HELP! I’VE FALLEN IN (love with) TUSCANY AND I CAN’T GET UP

COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY (May into June 2010)

     Words can not begin to describe what the last week of school was like, to hear people talk about their Italian experiences, and just plan hold on to emotions, and make it through the week.  Every reference to anything remotely Italian, made my pulse pound and my head light and giddy.  I could not even fathom concepts like, Saturday we will be sight-seeing in Roma.  I mean really--in Rome, Italy!  It struck me square over the head during the final awards assembly for the year. 

     Our Librarian creates a slide show each year as part of a motivational strategy for the Accelerated Reader program; it is part of our schools “Read

Around the World” thing we do, encouraging students to read, make points and guess where in the world we will go next.  She cleverly, using Photoshop, takes pictures of the students and faculty and inserts them into existing photos from around the world.  This year: Africa, Sweden, Italy and Hawaii.  She knew about of impending trip and stuck me into shots of the Forum or Coliseum.  Here’s ‘doofy’ Dave in Rome.  How silly.  I laughed, as did the whole assembled school.  Then it hit me.  That same “in the gut’, ‘wake-up this is a really real life” thing that said I will be there on Friday.  In four days I will be somewhere totally different, doing things that we had planned for months.  It was really going to happen. 

     We had to purchase a new take on bag, because the one we had used in the past was to big now.  We were hoping everything that we had tried to get into the other one, now discarded along with many things that weren’t going to make it on the trip, would fit into it.  Monday night—work late to make up for the time I wouldn’t be at work.  Marianne got the dog a hair cut.  She had come home Friday bitterly complaining about her hair cut on Friday.  

     The weather finally broke like it was summer and the end of school.  The teachers were finding it hard to tell me when their kids would show up or as in the case of one, go to the awards assembly in her stead so she could have a break.  There were field days scheduled in every possible place.  With the forecast for no rain and higher temperatures, a repeat of the previous June (completely rained out) was not likely.  My second school announced a last minute assembly and my plans for those students fell through.  The year was really winding down.

     Tuesday, Marianne got a manicure and pedicure, a total luxury for her, and then went to a theatre board meeting.  I stayed home and mowed the lawn—I think this is where the story began.  As I mowed the early June wet grass, my mind kept going back to that June day a year ago when we decided to through chance to the wind and go to Italy (for a week).  Although it had stretched into over three weeks, the vision was still clear—Italy.  The adventures that awaited us were so palatable I could hardly contain myself.  “Oh the places we will see and the people we will meet”—Dr. Seuss.

    Now all that was left on the ‘to-do’ list was ‘packing’, ‘paying’ the last of the bills, and closing down the house.  The cell phone had come in the mail and our house sitter was ready to come on board.  Then “whoosh”, it was Wednesday after school and we were putting bags into the car and saying goodbye to the pets.

     Marianne declared that I would not be emptying the hot tube, “If you haven’t done it yet, you aren’t going to be doing it the night before we leave.  Just toss a lot of chlorine into it and it will be there when we get back”. 

     I didn’t argue.  We were going to Italy!

THE END

HELP! I’VE FALLEN IN (love with) TUSCANY AND I CAN’T GET UP

Contacting Francis Mayes (April – May 2010)

     After finding the url for Frances Mayes’ website “Roses and Apples the Official website and blog of …”  I had some questions about some items in here book “Every Day in Tuscany”.  The site claimed she answers all emails.  So I wrote:

April 16, 2010 at 9:56 pm

Please let Ms. Mayes know that both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed her latest book, “Everyday in Tuscany”. We never get tired of her prose—beautiful and always elegant.
Because of authors like her, and primarily her, we are planning a visit to Tuscany & Umbria in June. My wife and I were so amazed by the uncanny inclusion of specific places and sights that Ms. Mayes writes about, that we are going to visit. We loved her accounts of her grandson, and his enrichment through Italian daily life. Plus, I was very interested in her Signorelli trail—an artist who also fascinates me.
I had a question about Fonterutoli (one of our hoped for side visits), which she said was Montalcino, but we find in Chianti—?
We will be in Cortona (June 18) and are especially anxious to find the shops, etc. mentioned. If we walk the Localita Torreone, we will be sure to stop and say wonderful, truthful things about the Mayes’s under their windows. Wish we could be there in August for the Sun Festival—I am a musician. Kudos to the Mayes’s for bringing the festival to life.
Please, thank her for sharing all their adventures with us all. Sorry there was some trouble, over the past 20 years.
David and Marianne Jones

P.S.: I just saw the pr about the cruise Ms. Mayes will be a guest lecturer. It looks incredible. We had looked at the same route two years ago before we decided on our upcoming trip.

