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

Life Happens…

    Around the first part of January, I started to loose focus on the Italian trip and had to start focusing on my life.  Shit started to happen while I was out making other plans, as the song goes.  School began to get more intense.  The Elementary Music Teachers, over reaching again, were looking at doing three or four grants for instruments, equipment, a traveling drum set, refining a keyboard methods book we had all had a hand in developing, and just plan teaching.  Vintage Singers had their annual Twelfth Night Concert and we did one of the hardest Handel pieces I think I’ve ever done, ‘Dixit Dominus’, written by a 22 year old Handel while visiting Italy.  You see, even Handel went to Italy.  Our director promised that our spring concert at the end of April would be much easier.  We all hoped she was telling the truth. 

     And church.  Church had barely let up after Christmas.  I was losing choir members left and right.  One had cancer surgery and was awaiting the second surgery to put her internals back together after her chemo.  My only tenor was quickly succumbing to Lour Gehrig’s disease, and his wife, my strongest alto, had to become his caregiver.  My other strong alto had been out of two months with a strange auto-immune disorder.  My friend and lead soprano had to tend to her business degree before she failed the classes.  That left me and a soprano, who fell and dislocated her lower leg bones, to sing tenor.  I had to switch my other good alto to soprano, and my lead bass was retired, going off vestry, and probably going to runaway with his wife in their motor home for some place far, far away.  Preparing and planning for weekly services was taking more and more time, and interfering with my real job and my home life more than it had every in the past.  It was with great sadness and resolve that I decided to resign my Music Director position at St. George’s.  I had an Epiphany during Epiphany. 

    I would be 54 in two weeks and I was still running around, multi-tasking, pleasing everyone else, but slowly watching my life drift away.  I did the things I enjoy doing, but I felt like I had to work through it all and I really didn’t get the enjoyment out of it.  I planned to tell the Priest around annual meeting at the end of February; I would work my last day the first Sunday in June and that was all I would do. 

     Knowing the way things were going with the trip, that would be the day we would have to pack our bags for the plane ride on the following Thursday.  I could already envision that last week before the trip being an absolute ‘madhouse’.  I would have to work Saturday and Sunday at school to get grades done.  At Church I would have to file music and make everything presentable for the next director.  The list was getting longer by the day and I hadn’t even finished planning the Italy trip yet--or paid for anything yet.

    So while all of these things were swirling around in my life, I got sick and lost a day of work.  That day, after returning from the doctor, and two hours in Rite Aid waiting for prescriptions to be filled, I wrote down a little list of things that needed to get done—things that I could remember, at the time, that we had to do or decisions we would have to make.

TO DO LIST ITALIA:

• European cell phones
• Check limitations/transaction fees of credit cards
• Buy a large suitcase (checked)
• Walker for Marianne
• 4 photo copies of each passports
• Get Euros
• Money belts 2 for each?
• 2 Small or 2 medium packing ‘boxes’ for both

PORTLAND June 9 & July 4

• Motel in Portland 2 nights with free parking & shuttle to and from PDX

ROMA     giugno 10 & 11

• Shuttle tickets from Fiunacino to Termini Roma    (at airport)
• Confirm/Pay Hotel Sileo  Roma        ($220)
• Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour in Roma

MAGIONE

• Fernando Scattini:  Driving us to Firenze or taking treno? 
•       Or Ticket cost: Magione -S.M.N.
• Pay F & R (Bella Magione)

FIRENZE

Locate luggage storage in Firenze giugno 19 noon to 4 PM ?

• Find Transportation
• TAXI/Elettrico Bus A to Piazza Cimatori 19.6.10
• TAXI/Elettrico Bus costs/stops in Firenze/Fiesole
• Book Firenze/Donatella tours / pay for them
• TAXI from Pz. Cimatori to Treno stazione S.M.N. 26.6.10
• TRENO Firenze (S.M.N.) to Empoli

EMPOLI

• Maggiore Rent
• Locate: Maggiore Rent in Empoli
• TAXI to/from Maggiore Rent from Empoli treno stazione (26.6.10 & 30.6.10)
• Phone #’s for Maggiore & taxi in Empoli

SAN GIMIGNANO

• Elettrico Bus stops/costs/schedules in San Gimignano

TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE

• Admission Costs for: 
• Etruscan museum (Volterra)
• Ab. San Galgano
• Banfi Winery (Montalcino)
• Mate Winery (Montalcino)
• Ab. D’Abato
• La Foce
• Etruscan museum / parking (Chiusi)
• San Bagio (Montipulciano)
• Monteriggioni?
• Dievole Tour (E40)
• Treno tickets/costs: Empoli to Lucca

LUCCA

• TAXI to/from treno stazione:  Albergo Diana giugne 30 & luglio 2
• TAXI to Pz. Verdi and back/etc.
• Bus to/from Campo dei Miracoli (Pisa)  
• Schedule/book/costs for Campelino climb
• Lucca Tours/etc.: bikes / Torre Guinigi / San Giuseppe concert tickets?

TRENO tickets/cost:  Lucca to Roma

Shuttle Treno:  Roma Termini to Fiunacino

Shuttle to/from motel

Motel at Fiumicino airport luglio 2, 2010

     I suddenly started to get a panic attack.  This was too much to do in such a short time—well four months time.  I handed the list over to Marianne who appreciated it very much, but I could tell she really couldn’t believe that I was worrying about all matter of minutia while being sick.  She smiled and thanked me.

     By the end of the week, she had found a hotel at the Rome Airport—researched to make sure it had a free shuttle, etc., and even paid for it.  This is when we found out that a foreign business will not take credit cards that have an expiration date before the reservation date.  Our card’s expiration date was 2/10.  I had called the card company and they had assured me that the card was good through the end of February and that we would have the new cards within three weeks, but that did not calm the apparent fears of the Italian people.  We had opened our travel account with another bank in October, and of course they had given us a Visa card.  We just hadn’t called to activate it because we didn’t want another credit card.  One is just enough, thank you.  So, while Marianne’s on the computer making the reservation, I am on the phone conversing with the automated card activation service.  It didn’t take more that 15 minutes and we had a non-expiring card and a reservation at the Hilton at Fiumicino.  The next day I found the best rate anywhere near the Portland airport for a ‘stay-park-fly’ package that cost just about as much ads the Hilton room in Italy. 

     Soon Cristina, from Firenze, we thought, was bugging us to send her copies of our passports.  I had assumed that this would be collected along with the €30 cleaning deposit on the afternoon of June 19 in Firenze.  She wanted it sent electronically, but I ‘mi scuzi, mi dispiace’ed her that we had no way of doing that and that I would be glad to run out and photo copy the documents and send them by snail mail.  She agreed and sent an address, Bologna.  I couldn’t believe it.  Bologna.  I though she was going to greet us in the Piazza Cimatori in Firenze.  It was sounding like she wasn’t going to be there for that key exchange, but yet someone else.  I actually had concerns about she premature tactics and I emailed the Firenze Chamber of Commerce.  Yes, they actually do have one of those. 

