Giovedì (Thursday)
Another morning begun with two pretty little Italian girls. It was overcast and the sky looked pretty threatened, but I declared it all bark and no bite and we played outside extra long just to spite those gloomy clouds. The girls even did their part by pulling out umbrellas to show the dark skies that we didn't care if it did rain ... with our umbrellas in tow, we were covered!
After that game got old, we loaded Lolo into the stroller (along with no fewer than three umbrellas) and set off for our daily mid-morning walkabout. Now Ginevra does the sweetest thing when we walk: she holds onto the stroller! It is actually a very good thing that she does, for several reasons.
Lolo is in a copycat stage (which takes a individualistic turn every now and again), and that day in the park, she kept doing everything Gigia did! So both girls when up, then down ...
After we got back things got interesting. The weather cleared completely up and it was hot and sunshiney yet again, so we put the stroller away and went inside to get some water. Well, Veronica didn't want to stay in, so she ran back outside and wanted to play out there. So Ginevra and I braved the heat for awhile longer, sitting on the steps while Lolo ran here, there, and everywhere. This included back up the stairs to the front door, where she started playing with the door. Do you see where this is going? I think to myself, "Hmmm, it would be really bad if she closed that door right now, because I don't think the keys are in the lock and if she manages to close it, we're in trouble." Now, you should know that this is no piece-of-cake kind of door - that very morning I had battled with it for over a minute trying to get the thing to close all the way! It's quirky, it's tricky, it's difficult ... I've even see Patrizio have a time closing it before. But the moment after the fearful thought of being locked out had passed through my mind, tiny little Veronica reaches up, gives a little tug, and with an innocent little click, the door closed as the sound of the lock shifting into place rung in my ears. I was dumbfounded!
Thankfully, Patrizio got back thirty minutes earlier than planned, so we were only waiting for five minutes tops. But the funny thing was, he had been out biking that morning, as in, on a mountain bike, not a skooter. So we had been using his keys ... which had his motorcycle keys on it too. So to go fetch another set of keys from Sara's parents, he had to pull out the ancient, creamy beige Vespa from the garage, AND he had to fit it through the small gate because the larger one is operated by a remote control that was also on his keychain!!! The whole situation was hilarious ... ridiculous even, like a masterful comedy of errors. Needless to say, an extra set of keys is being made with my name on them :)
Venerdì (Friday)
Another morning with the girls ... which meant another walk, another park date, and another good start to my day. It was an especially nice day in the park because I made friends with one of the nonnas there! She has a little one year old granddaughter named Georgia - who is both adorable and seems to be one of the easiest and contented little low maintenance baby! - and the three little girls played together pretty well while the two of us joint-watched them. Gigia and Lolo were pretty fascinated by the little one, and it felt so wonderful to me to be able to converse with this sweet old lady without struggling linguistically! I don't even think she realized I was American for a good little while there because when I told her she looked really surprised (which of course made my morning!). She's also one of the first older ladies that didn't correct my Italian as I talked to her - they almost all do that, presumably without even realizing it - and I think that was one of the things that made her so easy to talk with that day. I hope we'll bump into her again! It would be nice to have a park friend, both for me and for the little girls :)
Friday night I revisited a favorite place of mine - a little trattoria just off the main piazza that became a haunt of mine the first summer I was here (2007). It's a tiny place, but the food is just excellent and the people are wonderfully kind! I went with a couple of the girls and had a fabulous meal - I ordered ravioli with butter and sage, mmmmmmmmm!
One more fun fact from dinner - I think our waitress may have thought I was Italian at first after a few basic interactions, because she was talking way too fast when describing the specials of the evening to have thought I was American. When they do, they slow down considerably, and there's usually a shift in tone too, as if they are talking to a younger child. Oh, and I lied ... one more fun fact: I understood her when she talked super fast :)
After dinner we were off to our favorite gelateria - The Goblin. So delicious! I got pera (pear), melone (cantaloupe), and fragola (strawberry). With gelato in hand and smiles on our faces we made our way down Via XX Settembre, the main street of Sansepolcro, found an empty bench, and plopped down to enjoy our bowls of yummy goodness ...
Here are our happy faces post-gelato:
It was a delicious way to end a good night!
Sabato (Saturday)
First day of day trips, yeah! The whole group (meaning Dr. Webb, John Rose, le ragazze, and I) got up and at 'em and were on a bus bound for Anghiari at quarter after nine. It wasn't my first time in this pretty little hill town, but the place never ceases to bring a smile to my face - it's simple beauties and sweet, small town personality are nothing short of charming. There are gardens and flower pots at every turn, and little attentions to detail that tells you just how special a place you've wandered into that day. Case in point: three little snails crawling across the window guards ...
In addition to its lovely collection of flower pots, Anghiari has beautiful selection of views to choose from as well - it's hilltop location gives it a decided edge. And then we went and made the landscape even more stunning by adding our own beauties to the mix!
After our tour of the mayoral office we kept walking up and down, here and there, trying to see as much of the town as we could before our bus for Arezzo arrived. We happened upon a lace weaver that Dr. Webb had talked with on a previous visit, and her work was one of the most intriguing craft processes I've ever seen!
Mary, you should get into lace making ... so you can make me pretty earrings like these (Disinterested motives on my part? Absolutely not!):
A few of us also got to visit a gorgeous view of the hills and valleys and enormous mountains beyond from a little cafe balcony. You really can't see just how incredibly far the view goes from a snapshot (my camera won't do it justice!), but you can get the idea. I don't have time or space to post all my photos here (because I took a lot!), but be sure to check out more of Anghiari on Picasa site if you get the chance ...
After Anghiari we were off to Arezzo to introduce the girls to their "gateway away"! Since Sansepolcro isn't connected to the main railway system, a bus ride to Arezzo is the pathway to other places. With a population sitting just under 100,000 (as of 2008), it's quite a jump in size and general feel from little Sansepolcro, which has about 16,000 people in and around its city walls. We don't see sights like this every day: people, people everywhere!
My favorite part of our hours in Arezzo was definitely the antiques market. I walked through, around, and through it again for over an hour with a couple of the girls and picked out all sorts of mysterious, romantic, and ancient things for the Gothic castle I will never own :)
I really loved some of these plates. My heart fluttered at the sight of those pretty little white and blue/white and red/white and green imageryish ones, and for one fleeting second my whimsical side wondered if they could survive the trip home ... but then my practical side kicked in and I thought better of the idea! Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't buy a thing? You better, because it's true ... and it wasn't easy!
Then on the way back down the hill to the bus stop ... I saw this pretty Vespa and fell in love. It was the perfect color (a mix between a soft, powder blue and light aqua) and had my name written all over it!
Domenica (Sunday)
I spent most of today writing this blog, reading, and gearing up for this week, so there's niente to tell! Hopefully I won't let this many days pass again for awhile ... thank you for your patience :)
A presto!
Bekah
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