Well, I made it. What a journey! This was my first overnight flight and my first time outside of the country. The flights were fine getting here…no major issues, smooth trips, etc. The flight overnight to Rome (6 p.m. left Philadelphia, arrived Roma 8:45 a.m.) was easier than I expected. It was a huge plane with a lot of extra room. The plane was much nicer than my travel agent told me to expect, so that was nice. I paid for extra legroom but looked around and it appeared that I had maybe ½ inch more legroom than other seats. I didn’t get the extra legroom for the way home but I’m not worried about that anymore. I had an awesome lady to sit by for the overnight trip. She was with her husband and teenage daughter who were seated several rows ahead of us, on the other side of the plane. She was from Kansas City and her husband works in the Ford factory there. She gets out of the country every other year or so and travels with her sister. They are not a rich family, by any means, so she takes trips with her sister to Peru, Italy, Spain, so far. Her mother grew up in Italy and they were all returning for a family reunion and to spread her ashes. She died five years ago but it has taken the family this long to save the money to all get together. Her mother has a couple of brothers who live in Italy and the family plans on staying with them. I started talking to her about Lidia Bastianich’s restaurant in Kansas City. I told her that Mark and I want to take a special trip just to visit the restaurant. She said that we should! She said it is amazing and I don’t doubt her in the least! She then went on to explain to me that her mother worked for many years with Lidia and her import dishware company. Her mother would travel to Italy often to seek out local artisans and bring their dishes/servewear back to sell in Lidia’s shop. So cool!!! I was thrilled talking to her about Lidia, her mother, and their trips to Italy.
Once I got off the plane in Rome, we (a couple of other people from the institute were on my flight, thank god!) found our group, got our luggage, and got on the bus to Tuscany. I didn’t really sleep on the plane so I was so exhausted by this point. I thought I might sleep on the bus but that didn’t happen either. Anyway, the trip to Tuscany was wonderful. We drove through the outskirts of Rome so I got to see the city a little. To no surprise, it is absolutely beautiful here. It is early spring so many shrubs and trees are just starting their process to bud again. The grasses on the ground are green and there is still a lot of greenery (cypress trees, specifically) to enjoy. The trip to Casa Cares, located near the town of Reggello, was about 4 hours long. We stopped at a truck stop about midway to get some lunch and stretch our legs. Oh, boy, what an experience! It was very nice and clean. There was a tourist-y gift shop inside where we were encouraged to pick up cheap wine and snacks in. Of course, I did pick up some wine and crackers (see pic above). I picked up the best 5 euro (about $5) bottle of wine I’ll ever have. It’s a Tuscan Sangiovese and it is sooooo good. Anyway, I also ordered a sandwich and ended up with a dessert as well since I couldn’t understand the woman who took my order. There were tons of Italian people there standing around drinking espresso and eating their paninis. The panini was so good…mozzarella, prosciutto, lettuce, tomato. I got a side of little donuts filled with chocolate. Needless to say, they were amazing as well. It was a very busy truck stop and the small group I was with didn’t speak much Italian. We were all a little lost about the process of ordering, paying, picking up our food. The woman who checked us out was very patient with us. I guess we were supposed to pay for our gifts, snacks, and wine in the gift shop. We didn’t know this so we brought it all out for her to ring up along with our meals. Ha! She was so nice. She tried to tell me several things in Italian and I just gave her a blank stare. She threw her hands up in the air, shrugged, smiled, and just rung me up for everything that I pointed to. We both laughed about it. As soon as we got to Casa Cares, I pulled out my phrase book so I could learn how to say “I’m sorry” in Italian. I figured I needed to know how to say that in case this type of thing happens again. I feel bad that I couldn’t understand her but it would take years to master my Italian enough to catch every word she was saying (they talk VERY fast). It was a good experience and I’m glad we were thrown into it, in a way. We needed the reality check that yes, in fact, we are in Italy after all.
We had the afternoon to unpack and take a house tour. This is an old farmhouse and it has its own chapel. It was built around 1600 and has many, many stories from over the years. I’ve posted some pictures of my room and my snacks. We had an amazing dinner last night….the first of many here….lasagna Ragout, antipasti salad (w/out meat), fresh bread, Casa Cares olive oil (so good!!!), and baked apples with cream and pine nuts. I am in heaven. I slept well after one of my professors took care of the enormously large spider on my bed. I was a little worried because it was an Italian spider and I didn’t recognize it. She said that I shouldn’t have any more problems with pests. She said it’s rare to see a spider here. I had one to welcome me last night on my bed. Lucky me.
There is a cat, a small dog, and many birds around the house and farm. I look forward to seeing them and hopefully getting to know them while I’m here. I’ll have to learn some Italian pet words so they will interact with me. Today we are going to be at the house learning about play therapy. Tomorrow we travel to Florence. I’ll try to post again tonight. I’m having a wonderful time already but I miss Mark and Corinne a lot. I know the next week will fly so I’m trying to soak it all up and enjoy the moment. That is a very Italian way of thinking that we should all embrace more often.
No comments:
Post a Comment