     Next, we had to find out if Fernando would drive us all the way to Firenze or if we had to get treno tickets.  We knew that if he did drive and drop us off, that Fiona could probably help us find our way to the apartment.  Next came the problem of, which sometimes woke me up in the middle of the night, finding the car rental place in Empoli. 

     I searched and found a contact email and began a brief conversation with yet another Cristina, and found out exactly where the Maggiore Rent was located.  It was not out a country road as Google Maps claimed, but across the Arno River in the town of Solvignana, about five minutes from the treno stazione.  Once I had that all confirmed I started looking a Google Maps to find the easiest, and I mean safest, route for us to drive out of the two towns and south to San Gimignano.  The roads I found came within 20 km of the hill town of San Miniato.  I couldn’t believe it.  Early in my search of places to visit in Italy, I found Vinci (Leonardo’s birth place) and San Minato.  Vinci was a little north of Solvignana and not in the direction we were heading, but we could, in theory, take a 30 side trip over to this absolutely picturesque hilltop town of San Miniato.   Then we could wind down adequate rural roads, avoiding some of the more populated areas that are on the highway that leads from Empoli, south and east, eventually to Poggibonsi.  We could leave the highway at Cauldo and head up S-1 to San Gimignano.

     I was feeling confident about things, until I realized that both Fernando and the Albergo Diana in Lucca had our credit card information, with questionable expiration date.  Would our reservations be disregarded because of this ‘glitch’?  Then I remembered that the Hotel Sileo in Roma hadn’t communicated with me in two months, since before Thanksgiving, and I was sure they didn’t have any credit card information.  We were stuck until the Visa Company reissued our new cards.

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

Visit to Port Orford, Oregon

     Our friends from down the street, Peter and Lana, bought a house in the nearly remote sea-side community of Port Orford, Oregon.  Both of them are retired now and have spent a great deal of their free time somewhere on the coast dreaming of the day they might have a cottage at the ocean.  They found a terrific house, very sound and weather-tight.  It isn’t on the beach, but in Port Orford you don’t really want to live at the beach.  It is a bit severe—climate-wise.  Between Christmas and New Years we visited then in their home on the southern Oregon coast. 

     Marianne and I, just as everybody in western part of the state, love the Oregon coast no matter what part of it we are on.  When I was growing up in Idaho, my dad took the family on a Oregon vacation.  I remember vividly visiting the Oregon coast, especially Sunset Bay, near Charleston and Coos Bay.  If you don’t know about the tide pools at Sunset Bay, which every school aged kid on the western side of the Oregon Coastal Range knows about, and then you don’t know the Oregon coast.  It is absolutely one of the best places in the world to witness the beauty of creation.  Shore Acres, just a few miles south, is one of the finest botanical gardens you’ll find, and the crashing surf is breathtaking.  Situated on the grounds of former timber baron, J. P. Simpson, the multi-acre park, secluded in coastal pines, over looks the dramatic Pacific coast.  Marianne and I went there on our honeymoon.  Although the Oregon coast has gotten terribly over-run with development and tourists, most of the beauty remains. 

      Bandon is the favorite get away spot for many ‘Roseburg-ers’.  Bandon-by-the-Sea was a quiet fishing town, once ravaged by wild fires; it was the perfect place to get to the water, either in a cheap motel or camping at Bullard’s State Park.  In the last ten a years the poor sleepy community has been battered into “Californication” by the addition of a world class destination golf course, Bandon Dunes, which is said may be on a par with St. Andrew’s in Scotland, but it sure sucked the ‘ow-key’ cheapness out of Bandon. 

     For over about eight years, we have been going to Yachats, south of Newport (now shamefully and grossly commercialized and over-built).  Yachats (Yah-hahts) was the perfect tiny town on the Oregon coast.  We would always go over after Christmas and stay until New Years.  Summer was also a great time to find a week to hang out in the sleepy wind swept community.  We have even contemplated finding a house that we could buy stay, rent, and retire to when I was through teaching. 

     Our favorite place to stay was the Shamrock Lodgetts—cabins that had a pristine unspoiled vista of the whole Pacific right outside the front porch.  It was what the Oregon coast use to be.  The shops and restaurants were fun and funky to explore and it was quiet, except for the Landmark on the weekend.  We stopped going after the strip malls started to dot the highway and some senseless greedy-types bull-dozed the Lodgetts and turned the property into multiple family dwellings—cheap looking boxes going for $800, 000 to a million. 

   Fed up with the greed and the corruption of the Oregon coast, many of us Oregonians keep searching for a place that offers a small town life, uninfluenced by the outside world.  Our friends, Lana and Peter, also theatre/music friends, both recently retired, were longing for a pristine patch of coastal space.  They found it in Port Orford.  Located on Highway 101 26 or so miles south of Bandon, this very unassuming and economically depressed area has a lot going for it.  The town is situated around the headlands, on which the old coast guard center was located.  The old buildings are now a museum.  The clean and organized trails around the headlands are perfect for walking, in almost any weather. 

     We drove there in about two and a half hours.  Miraculously the rain stopped when we got into town.  However, the first night it rained hard—driven sideways by the high wind.  We had our appetites set on the best fish and chips on the southern coast, according to Sunset Magazine, at ‘The Crazy Norwegian’s’.  However, after two bottles of wine and appetizers at our host’s new home, we arrived at an over-packed hole-in-the wall restaurant at 7:30 PM to find that it had a wait-list—and hour.  Peter was shocked.  He couldn’t believe that the place could ever be that full.  The restaurant across the street was closed so we headed back up 101, near their home, and had pizza at ‘Hard Rain’.  They have never had a bad meal there.  The food was great and the young waiter kept us in stitches.  Pizza and salad was a complete meal.

     The next day the sun broke through and the coast revealed itself in glorious splendor.  Marianne was in a reading mood, but I needed some outdoor time.  Peter and Lana walk daily and have a favorite trail--the headlands.  We happened to choose to walk on the most perfect day possible.  Leaving Marianne to fend for her self (the town boasts an excellent Quilt Shop) the three of us took the scenic route, taking in a small lake right on the shore, the beach, the dry dock, and the headlands walk.  Talk about the coast at its raw best.  The surf was incredible.  The cliffs and bluffs are high in this part of the coast and the ocean is deep.  The combination creates thundering waves that crash on shore in an awesome crescendo.  This is not the gentle rolling surf of Seaside; it is unadulterated mother earth at her powerful best.

    The sunny day, extremely rare, afforded us the opportunity to walk the beach and comb for agates.  Coming into the park, we were met by a young porcupine, which was agreeable to picture taking, provided we were respectful.  The water was just a little too cold to walk in, and because the surf here pounds the shore with unbridled fury, it was best to keep on the dark, aggregate-like sand. 