I checked the website a couple of times, and sort of half way thought she would respond via email.  But no—we left for Italy without her ‘words’ of wisdom.  She did however, respond:

• francesmayes says:

May 11, 2010 at 10:55 am

Ciao David, Fonterutoli is near Montalcino, still not far from the Chianti area. Check the Festival website for this year’s program. There’s one big surprise:

Sting! Playing Schumann. Best, Frances

     I didn’t find this post until June of  2011.  I was very surprised to even come across it when a decided to re-visit Mayes website.  Allora.  By the way, we passed through Fonterutoli on the way from Siena to Castellina in Chianti—not Montalcino.

YouTube--Climbing Brunellescheli’s Dome (May 2010)

     About a week before we were set to get on the plane, I found a video of someone climbing the Duomo dome in Firenze.  I had been very anxious about it after seeing pictures of the cramped interior steps.  Phil Doran didn’t really say anything about it being a overwhelming challenge, and of course, Amy Roloff never return my email. 

     The man, 64, who had filmed his ascent, seemed very winded in the video, but it looked do-able for 54 year old me.  He replied:

Thank you for your interest. I was 63 when I climbed the dome. I'm in reasonably good health, but was not terribly fit at the time. I got short of breath towards the top because I was under time constraints and had to get back to the hotel for an appointment. Don't worry about it being too confined. If you are deathly afraid of heights and exposure, that might be another thing.
     There is a wealth of things to do in Florence. We have been a few times and still find new things to do. In fact we will also be in Florence later this month. Buy the book by Rick Steves and do what catches your fancy. One important recommendation: If you want to go to the Uffizi Gallery (the major art gallery in the city) buy your tickets before you leave online at the gallery website. That way you take the voucher they send you to a little office across the square from one of the longest lines you will ever see. You will then walk into the museum pretty much right away and save hours. (This is especially true at high season such as you will be going.) The same is true of the Academia where the original David is. The Bargello Museum is also excellent. Similarly, the Museum of the Duomo contains some wonderful things. The Duomo itself is rather plain inside. Do not miss however the church of Santa Croce and the church of Santa Maria Novella.
     The Masaccio Frescos in the Brancacci Chapel of the Santa Maria Carmine church (on the other side of the river) are magnificent. I recall that a reservation is required.
     Let me recommend my favorite restaurant: Quatro Leoni. It is on the other side of the river but an easy walk. The food is superb and the price is reasonable. It's a place where Anthony Hopkins ate every night when he was filming Hannibal. You might try the combination of deep fried rabbit, chicken, and vegetables. I forget what they called it. There is also a pasta dish containing pear and pecorino cheese. Do not miss that. In Italy, the house wine is always excellent and sometimes costs less than water.
It was not until our second or third visit that we went inside the old city hall (on the Plaza) or the Pitti Palace. One can over-program oneself. Take some time to sit outdoors with a glass of wine and some cheese and watch the crowd go by.
Enjoy Italy. Peter

HELP! I’VE FALLEN IN (love with) TUSCANY AND I CAN’T GET UP

Juliet in Tuscany

     From the second we saw the trailers advertising the movie “Letters to Juliet”, Marianne and I started to get the Tuscany ‘bug’ bad.  Another Tuscany movie—holy cow!

The critics absolutely hated it, especially sweet Amanda Syfried.  They did, however, like Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero.  Syfried is the cute little actress from “Mamma Mia” who, in my book, can do anything—along with her co-star Meryl Streep; need I say more?  As far as this movie, we didn’t care.  We wanted to see Italy on the big screen and it did not disappoint.  Okay, the writing was very trite, and the plot—predictable and contrived, but, come on, it’s Tuscany for God’s sake.  Here are the places we will be in a month. 

     Although we had no plans to visit Verona, where the film takes you first, Marianne now added it to our ‘second trip’ list.  When the film started to come alive, the trio is in Tuscany looking for Franco Nero.  One of their first stops they make is under a huge spreading oak tree at the top of a hill overlooking an ancient village, which I immediately recognized and Vagliagli—Dario Castagno’s home.  The pictures of Siena, and the Val D’Orcia were spectacular.   We watched through the credits and tried to find out locations, etc. 

     When the movie was over, I told her Marianne about the picnic table over-looking Vagliagli and she leaned over to me and said “Get me up there and we’ll have a picnic”.  I could completely envision the meal with a loaf of Italian bread, cheeses and a bottle of very expensive Brunello di Montalcino.  Pinch me; I am dreaming again.

