search for apartment and on my first day there i had decided to explore a bit of the city of Siena, my new home. On my way out i bumped to Pier never-saying-what-his-job-in-the-hostel-is Paolo, in the hallway, all dressed up, walking back and forth with his nose in the ceiling, waiting for someone. As soon as he had seen me he approached me and asked to join him and two other guests, girls from Berlin, for a countryside tour with their van. I said sure, thinking how town could wait, and how it would be very nice and healthy if i got some fresh air and walked in the countryside a bit. Little that i’d known that in 3 hours, after a vomit-friendly ride through breathtaking south of Tuscany, provided by bold, middle aged Italian, Piero(who knew a little to no English but was eager to communicate to us and introduce us to his fluffy, smelly dog Abramo), i would find myself pouring my nineth glass of wine, having the spiciest pepper i had had in my life, in the middle of little piazza sitting and laughing with people i’ve just met, that were my first friends in Tuscany. Exactly that was the moment, sitting there, surrounded by brown and yellow houses, separated with narrow streets that go back as far as 9th century, soaking the sun, language, laugh and wine, that i thought „I’ll be alright here“ and made no mistakes with that thought. We walked, zigzagging, through small, cobblestone streets and tucked piazzas in Pienza named after it’s founder, born here, Pope Pius II Piccolomini who in 15th century had a vision of building an ideal Renaissance city which now represents the first application of humanist urban planning concept. I couldn’t not think how, by strange circumstances, i got an ideal first experience in, once, ideal town. Our trip ended with a visit to another place near by, Bagno Vignoni, with a hotspring overlooking just another castle on the top of the hill. I say „just another“ not because i don’t appriciate and think highly of it but, because, when it comes to Italy, especially Tuscany, castles and fortresses are everywhere, that, when you see as many, you almost don’t pay attention to it anymore. Standing on the edge of the hotspring and catching a sunset, still a bit tipsy, i got to one of those serious drunk discussions with Mr Pier, where we heatily argued what did Machiavelli actually say in his book „The Prince“. Convinced i know better than this little, full of himself, Italian ’cause I finished Political Science, i said that he actually wrote that „the end justifies the means“ and was stubborn about it (search „being Serbian“ in dictionary) while Pier, pointing his umbrella at me(that he took just as an accessory) said that’s a lie and he’ll prove me wrong. We ended it right there, without acheiving agreement, and headed back to the hostel. This time, ironically, ride was vomit-free, since we fell asleep the moment we got into the van. Back in the hostel, some fellow travelers knowing i planned to visit the city that day, asked how it was and what did i see, where i said i stumbled up on some magic beans and left to bed, a bit dizzy, but happy. Next morning i’ve found toy of Pinochio at my door and days later i’ve recieved the message with an original use of the controversial statement, where author just referred to Machiavelli’s book, which, made me laugh and admit i was wrong(now search for „what Serbs never do“). Exactly a year later i found myself in Siracuse with Mr AlwaysSometimes Right Pier on a less spontanuous adventure than the one to Pienza, although we kept having rollercoster rides(what else with Italians) and did get lost quite a lot to be honest, but it didn’t matter, we anyway didn’t know where we were going.