    Next, my hosts showed me the highlights of Port Orford.  It was a typical rural town on the Oregon coast, except the houses around the lake, and the big ones on the way up to the headlands were impressive.  The whole park area at the former Coast Guard Station has been developed and maintained.  It was a great place to walk, with huge, majestic trees and absolutely stunning views of the steep shoreline below.  As you walk around the headlands, you can see the old rescue station where the coast guard would run down the hill, and slide the huge boats into the protected surf.  The light house is gone now, but the vista from the concert pad that remains was breathtaking.  We happened to run into a mutual friend, Diane, a former ‘Mousketeer’ (honesty) and dancer who was one of the first brave souls to move to Port Orford from Roseburg.  She and her husband Rick have a great piece of property up above the highway.  Marianne and I have done incredible theatre with both Diane and Rick—hugely talented, giant hearted.

     Being a former dancer, Diane has to walk, and walk briskly, ever day.  That’s how we meet on the trail; she was completing her third lap of the two-mile trail.  After a comical reunion, with howls of laughter, we decided to make plans for breakfast the next day at a local café.  Then, off she went power walking into the forest.  That night we ate in: delicious fresh-made ravioli from ‘Hard Rain’.  Along with a salad, left over pizza and wine; it was a feast. 

     Breakfast at a local café brought rain, but the food was great and the company ‘molto’ fun.  Rick and Diane were ecstatic about our plans to visit Italy.  The outgoing couple has been helping with a fledgling theater in Port Orford, Theatre 101, which our mutual friend, Perry, has created.  They have already done a dozen shows in the three to four year history of the theater.  Rick and Diane took us on a tour of the space and we were pleasantly surprised by the place.  By the end of the tour, the rain was sideways again and rivers were coursing through the parking lot.  We said our goodbyes to all and headed back out on the road for home.  We are hoping to get back to Port Orford soon.  It was definitely worth a second look.

     When we got home I emailed Fiona Lapham:

We are hoping you will be working and cooking so we can dine there (if we can afford it).
We will be staying in an apartment on Piazza Cimatori (via de'Cerchi and via Dante Alighieri  --about four blocks (?) south of the Duomo).  We are getting 'dropped off' by the tour/B&B people from Magione, where we'll be the week before.  What's the best place to get a taxi or ride the ellettrico bus A if he drops us off farther out of the city?
I started reading the travel books and found that the Thursday we are there (giugno 24) is Festival of St. John of Florence and Calcio Fiorentino.  The books warn about avoiding this day.  Is it really that bad--that pazzo!?  I would love to see the soccer game, but can we get anywhere?  will we be able to get into a restaurant?  If I do in fact have a job you of course will be more than welcome to dine there. 

She responded:

The best way to get a taxi is to call the company, the number is 0554242, or, you can get dropped off at one of the taxi stands. If you tell me which direction you are coming from when you get dropped off I can recommend a stand. 

San Giovanni, or St. John's day, is really fun! The soccer game is really interesting, though very violent. The best part of the day is the fireworks at night. The city does get quite crowded around that time, but I don't think it will be too bad to get into a restaurant. The only difficult part is getting out of the city afterwards, but if you're staying in the city than it shouldn't be a problem. I usually go down to the city on that day since it is so fun. 

Let me know if you have any questions, Fiona

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

Nuovo Anno
Our social obligations were light on New Years Eve. No parties to attend and we
were figuring we would be in bed before midnight. We put in a video and had some
wine (Italian, of course). About 11:30 PM in got in the hot tub, and was enjoying
another star-filled night—with just a little bit of clouds. All was peaceful and quite
until some ‘yayhoo’ up on the hill decided to test his gun, early. Either that or he
was so drunk he didn’t know what time it really was. In Roseburg, you’re allowed
to shoot off fireworks and guns on New Years Eve and for about two weeks before
and after the Fourth of July. It’s a very ‘American/Patriotic’ thing to do.
I really didn’t like the idea of bullets flying or spent firework cinders falling on
me in the tub, so I closed it up at about 11:50 and went in. To my surprise Marianne
was still awake and trying to find a New Years Eve telecast on TV. I knew I must
be getting old when I realized that the music and the groups on these shows were all
sinister looking ‘ganstas’ rapping to hip-hop, or poorly performed songs by young
girls in slutty-hooker outfits. What happened to rock and roll? Anyway, we settled
on Ryan Seicrest and a very sad looking Dick Clark or the countdown to midnight.
It was cold and snowing in New York that year. In Roseburg, the clouds blew in
and it rained. So once the hoopla died down, Marianne was off to bed. I headed
for the computer, after remembering that the Seminario in Volterra said they would
take reservations in January. It was midnight here, and nine AM in Italy.

Friday, January 01, 2010 9:11 AM (New Years morning 12:11 AM our time)
Buongiorno: It is January and my wife and I are still interested in staying at
Seminario Vescovile. Our dates have changed. We will be coming in from Firenze via
Empoli and San Gimignano on Saturday June 26th and staying through Monday June 28th.
Marianne thinks she should be fine in a double with a bath.
Please let me know what I need to do to reserve and pay for both nights.
Grazie, David and Marianne Jones

Good afternoon,
we are pleased that you've choice our seminario and we thank you.
What type of room do you need because we don't have rooms with handicap
access. Is it ok for you? Please let us know about it.
I also forget to tell you that the price is 18,00 euro pro day and pro
person so 36,00 euro per day , breakfast excluded.
Thanks and best regards, Seminario

Friday, January 01, 2010 9:16 PM
Buongiorno: Si. 36,00 euro per day , breakfast excluded 'fa bene'. The price is
wonderful. Is there a place close to find coffee and breakfast?
Per favore. Acqua caldo? Marianne says she will be fine with the regular double/bath room.
She has more trouble with long distances and stairs.
It is meraviglioso. Grazie. Grazie Deo.
Bene Anno, David and Marianne Jones

Good afternoon,
yes we have hot water. We are 10 minutes walking from the centre and each type of shop
is situated in the centre of the town. It is ok or it's too far for Marianne?
Best regards and happy new year, seminario

Car Rental …
Monday, January 4, 2010 2:56 AM
Thank you for using EconomyCarRentals.com.
We have received your order.
When our Car Rental Partner has confirmed your booking, a confirmation-voucher
will be sent to you by e-mail.
The reservation fee and the required down payment will be captured after the
final confirmation, please make sure that the amount for the down-payment is
available on your accountMonday, January 4, 2010 7:09 AMDear 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: 553490 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.

Monday, January 4, 2010 11:10 PM
Dear Mr & Mrs Jones, thank you for choosing EconomyCarRentals.com
We apologise for the blank e-mail. We kindly inform you that we have resent you the additional information. We wish you a pleasant and safe drive! Happy New Year!
Best Regards Efi Ktistaki

Monday, January 4, 2010 11:11 PM
We would also like to give you some useful information before you travel.
Do not forget:
a valid driving license. Please check in the local terms for your destination if there are any special requirements for driving license.
a valid passport.
a valid credit card in the name of the driver.
your booking confirmation. (voucher)
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Please note that insurances purchased locally and damages listed in the exceptions to the insurance are not refundable from EconomyCarRentals.com.