The Final Countdown

     Real time, fantasy and reality began to blur the fine, distinct edges of our life.  I could have been the new contact lenses I got, but I began to think that our monthly count downs dissolved into the month, the three weeks, the two weeks, and then the 12 days before we were to leave.  So much was happening.  I was finishing up my tenure as Music Director at church, Bill Maule passed (thank the Lord for the end of his suffering), I was getting monies right and left at school to up date and improve instruments, their were only seven student days left, and then the Governor announced he had made a mistake and that every school, police department, social services, etc. would have to trim about $24 million from their already meager budgets.  I could possibly lose my job while we were gone in Italy.  After 24 years, the district would cut mime and my colleague’s jobs because the state couldn’t do the math that they should have done three months ago.  Needless to say anyone in education or the PERS system became outraged beyond reason.  Even though we knew times were tough, the audacity to ‘screw-up’ so badly was reprehensible.

     Memorial weekend began rather dismally.  The sun finally started its come-back and my yard was looking great.  The soggy side yard, created by the new neighbors ‘drainage’ problems, only kept me from mowing, not trying to enjoy the down time.  That Saturday we slept in late, and went to the Farmers Market to find a dessert for our evening with my former elementary music teaching colleague, Wanda.  A long-divorced mother of two grown kids, that I followed as music teacher for Winston elementary school twenty 23 years ago, and followed to the big burg of Rose, where I have been ever since. 

     The market is always a great place to visit.  You will see your friends and people you haven’t seen for a while.  You can find great produce, excellent plants, both vegetables and garden, as well as almost anything hand made.  There is always a musician or small group playing that all adds to the carnival-like atmosphere of the place.  We always head for the folks who own a bakery in Tyhee who have the best muffins and peasant bread.  Mmm, wonderful.  We found a great looking blackberry pie, talked to an acquaintance that hasn’t seen Marianne in years and headed for the Bagel Tree for a breakfast bagel and coffee.

     To our surprise almost everybody else in town had had the same idea and was packed in the tiny café.  They have the best and freshest variety of bagels you can find anywhere.  The only tables were outside.  Marianne and the dog laid claim to one of the tables that flank the door and I went in to order.  It looked like the Presbyterian table, a standing Saturday ritual for the senior members of the church, had expanded to about four with at least twenty folks.  The line took forever, but the wait was worth it; the sandwiches: mine, egg, Swiss and ham on a Swiss mushroom, and Marianne’s, egg, cheddar and sausage on onion.  I had to maneuver and avoid people standing everywhere, making two trips out to bring the food and the Viennese roast.  It was a good thing I did, because Marianne was suddenly entertaining a person, female I presumed who had just plopped down in the extra chair and started talking about her childhood in L.A.  Marianne had quickly deduced that she was only a few years older than herself, but looked like she was in her mid-seventies.  Luckily, I scared her away and we had a most enjoyable late breakfast, very continental, at a sidewalk café in Roseburg, Oregon. 

     After we finished one of the ‘Presbys’, Maury, someone we have know for over twenty years, stopped to talk with us.  Maury lost his wife eight to ten years ago now, and is still chugging along quite well—and not looking for another wife, thank you.  He introduced us to his son and his family who were down for a visit to mark his 80^th Birthday, Monday—Memorial Day.  As was usual, Marianne let him know all about our impending trip, and as usual, he was very envious—although he had been to Italy before.  “You’re going to love it,” which is the standard response we had been getting for months now.  And of course our standard response is “Yes, we know we will.”

     The sun kept bright all day, amazingly, and we read outside under the umbrella.  I even took the opportunity to get some sun on my pale white skin.  Not that I got a tan, but it was nice to be warm.

   I had been doing a final email check to make sure the places we had booked to stay were really out there.  From Montalcino:

HELLO 

ROOM CARMEN IS RESERVE FOR YOU 

PLEASE LEAVE PHONE NUMBER. 

WHEN ARRIVAL IN MONTALCINO MUST CALL MY PHONE 3403959158 

I DO NOT LIVE TO B&B 

BEST REGARDS 

MSR GIGLIOLA 

The car rental place:

Dear Sir/Madam, we have seen in our system that you have yet not 

received/read  your voucher for your car rental.  Please go to the 

Customer zone on  economycarrentals.com and log  in with e-mail address: 

sicum@charter.net and order number: 620462 to see and print out your 

voucher. 

