Wedding in Tuscany - Part II
So a proper sleep is evidently going to have to wait. I did grab a little nap on the plane, but that may have done more harm than good. I hurried off to bed when I returned to my home. Only I didn't sleep. I hate that. Finally I got up. Too tired to read, unable to fall asleep, and I turned on the TV. Olympics re-runs. Misty May & Kerri Walsh are winning again on the beach.*
Florence, Italy. I get back into my rented Golf with a sense of confidence, vigor, and wonder. I'm going to a place I've never seen before. I'm going to a place that has statues. The statue. That David. The statue of the fabulous quote: "I just removed all the parts of the stone that was not the David." Or something similar to that. There are going to be frescoes & espressos & olive oil soaked tomatoes. Mike's traveling happiness was to obtain peak output in t-minus 30 minutes.
Have you ever thought about driving in Florence? I gotta suggest you don't. I spent 1/2 hour looking for parking. I'm sorry, I was looking for parking for about 2 minutes. The next 28 minutes I spent trying to find my way back to something that wasn't a cobblestone alley way between buildings. That's what passes for roads in Florence. Normally I'd be stone giddy at that realization. Normally, I'd be on foot.
But I was in a car; I was alone; the female British voice had stopped communicating hours ago; I was stuck. Literally. At one point I thought I may have to just park the car and leave it there for eternity. There was no where to go. This is not the situation you want to be in when you have slept for 4 hours out of the previous 60 or so.
I got out. I'm still not sure how. No scraps or hit pedestrians or ruined national treasures. I also never stopped to look at the frescoes, drink an espresso, or eat an olive oil marinated tomato. I finally found a sign that indicated Siena "that way" & I followed it. Got lost again. Saw another sign. Got lost again. Repeat. Then I finally found the Firenze (how the Italians spell Florence) to Siena highway and got on.
From there my directions back to the bed & breakfast took over. Fortunately, I noticed a good number of cute restaurants on my way to the B&B in the daytime. It was dark now. But I found a great meal of prosciutto & melon and then a salmon farfalle main dish. I was ultimately off to my proper bed. I needed sleep and I got it.
When I woke up, I really wanted two things: coffee & a map. My B&B was awesome. Not only did I get a map, but the lady that runs the place looked up where the bride & groom were staying (I only knew the villa's name). She gives me great directions once again and I'm again armed with knowledge. And the coffee was superb.
I had all day to fart around before I was due at the wedding party's villa. So I went out and found a neat little small Tuscan town: Radda in Chianti. It's my favorite town in Italy. For no reason other than it was the first I went to. It has two streets to speak of and you can walk around it in less than an hour. I did just that. And I took 2.5 hours to do it. Because that's the more Italian way to go about doing things.
At around 3pm or so, armed with actual directions & a map, I set off to find the Fonte de Medici. That's where the wedding party was staying. That's where my friend (the groom) was to be found. And I won. I still can't believe it - but I started to understand that little corner of Tuscany. By 4pm I was talking with my old friend Ciarán and we immediately started making fun of one another. It's what we do.
And I had now found my Tuscany mojo. Wake up; coffee; get lost; small town lunch; eat an amazing meal a breathtaking villa; and wine the night away while swapping stories with the Irish. The later we'll get into in the next chapter.
{Note post originally written on 19-Aug}
*I do not know that it was actually a re-run. They've won 107 straight matches. Everything looks like a re-run at this point. But they sure are darn fun to watch.My eyes grew heavier and I slumped off to bed & proceeded to not fall asleep. I repeat this process until 3:30am. The worst. My alarm goes off this morning and I'm convinced it is an argument the Russian official over a gymnastics scoring decision. This disagreement takes about 5 snoozes to resolve & I am now starring at 07:50am. I have an 08:30 meeting that I'm not prepared for in this slightest. Fortunately, I've read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, so my first reaction to this situation was "Don't Panic"...
Florence, Italy. I get back into my rented Golf with a sense of confidence, vigor, and wonder. I'm going to a place I've never seen before. I'm going to a place that has statues. The statue. That David. The statue of the fabulous quote: "I just removed all the parts of the stone that was not the David." Or something similar to that. There are going to be frescoes & espressos & olive oil soaked tomatoes. Mike's traveling happiness was to obtain peak output in t-minus 30 minutes.
Have you ever thought about driving in Florence? I gotta suggest you don't. I spent 1/2 hour looking for parking. I'm sorry, I was looking for parking for about 2 minutes. The next 28 minutes I spent trying to find my way back to something that wasn't a cobblestone alley way between buildings. That's what passes for roads in Florence. Normally I'd be stone giddy at that realization. Normally, I'd be on foot.
But I was in a car; I was alone; the female British voice had stopped communicating hours ago; I was stuck. Literally. At one point I thought I may have to just park the car and leave it there for eternity. There was no where to go. This is not the situation you want to be in when you have slept for 4 hours out of the previous 60 or so.
I got out. I'm still not sure how. No scraps or hit pedestrians or ruined national treasures. I also never stopped to look at the frescoes, drink an espresso, or eat an olive oil marinated tomato. I finally found a sign that indicated Siena "that way" & I followed it. Got lost again. Saw another sign. Got lost again. Repeat. Then I finally found the Firenze (how the Italians spell Florence) to Siena highway and got on.
From there my directions back to the bed & breakfast took over. Fortunately, I noticed a good number of cute restaurants on my way to the B&B in the daytime. It was dark now. But I found a great meal of prosciutto & melon and then a salmon farfalle main dish. I was ultimately off to my proper bed. I needed sleep and I got it.
When I woke up, I really wanted two things: coffee & a map. My B&B was awesome. Not only did I get a map, but the lady that runs the place looked up where the bride & groom were staying (I only knew the villa's name). She gives me great directions once again and I'm again armed with knowledge. And the coffee was superb.
I had all day to fart around before I was due at the wedding party's villa. So I went out and found a neat little small Tuscan town: Radda in Chianti. It's my favorite town in Italy. For no reason other than it was the first I went to. It has two streets to speak of and you can walk around it in less than an hour. I did just that. And I took 2.5 hours to do it. Because that's the more Italian way to go about doing things.
At around 3pm or so, armed with actual directions & a map, I set off to find the Fonte de Medici. That's where the wedding party was staying. That's where my friend (the groom) was to be found. And I won. I still can't believe it - but I started to understand that little corner of Tuscany. By 4pm I was talking with my old friend Ciarán and we immediately started making fun of one another. It's what we do.
And I had now found my Tuscany mojo. Wake up; coffee; get lost; small town lunch; eat an amazing meal a breathtaking villa; and wine the night away while swapping stories with the Irish. The later we'll get into in the next chapter.
{Note post originally written on 19-Aug}
posted by Mike at
11:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home