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

Then What Do My Wondering Eyes Should Appear…

     A week before Christmas, during the rush to get the two school sing-a-longs together, and deal with the Christmas Eve music at church, I got an e-card…from Donatella: Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2010  Donatella     

    I was amazed that she had even remembered who we were.  It wasn’t like I had 

kept up correspondence; I hadn’t emailed in three months.  To be honest, I thought 

she’d have ‘cut bait’ and moved on to more lucrative ‘waters’.  Yes, she was definitely fishing, but she was just so darn cute about it, I got ‘filled’ with the Christmas spirit 

and just wanted to pay a thousand buck just to meet and drink wine with her.  Nothing clandestine, just drink and talk.

BUON NATALE DONATELLA!!
Oh mio Deo! Grazie for the card! Mi Piace... We haven't forgotten
you. We had to get air line tickets...!!!!!!!!!!!!...so that has taken up
our 'tempo'. Would Monday, giugne 21 work for you for a visit to Chianti? I hope so.
We have been 'on' and 'off' two times with our friends who wanted to join
us. Mi dispiace. So it is just Marianne and I.
The best holidays to you and your family.
And Happy New Year!
I don't know how we are going to be able to wait 6 more months...!?
MOLTO GRAZIE!
David and Marianne Jones

Hi David, Hi Marianne,
great news!
Monday, June 21st 2010 is still available and I will plan
something really special for you!
Let me know asap if you want to book, at which point I
require a small deposit for the booking…
Have a great holiday season.
Auguri,
Donatella

     ‘Auguri’--Best wishes.  Wow, she can work it well.  I knew that this was going to set up back ‘big time’, but I didn’t care:

Buon Natale!
Si. Let's do it. Send me the paper work and I'll make a deposit.
If you want to wait until after the holidays, that's fine.
Quite honestly, I can't remember what your last offer was for just the one day.
When you have time, per favore let me know.
Grazie.
Pax,
David and Marianne Jones

   I suddenly realized that I hadn’t even thought of the Scattini’s. Even though we we’re the ones making their 2010 Christmas merry and bright, they were kind enough to ‘take 

us in’ and show us Italy.  I found a fine e-card, it had a video from YouTube with winter/Christmas pictures from Italy’s famous landmarks, and a cute recording of a kids choir singing an Italian Natale folk song.  When Marianne saw it she didn’t think much of it, “You should have done this…” but, oh well, call me a child at heart.

     Then, Rosetta and Fernando replied:

Dear David and Marianne,

thaaank you very much for your special Christmas ecard !!!

Your is a special gift as given us 5 special minutes to realize how we are lucky and that nothing can be nicer than something that can feel our heart of love.

We wish you and your dear ones a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!

Fernando and Rosetta

Equally cute, but at the same time it was heart-felt.  I hoped they would have a “Buone Feste”.

     Then we got an e-card from someone we didn’t think we even knew: BUONE  FESTE  HAPPY HOLIDAYS  Barbara Anselmi  Florence & Tuscany.com

  The only clue was ‘Florence and Tuscany’, which had to be the rental company we dealt with in Florence.  Maybe they owned the company—who knows.  So then I decided that I should send Cristina G. a greeting because of her help.  Then I should send something to Dario for his help, and the list would go on…

Dario …

Dario, Buon Natale!
Grazie for all the help you have given us for traveling in Tuscany in 2010.
If we had the money, we would tour Dievole, but maybe in a different life.
Hope all is well. From your recent pictures, you have been traveling? Buono.
Auguri,
David and Marianne Jones

     I really didn’t expect Dario to respond.  It was the week of Christmas and the man’s got other things going on in his life.  But he did:

David!

20 euros for 5 glasses of wine plus a tour and snacks is too much? What are you going to be drinking in Italy, water?

This guy is every the salesman.  I responded, expecting him to say no:

Dario:
You are great...
Listen...our plan: We are driving from Montalcino and June 30, hopefully before noon. We could swing around through Vagliagli and have a sample, but, we have to have the car back in Empoli by 2:00 PM--reposo? Can we do that--driving like 'little old' people...?
Ciao,
David and Marianne Jones

Dario responded after Christmas:

mmm the 30th is a bad day as I will be in Contrada (palio days) but yes maybe we can work something out

Oh crap, he was talking like he really wanted to do it!

Dario:
We don't want you to go out of your way, or miss any part of Palio preparations. We physically can't 

be in Vagliagli until 10:30 or 11:00 on the 30th. Getting the rental back could be a challenge after sampling 5 glasses of vino....?
We leave it to you.
Grazie.
Bene anno,
David and Marianne Jones

     I figured that Dario would not be able to get out of Contrada obligations and we won’t ever hear from him again.  So we decided we should just forget about that leg of the trip back to Empoli from Montalcino.

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

The Dream of the Musician—the Carmen Room

     We decided on staying in Montalcino two nights instead of driving too far to the east and Chiusi.  If we wanted to drive beyond La Foce and Chianciano Terme, and all the way into Chiusi, we could, or we could take it easy and stay in the Val d’Orcia area.  The least expensive B & B I found was “The Dream of the Musician”—same block as the Duomo.  The owners, the Gigliola family, have three themed rooms, named after famous operas—Aida, La Boehme and Carmen.  Mr. Gigliola helped paint, but his daughter is the musician-- trombonist. 

Hello,

I have avaiable disponibility for the night request the new year.

the room carmen is don't problem because is located on the lower floor, there

aren't  stairs...

 the price is Euro 60 for two people with breakfast.

reply me for the confirm the room.

best regards

Mrs Gigliola

Hello,

yes , I have avaiable disponibilty for the night 28 and 29 June.

the parking is pubblic and is near at the b&b, but is free during

the holiday period.

best regards

Mrs Gigliola

Hello,

ok I reserve the room carmen for you for the night

28 and 29 june.

 for the deposit don't problem, you pay me when do

you arrive or when do you go out.

write to me if something changes  and you can not  come.

best regards

Mrs Gigliola

Car Rental?

     How do you interpret this one?  I was really unsure of the car rental company that our friend Bob, aka ‘Roberto’ (from Gina’s advanced class), had used.  The two emails that we got were ‘cryptic’ and strange.  I had hoped we weren’t heading into ‘la cosa nostra’ territory here.

Dear David Jones,
Thank you for your interest to our company.

We kindly inform you that as we are car rental broker company, we cooperate with several 

suppliers to every destination, and we are not able to know in advance which of them will confirm 

your order as to provide you with any further information at the moment.
All the available locations, their options and prices are available online as to select the 

most preferable for your rental.
Please note that all delivery / pick up details as well as contact information for the 

company, which has confirmed the booking, will be written on the confirmation voucher.
You are more than welcome to create an order online according to your preferences 

and also check the local terms and conditions of your destination through this link https://www.economycarrentals.com/LocalTerms.aspx
As soon as we have a reply from our partners you will be informed to your email 

account. For any additional information do not hesitate to contact us!