Please note that we can not refund any payments because of not read 

vouchers! Important information is written on the voucher. It can also be 

a problem to get the car if you can not provide  the voucher. 

Please note that this is an automatically generated message. It will be 

sent until you have read the voucher. We apologize for any inconvenience 

caused. 

Best regards 

Reservation Team 

EconomyCarRentals.com

Garden Hilton Fiumicino:

Dear Mrs Jones,

thank you for your kind message. 

Just a quick note to re-confirm that you have a booking at the HGI Rome Airport on the night of July 2nd for one night and that is already prepaid.

On the arrival day: Our shuttle runs with a frequency of 30 minutes circa, leaving the front door of the Hotel at the hour and the Half Hour of every hour and go to the pick-up point at the airport as displayed on our web-site, please see picture of pick-up point location.

On the day of departure: you can book a ride to the airport directly at the front desk whilst checking-in. In fact we have a smaller 8 seats van available so we are able to take you to the airport even before 6, this service is absolutely complimentary.(I would suggest 04:30)

Also I see your room rate is inclusive of breakfast, be advised that you can ask for a box breakfast whilst checking-in and collect it in the morning before leaving at front desk.

Coffee won't be available at that time but you do have tea and coffee making facility in your room, complimentary for you to use.

I hope this information will help you planning better your stay in Rome but if you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Cristian Tupone

Front Desk Supervisor

Earlier, I had ‘freaked’ that I made the wrong choice in Rome accommodation, after reading their website:

Anna: 

I believe that I have made a mistake in reserving a double room with 

Hotel Sileo for Friday night June 11 and Saturday June 12.  I was under the impression that 

we would be getting a room that we could occupy for the entire two days.  However, in 

reading the details of your web site I have found: 

"It has a contract to house train conductor who work the night shift, so its simple, pleasant 

rooms are rented from 19:00 to 9:00 only. If you can handle this, it's a wonderful value. During 

the day, they store your luggage, and though you won't have access to a room, you're welcome 

to shower or hang out in the lobby or bar." 

It was my understanding that we would have a room for two days and nights, air-conditioned 

€75 each night, that we wouldn't have to vacate during the day.  Please let me know if this is 

or is not the case so we can try and make other arrangements for accommodations at this late date. 

Thank you, 

David and Marianne Jones 

hello david the room that you have reserved is the ones free for the 

whole time 24 hours without moving for euro 75,00 in case all is ok 

please just for to be sure that all is ok send us another message where 

you confirm and time of arrive by hotel sileo anna 

Lucca’s Albergo Diana:

Best regards 

Ivan Bellucci 

Reservation Desk Hotel Diana 

Fernando and Rosetta:

Dear David and Marianne,

you can call any time at (from Italy) 075.8473088 (this is the B&B telephon number)

or to my cellphone 338.7911652.

We don't know the trattoria Al Palazzaccio as we have many of this locals.

We generally use trattoria owned and managed from a local family and the day that we will visit Spoleto we will have a wine tasting in Montefalco a nice village not far from Spoleto and the most important area for Umbrian Red wine.

Saluti

Fernando

WWW.ITALYESCORTEDTOUR.INFO

Volterra’s La Primavera:

Dear Marianne and Jons, 

your arrive in the first evening is perfect for me. 

If you can when you are in trip if you have some problems or change your 

plans please phone me to this number 0039 0588 87295. 

See you soon, 

Silvia Pineschi

Railroad Tickets

    Rail Euro looks like a great site to find a train, but because European Italian specifically, hadn’t posted their summer schedules, I got as far as reserving, but when I went to pay, the only option was to mail them.  Knowing full well we would never see those tickets until July 5^th, I cast my fortunes to the winds and hoped that Fernando could actually secure tickets for us.  We had the exact times and train numbers, so hopefully, it would be easy to pay for them in Magione.  We would only be taking to trains, one to Lucca from SMN in Firenze, after dropping off the rental car, and one back to Rome Termini from Lucca.  Because the train to Lucca is a regionale, I could not get first class tickets.  We have been cautioned to get first class tickets any time it was possible.  So I had to think quickly.  I divided the return trip (Lucca to Rome) into to parts.  The first leg Lucca to Firenze was the regionale, 2^nd class, but I could get a first class set of tickets from Firenze to Rome.  The length of the trip from Lucca to Frenze was 1:23 at $28 for the two tickets; from Firenze to Rome was 1:35.  It looked like the bullet train, and for $158 for the two of us, it looked like a great way to return to Rome Termini.