Our 8 day journey with 17 strangers begins today in Florence. We met at the Hotel Roma after a dicey morning of me with an odd pulled belly button muscle (what the hell) and tummy cramps (goddammit, I am so done with this reproductive female bullshit!). But soon after we rolled our luggage down the cobbled streets to the piazza where we would meet with our group, everything settled and the excitement set in again.
We are traveling for the next 8 days on a the Backroads Tuscan Treats tour with a bunch of Australians, 2 kiwis, 1 American and our charming Italian guide, Dario.
Our first stop this morning was the town of Montecarlo (not the gambling Montecarlo, but the tiny one). We had a lovely cafe macchiato caldo and a pane al cioccolato while we soaked up the charm of this sweet town in the middle of wine country. It took about a minute and a half to walk the two streets and snap pictures of the resident cat and try to get a smile out of the grumpy old man and hunched Italian nonna.
Then on to Lucca, a midieval walled city in Tuscany, oozing with charm. Everyday is so full, even jotting these notes is a bit of a blur, there is so much to experience. So impressions from today:
I keep hearing the sounds of horse and carriages clomping along these narrow cobbled streets. I can almost feel the splash of buckets as I imagine people emptying their wash basins from upper floors of apartments. We are staying in what was once a brothel house (the day after tomorrow we will be in a convent). I am continually reminded that we are not just looking at quaint and lovely things, but that lives happen her and happened in such a different way here before. This lovely wall that surrounds the city was built to withstand cannons being fired by Russian barbarians trying to siege the Roman Empire. Luccians take great pride in never having been overtaken.
Today we climbed some 230 steps (I lost count) up a tower that was built in the 13 century. We rented bikes from a very non-enthusiastic south East Asian guy for 3E an hour and rode them around the 4 km wall. I made an emergency stop at a bathroom (more information than you want, I know, but bodies do what they do, even on vacation in the most romantic country in the world). What is interesting about this is that the stop was at a "Nursing Station Pit Stop" sponsored by UNICEF. I had never heard of such a thing. Anyway... We were riding shitty rental bikes on this 800 year old wall. Mind blowing. And it was really pretty. We wandered around lost with our noses in our tourist map and eventually stopped for an aperol spritz and some chips and peanuts, my favourite part of everyday where we watch the people, locals and tourists, going about their day and make up stories of their lives. A nonno in a cheesy hat graced us with some Bella musica (we knew it was Bella because he kept shouting, ascolta alla bella musica, in between playing some quintessential Italian tunes on his saxophone while his grandson rolled his eyes and tapped the tamborine). Then his grandson played and nonno worked the crowd for his tip for the day, while the Dutch couple next to us furrowed their brow and stared deeply into their phone.
So many characters... Sweaty fat Italian guy and his tired wife sitting on the curb next to the bank looking exhausted... We saw them later standing in front of a cathedral with a plate as if they were accepting an entrance fee (somehow I don't think they were employees)... Smartly dressed ladies riding bicycles with their little dogs in the front basket. So many beautiful fawns dressed in gorgeous Italian fashion, some owning it and others completely wide-eyed, still with their innocence.
I love it. And I am human. I am controlling and a bit fussy at times. Bill can be indecisive and we can both be a little snippy (a first for us). And it is perfect. I kind of love that about Italy. It seems to embrace it all here, unapologetically. A pig with lipstick. Lush and gaudy and perfect.
I have fallen in love with one couple on our tour so far -- Tim and Julie, sheep farmers from Australia. But it is after midnight and tomorrow is Cinque Terre. Sigh. I am so grateful to be here.
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