Best Regards

Ms Filio Ramaki

         Reservation Team
And…

Dear Mr Jones,

thank you very much for your interest to book your car with Economy Car Rentals.

We kindly inform you that we are a car rental broker company and we have several car rental partners that supply the cars.

As a consequence, we can not give you a specific address as we are unable to know in advance which partner will confirm your request.

Please, proceed with your booking on our website www.economycarrentals.com and when it is confirmed, you will receive a voucher with all the necessary information (car rental company, address, telephone numbers and meeting point details).

For any further information, do not hesitate to contact us!

Best Regards
Efi Ktistaki

     The concept of ‘partners’ and a company not knowing who is in the train station 

area of Empoli struck me as just a little odd.  I certainly didn’t want to pay the prices 

that Avis and other companies were charging, but I wasn’t sure that after we had paid 

for it there would even be a car waiting in Empoli.  I emailed Roberto and asked him 

if they had any trouble with the rental company.  He said he didn't recall having any 

odd conversations with the car rental people.  It went very smoothly for them .  He 

suggested that we may have gotten someone who was not very fluent in English. 

Effluent, perhaps? I was being forced to take another leap of faith and it was unsettling.

     The place I had chosen to stay for our two nights in Volterra was a Seminary.  You laugh, but it became very clear that if we were to actually do a third week, there would have to be compromises.  The car rental would be cheaper than a big name company and so each of our six nights’ stays while running around the Tuscan countryside had to be really economical.  Cheap, okay.  The Seminario Vescovile sits just outside the north east city gate of Volterra.  It is at the end of a street and about a ten minute walk up to town.

Monday, December 07, 2009 2:21 AM 

Buongiorno; 

My wife and I am planning a trip to Italy in June of 2010.  We are hoping that we may stay at 

Seminario Vescovile San Andrea.  I was very encouraged when I read about your rooms in Rick 

Steves book. 

Hopefully we will be driving to Volterra via San Gimignano on Monday, June 28 and staying to 

Wednesday June 29th.  We will need a double with a bath. We will also have breakfast both 

mornings. 

My wife and I are middle aged and she will be using a walker to get around.  She really can't do 

stairs and she needs a toilet that has handicap access.  Per favore, any information that you have 

would be greatly appreciated. 

Molto grazie, 

David and Marianne Jones

Good morning, 

we are very pleased for your choice and we thank you for this. 

We inform you that we'll open the reservations for the next year 

beginning from January 2010 so we please you to contact us again in January. 

For the stairs we don't have any problems because we've got the 

elevator, but for the bathroom we unfortunately don't have bathrooms with handicap 

access.But if you want we have a multiple bedroom with a large bathroom at the ground floor. 

The price for bedrooms with private bathroom is 18,00 euro per day. 

We thank you and we hope to hear you soon, 

best regards, seminario 

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

Those Airlines—Gotta Love ‘em

     I had carefully and methodically, some might say ‘anally’, planned and plotted out the third week scenario.  I had searched the net and combed the possibilities out there for a ‘road trip’ across rural Tuscany.  I had found a very cheap car rental; found we could rent out of Empoli after we got off the train.  Had responses back from albergos and Seminaries in Lucca and Volterra, and was anticipating something back from the B & B in Montalcino.  I had check train schedules, plotted driving scenarios that cris-crossed the Tuscan countryside, and looked for bus and taxi connections in each place we might stay.  I typed it all out in various forms, and included (when possible) printed web pages and compiled a loose, unbound book that Marianne could easily go through and understand what the possibilities were and understand the trip.  We had agreed to leave Italy the 3^rd of July, and I had used every possible minute of that time—wisely.  I was so proud of my accomplishment.  The itinerary was complete and in a “publishable” form.  Perfetto—right?  That was all well and good, if you read the book.  If you didn’t you’d end up with the problem that slapped us in the face during the second week of December.

     I came home from work one night and Marianne was so happy and proud of her accomplishment:  She had booked our fight, including getting the straight-shot flight from Portland to Amsterdam to Rome.  She went on in detail about how the flights and connections would work so well…and how we would have to leave the Rome airport at 6:45 AM---on the second of July.  I really didn’t listen to the date at first, knowing my wife, the reader, would have seen the plans and booked the flight accordingly.  Yea, right.  It dawned on me, in the bathroom later, that if we were leaving at 6:45 AM on the second, we would already have to be back in Rome.  That would mean that the 5 plus hours it would take to make connections and take the train back to Rome Termini and then to Fiumicino, would wipe out the whole day of driving through the Val d’Orcia, La Foce, and Chiusi.  I was stunned, but hardly said anything.

     “The second?!” I screamed from the bathroom.

    There was total silence from the living room.  I knew in my heart that I could probably deal with this change.  After all, we were going to be in Italy, what more did I want?  I decided not to press it with Marianne.  I retreat to the computer and the hot tub and did not talk to her for an hour, or so.

     When we finally talked, I was ‘bravely’ feeling okay about wiping out a whole day of the trip, and absolutely blown away by the fact she never even looked at the itinerary.  I was determined not to get upset. 

     “I really blew it,” she said admonished.  “I wrecked the whole thing, didn’t I?”

      “You’re damn right,” I thought, but never said it in words.  However, as Marianne is quick to say, I always wear my heart on my sleeve, and my face is too expressive for my own good.  I couldn’t believe she had just ignored all over my hard work and preparation and just made an arbitrary decision like that.  Okay, yes, I was pissed, but I wasn’t going to let her know.

     In two days Marianne had solved the problem—and gotten us trip insurance for the $3,400 dollar flight.  I was happy, knowing that I could keep my temper and not over-react.  I was, however, so freaking mad at the airlines for ‘gouging’ us with their price--taking an arm, a leg, and my right nut. 

    

Amici en Italia?

     Now our theatre friends started to ‘get onboard’ with the Italia idea.  Most likely the two interested couples could not (or weren’t willing to) do the first week with Fernando and Rosetta, but they could be alright will Firenze.  Penny and Charlie were ‘on’ again for about a week and then ‘off’ again.  Now our friend Harry wanted to add in Pompeii.  That sort of addition, you might think, would send me into orbit, but no, just the opposite.  I have always wanted to see Pompeii.  I grew up on the tales and legends of A.D. 79 (August 4^th—want the time—1 PM).  My twin and I, being as creative as we were, had a whole fantasy world about the buried city.  I would even have dreams about being a Roman kid, who on the morning of August 24^th, A.D. 79, was climbing the side of Vesuvius, and discovered the gapping, steaming fisher that fore told the eruption.  Of course the rulers of the city sent me away, laughing at the child.  But when the ‘big one’ hit at 1 PM, nobody laughed then.  Doug and I even used the local clay, which was in ditch bank of or rural property in Rupert, Idaho, to fashion pottery, and other Pompeian ‘artifacts’—including mummified dogs, etc. that had been ‘unearthed’ in our excavations of our own ‘backyard’ Pompeii Scavi.  We also created our own Yellowstone Park in the vacant lot next door after the family visited the park in 1966.  Yes, so visiting Pompeii could be worth dumping Lucca—in a heartbeat.

     Even though Penny and Charlie couldn’t commit, they did forward me her niece’s web/blog site url.  Fiona Lapham is a chef, a good old Rhode Island girl, married to a cab driver in Firenze, and working in a fine ristorante.  I found her website fascinating to read and I boldly sent her an email via her comments box:

Hello David and Marianne,

That's nice that you will be here in June, too bad about Penny and Charlie. My husband and I would love to meet up with you when you are here. I would also love to invite you to the restaurant where I work, but the future of the restaurant is a bit unsteady at the moment and I am not sure I will be working there in June. Hopefully I'll have another job somewhere in Florence. Keep in touch and we will think of a plan!

Fiona

Beautiful.  An actual real, live, although we’ve never meet, person to meet with in Firenze.  She speaks English and can probably give us the inside ‘poop’ on everything.  Plus, her husband, the taxi driver, probably knows how to get any where.  This seems like a very cool contact to have made.

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

Firenze Complete!

     About the middle of October, we had secured a room for two nights in Roma after we get in from the airport.   I felt I really needed to contact Marianna and Maximilian (the Florence Apartment) and, oh so politely, asked if the Calzaiuoli apartment was available for the Saturday that we had no place to stay.  I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least inquire.  I could imagine Marianna on the other end of the email, opening my request with distain once she remembered that “rude Americani’.   This incredibly thin business woman in her latest “Milano fall fashion” power suit, with more gold jewelry than any one has a right to wear, shooting back her mid-morning espresso in one quick swallow, sighing with disgust that “these ‘Americani’ they just want more!?”

     When two weeks past, I thought she was doing the typical Italian thing-- tomorrow is better than today.  After three I realized that Marianna was probably not going return my email so I contacted Cristina Galardi—Signore Andrea’s representative.  In my email, I again literally through myself on the floor with apology for even asking or daring to think we could ask for and other night.  It took her one day:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones 

for us it is not a problem to rent you the appartement on 19 giugno because 

it is available. I will give you the exact amount for your staying and i will send

you the link to do payment with credit card. 

Looking forward to see you in Florence I send you my kindest regards 

Cristina Galardi

     I couldn’t believe how things were really starting to come together.  We had even been approached by two other couples we know and a widowed lady (unlike any widow you’ve ever met) that I use to teach with, all asking about joining us in Firenze.  Amici in Italia--la divertimento!

‘Tub Dreams’ – Hot Water Soaks and Vacation Plans

     One thing you really have to be cautious about when you have a spa tub, besides keeping the chemicals balanced, are the day dreams, or as I like to call them – tub dreams.  They can take over ones capacity to reason and deal with the real world more quickly and insidiously than any book or movie could ever do.  On those cold November evenings, when I never missed an opportunity to get in a soak, no matter how short, relaxing and kicking back in the spa can be a mind-altering experience.

     When the temperature of the water is in the high 90s and the bubbles are really churning up the water, dangerous thoughts can seep into ones brain.  Dangerous thoughts like now that we have two weeks planned what about a third week in Tuscany.  Looking up at the stars in the late November sky, my mind wandered forward to night skies in June in the land of the Etruscans.  Getting out into the countryside is what everyone from Máté, Mayes to Steves recommends.  Knowing that  Marianne could not possible have one leg to stand on when it came to driving around the rural parts of Tuscany, why couldn’t we combine public transportation and a rental car and stretch this trip to three weeks.  I mean, if the plane tickets were going to cost an arm and a leg (and my right testicle) why not stay on Italian soil as long as we possibly could.  We could book rooms in convents and seminaries, eat bread and cheese, and explore all that is the “real” Italy—on the cheap. 

     As I would soak in the hot water, I could imagine us catching a train out of Santa Marie Novella station and traveling to Lucca.  We could spend three nights an ostel, use the town’s bus system to travel, catching the handy bus that you pick up just off Piazza Verdi and traveling to Pisa and the leaning Torre.  Those Italian’s have made it so easy.  For €3 ($4.50) each it drops you off right in front of the Campo dei Miracoli and the whole reason for checking out Pisa, according to Steves.  I cautioned myself, that it traveled back and forth between the two cities only once every hour and missing “the bus” could have its problems and ramifications—stuck it Pisa which is apparently not terribly scenic or be-loved as, let say Firenze, but is still special to the Pisans—whom apparently no other Tuscan city trusts. 

     Of course, getting in line to climb the Torre is a whole other story.  The basic cost for you doing the aerobic workout of 294 steps is €15 plus a €2 on-line booking fee, $25.50, must be well worth it.  Right?  Apparently you can make a reservation on-line, but no less than 15 days before your visit and no more than 45.  Also, you have to be there a half an hour earlier, plus 15 minutes earlier for some other reason.  It’s all very Pisan and I don’t begin to understand it.  Getting up the Torre is the ultimate goal.  And, if you want to get into the Duomo, baptistery or cemetery all of them will set you back €10 a person ($15).  It’s their “combo” ticket.  Sounds American doesn’t it?

     Lucca has similar deals with their attractions.  A $9 ticket gets you into the Duomo, its museum and San Giovanni.  Another combo ticket, the one I was most interested in, was the tower “package”—the clock tower and the Guinigi tower—the one with the trees growing on top of it.  This is the tower you see in most panoramas of Lucca.  I have always found it intriguing and promised myself, if I ever got to that city I would climb the tower, all 227 steps, just to take in the surrounding views while seating in a shaded garden.   There is so much to see and experience in Lucca.  This unique and often over-looked Tuscan city is apparently a Romanesque ‘Linzer torte wedding cake’ architecture with a surrounding wall that is used to bike and stroll around the old city.  “A perfect end” to our Tuscan holiday is what I thought.  We could take the train to Pisa airport and fly out on Tuesday, June 29^th and be home on July 1^st.

     But…  What if we were able to extend our time, win the Powerball, or pull everything out of the retirement account?  We could then venture on and really get to know the country and its people.  What about heading to Empoli, getting a economical rental car and heading into the hills to the southwest at Certaldo?  Less than an hour away is San Gimignano, and another 40 minutes away lies Volterra.  These two cities have been high on my list of places to experience since I first laid eyes on them years ago.  San Gimignano, with its 11^th century towers, is always described as the Medieval “Manhattan” with its ‘skyscrapers’.  And Volterra, its many attractions-- the Etruscan gates, Roman ruins, and medieval fortress with its idyllic Tuscan hilltop-town charm, it’s no wonder that the author of “Twilight” (that romantic-Vampire-schlock phenomenon) set part of the book there.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, the producers of “New Moon” actually chose Montepulciano for its locals rather than Volterra.  “Non importante.”  The beautiful Volterra has still been over-run by vampire lovers who congregate in weird conventions at various times of the year, hoping to make sleepy little Volterra a vampire “Mecca”.  Oh please…

      I imagined that Marianne and I could also spend three nights in Volterra, possibly at the Seminary Vescovile Sant’Andrea for €36 ($54) a night.  Then we could explore the city and ‘neighboring’ San Gimignano at our leisure.  I could get out and photograph and paint, while Marianne explored alabaster shops and lounged and an outdoor café, sipping an espresso.  In the evening we could descend upon an enoteca I really want to experience—La Vena di Vino.  This place, run by friends Bruno and Lucio, seems to be a hub of down right partying, with a very rustic décor and countless bras hanging from the ceiling.  I could just imagine how unique this place could be, how much vino could be consumed and how much we could have.

     From there, we would head east, southeast, taking in the hill towns of Casole d’Elsa, the Abby of San Galgano near Monticiano, then south, through the northern fringe of the Maremma region, pass through Civitella Paganico and Paganico, head up past Monte Antico, maybe visit Castello di Banfi in Campigliano, turn near Tavernelle and past La Villa to the Máté winery.  Ferenc is the writer specializing in Tuscan ‘adventure’s and sailing novels.  His is like me, the dreamer of the family.  After purchasing the old Friary outside of La Villa (near Montalcino), restoring it, and painstakingly returned the vines and winery to a productive state, his  painter wife, Candace, turned out to be the one with the nose—the sommelier.  Ferenc says he’s just the hired help while Candace, and their son Buster, now off at college, really made the winery happen. Now Ferenc Máté keeps claiming that their wines are great and the 10 year old winery charges as much.  The 2009 “Wine Spectator” rated four of the five of latest MÁTÉ releases in the 90s:    91 Máté Brunello di Montalcino 2004

Shows plum jam, with cooked fruits and flowers on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied, with soft and sweet tannins and a pretty berry and vanilla aftertaste. Hard not to drink now, but give it a little bit of bottle age. Best after 2010.  400 cases made. —JS

91 Máté Merlot Sant'Antimo Mantus 2006

Blackberry and hints of green olive on the nose. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a fruity finish. Very fruity and juicy; excellent depth of fruit. Needs time to soften. Best after 2011. 325 cases made. —JS

90 Máté Syrah Sant'Antimo Banditone 2006

Blackberry, spice and hints of vanilla on the nose. Full-bodied, with polished, soft tannins and a long, flavorful finish.  No problem with Syrah character here. Best after 2010. 100 cases made. —JS

90 Máté IGT Toscana Albatro 2006

Fascinating aromas of blackberry and dried flowers. Full-bodied, with silky and sweet tannins and a long, delicious finish. Slightly jammy. Very pretty. Sangiovese and Merlot.

Best after 2011. 275 cases made. —JS

It’s not that I know a lot about wines, but I always get the K & L Wine Distributors’ monthly releases and anything in the 90s seem to be good.  I doubted whether I had ever had any wine that rated in the 90s before—and more importantly, would I ever.  I then thought, wouldn’t it be great to actually buy these wines from Ferenc and Candace in Montalcino.  No way!

     Maybe, we could get out to the Mate winery, without having shot our mortgage too badly, and blithely wind our way up to Montalcino and stay at a very inexpensive Bed and Breakfast, like “Il sogno del Musicista”--€60 ($90).  It wouldn’t be hard to find something to eat there or a place to get some good wine—Marianne and I are dying to taste a real Brunello when Fernando takes us to Montalcino on Monday June 15^th. 

     The next we could push on east, maybe taking in the Abbey Sant’Antimo, the incredible beauty of Castiglione d'Orcia, head on and drive up the famous switch-back hill outside of La Foce, check out the gardens and grounds there and head east to Chianciano, and finally Chiusi.  The Albergo La Sfinge --€65 ($97.50) could be in the budget.  Chiusi is another tiny hilltop town that has a major Etruscan past.  Not only does Chiusi boast an Archaeological museum, the Cathedral museum, and underground attractions like the Mueso Civico (Etruscan water works), but is a major hub of train travel—connecting to every part of the ‘big boot’.  He we could ditch the car a take the train back to Pisa and the airport or all the way back to Fiumicino in Rome, where we started.

     Or we could take the trains, via stops in Orte and Spoleto up to Campello sui Clitunna and stay in Fortanella at a B & B that Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry stayed at when they first came to Umbria (Living in a Foreign Language).  Albergo Rist.Fontanelle Di G.Spitella is € 78 ($115) a night, but if they is a shuttle transport of some sort to Spoleto, Marianne and I could part-take in the Festival of Two Worlds that runs for two weeks starting the last weekend of June and spilling into July.  This is the festival created by my favorite (use to be living) contemporary opera compose, Gian Carlo Menotti.   We could experience the things that Tucker writes about in his books and then catch the train to Fiumicino and get home by July 5^th or so.  Oh wait, that’s over four weeks…   

     My mind was racing with all the possibilities.  Maybe we could even drive the car down and across Umbria.  We should stay a night at Poggio Etrusco, outside of Sant’Albino first.  No, wait, they want a two night minimum.  My mind reeled with the possibilities.  It was then I realized that I had been in the hot tub far too long and that not only was my skin shriveling to the consistency of a prune, probably my brain was as well.  I ended the spa session of the evening and decided to ‘casually’ track details and costs of my flights of fancy at a leisurely pace.  After all, it was Thanksgiving week and there were other priorities, like the dinner and Black Friday sales to decide upon.

     Candace Máté seemed to very busy on Black Friday, here in the states, catching up with correspondence and putting out PR for the new wine a Mate Winery.  I got two ads for their new wine, and an opportunity to have Ferenc autograph a copy of his new book, but since I had already read it and reviewed it at his request, I’d hoped I could actually meet him in June.  Candace wrote:

Dear David and Marianne -
Many thanks for your interest in our wines. I apologize for not writing back sooner,
but this is a busy season. We have a small winery so we can't give "tours" as large
wineries often do, but we do set aside an hour at the end of each work day for tastings
and sales. Could I please ask you to write back to us in April? June is
quite far off for us to schedule a reservation.
I'm sending you a mailing (from another e-mail) - in case you're interested.
I look forward to meeting you in June.
best regards,
Candace Máté

I emailed her back and thanked her for her response.  Because she is a painter, even doing the artwork for the labels, as well as being the business end of the winery, I had to ask if she was still painting:

Hi David -
Thanks for the kind words about the labels. Unfortunately I don't have to time
to paint - this wine stuff is very demanding. Hopefully, one day, we'll break
even and I can hire someone and return to my painting.
See you in June,
Candace

She really said June!!!

     Parts and pieces of my ‘tub dreams’ seemed to keep falling into place—or a least in cyber space and the space between my ears.  So, on the first evening that I got Marianne into the hot tub (steps being delivered and securely in place, courtesy of our friend Leonard) I casually broached the subject of extending the ‘Grand Tour’ beyond the “two-week golden line of demarcation”.  It, course, came as no shock to her.  Every time we had talked about visiting other places when we talked to our friends, or my hinting that “maybe we shouldn’t rush the Firenze week and try to do a Pisa train trip or a San Gimignano-Volterra until after we are out of the apartment on that Saturday”, it was crystal clear to her that I wanted an extension—if we could afford it. 

     I explained the research I had done and cautioned her that this was just a “tub dream” and nothing more.  The idea of not having to lug luggage around with us in Pisa appealed to both of us, and the relaxed timbre of a stay in another small city, even “Lucca!” was not that alarming to her.  I started to suggest the ostello, and it nearly ended the conversation. 

     “We would have to stay in a B & B or a hotel! (“o-tell” as she now picked-up saying from Italian class) --an albergo. 

     “We’re not staying in a youth ostello.”  Marianne stated firmly.

     “No, no, no,” I interjected lightly, trying to save the moment, “these have private apartments with their own baths.”  I had also found Albergo Diana for €60 a night—with the Rick Steves discount.

     “Well, maybe.”  She sounded very skeptical.

     “I was just trying to save money.  I guess I’ll go back to the Rick Steves and try to find something we could both be happy with, if you want.”

     “This sounds like more than just a “pipe dream”, she stated with that quizzical look that told me I could cross the line here any second.

    “You, know we could take the train after that to Pisa or Empoli, rent a car and drive up to San Gimignano-Volterra.”  I offered as a peace offering.

     “I would be doing the driving,” she cut in, “and I want a Fiat.”

       “Okay.”  I said.  “What every it takes,” I thought.

     Now, long before I married or even meet Marianne, she and her second husband, Bob, owned a Fiat--a 124 Fiat (baby blue –black ragtop).  She always treasured it, and I am sure I would have loved it too, but she would have been doing the driving.  I just let her run with that idea, letting her rival in the ideal of speeding through the Tuscan country side, waving at all the policemen as she sped past them.  I knew full well that a Fiat would cost “billions” to rent, but, for now, I let her enjoy the fantasy.

     This was great.  She was warming up to the idea.  In a few weeks I could give her my “Grand Tour” package-deal and plans would start to ‘gel’ for the third week.  Right now we would have to strict with the second week plans and ‘nail them down’.  Details like what day we were going to which museum, when we could go to the opera, what day for Donetella and Chianti.  All of which had to be getting firmed up sooner and not later.  Now the primary task that needed to get done was getting the money out of the retirement account and into the bank accounts of Cristina, Fernando and Rosetta, or we wouldn’t be going anywhere.  Oh, and buying the blessed airline tickets.  I couldn’t wait for that adventure.

     So on the first Wednesday night in December, right after dinner and right before choir practice, Marianne began talking about calling the travel agent in the morning to have an agent help us get plane tickets.  I was so pleased that she was ready to move forward with plans.  I had set aside Thursday evening to call the broker and commit half of the retirement fund to Italian fun and depravity. 

     I began talking about my search for public transportation in the towns of San Gimignano and Volterra.  I had found that there was an electric bus that made a triangular trek around San Gimignano and would be great for Marianne to ride into the town without having to ascend the hill into town.  All she would have to do is take the bus from the southern gate, Porta San Giovanni, up to Piazza Della Cisterna.  I cold walk the hill and she could wait at the step of the well in the square, maybe getting a gelato and an espresso, she interjected.  I told her that Rick Steves suggests visiting San Gimignano after four o’clock—when the tourists leave.  So what are we?--she chimed in.

     Rick Steves is very quick to tell everyone how touristy the town is and how greedy to make a buck the town’s folk are.   However, he does think it’s a wonderful example of medieval splendor and not to be missed.  From reading his comments about San Gimignano, you have to wonder if he likes the actual town more or the inhabitants—including the tourist--less.

     “So why don’t we rent a car in Lucca while we are staying there, see Pisa, then drive to San Gimignano and stay in Volterra,” asked Marianne--like she had just thought that up.

     “That’s sounds great,” I said, playing along with her. 

     “Then we could drive the car back to Lucca and take the train to Pisa and fly out of the airport there.”

     “I think that works well.  You know, we could drive from Volterra to Montalcino, stop at the Máté winery, and other Brunello wineries, then spend a night in Montalcino, I found a B & B called “Il sogno del Musicista” that is only €60 a night--$90.”

     “But Fernando is taking us to Montalcino the first week!”

     “Yes, but he isn’t taking us to Máté winery, just the town.”  I reminded her about the invitation from Candace Máté.  She really seemed to like that idea.     

     “We could also visit the two Abbey’s San Galgano (Monticiano) on the way and Sant’Antimo is like ten miles outside of Montalcino.”

     “You are going to drive me crazy.”  She paused to regroup.  “So--what are the dates I can tell the agent to book for the flight?”  She asked, “If that is your third week plan.”

     “I think we should tell her at least July 1^st,” I said boldly with shaky confidence, trying to quickly count the possible days we could extend the trip.

     “July 1^st!?” 

     “Well, sure.  If we do three nights in Lucca, that’s Saturday, Sunday Monday.  A night in Volterra and one in Montalcino, that would be the 29^th and 30^th of June.  Then we would have to get the car back to Lucca and take the train to Pisa, or maybe we could drop the car off at the airport.  I would have to check all that out.”

     “Okay.  I will tell her tickets for June 10^th, out of Portland, landing in Rome, then, flying out of Pisa on July 1^st.  But look kid.  How do you really feel about spending this much money?  This is a ‘hell’ of a lot of money.  Heck, most people visit their own country before they visit other ones.”

     Luckily, my father and mother took us to as many places in the continental United States as they possibly could.  I had seen everywhere, but Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, and some southern states, but that it.  Marianne hadn’t been to all that many places, being from the east.  We still had plans to see Glacier together, Yosemite, and Canyon Lands.  Maybe she was right.  Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this big of a trip without first seeing our own native soil. 

     I pondered it for most of the next day and really started to hesitate because of the money and my citizenship.  Every time I tried to convince myself to stop the Italia madness, I kept visualizing us seeing Florence or Siena, or driving through Tuscany, the Val d’Orcia and up the hills to La Foca.  I just couldn’t stop wanting to experience that unique opportunity.  I came home after school and told Marianne, I didn’t care if I had to work at Costco or as a greeter at Wal-Mart when I retire, we needed to do this.  I talked with the broker and she talked with the travel agent.  I set aside the equivalent of 6 months worth of my salary and she got us tickets for $1,600 a piece.  I was appalled.  I had looked at tickets in July and they were at $800.  Now the G. D. airlines had doubled them, plus they would charge $50 for each bag we checked.  I vowed that we would pack everything we needed in two carry-on bags and one checked one—for souvenirs. Balls to the wall, pedal to the metal—Andiamo Mamma!