I arrived in Siena yesterday... Took a 3 hour plane ride from Ireland (stopped to see Michael Ann and Michael!) and then arrived into Rome, Fiumicino airport. I've missed the Italians; in the bathroom a 65 year old woman dripped water all over my suitcase. Fair enough - benvenuto a italia! However, a nice Italian gentleman helped me carry my suitcase up two flights of stairs. If there was any doubt that I'd arrived in Rome, these two incidents reassured me quickly.
I took a train from the airport to Roma Tiburtina, the bus station. There I caught a bus to Siena. Unfortunately I got off at the wrong stop... and when I asked my bus driver whether we arrived at my destination he said si! si!. But he was perhaps distracted... because I was in fact not at the correct location. After 15 minutes of waiting for my host at the central bus station in Siena, I decided I must be at the wrong place and asked for directions. This time I received the information I needed and took a taxi to my destination, where I was greeted by Sergio.
Sergio is a warm Italian man, probably in his 60's although I can't say that I'm sure - Farmers are so healthy! Either way, he did smile and hug me immediately when he realized it was me. He had been getting ready to call the bus company and find out what happened to me when I appeared. After we hoisted my luggage into his car, we drove in silence to La Gavina. A combination of factors kept us quiet - first, I was exhausted and the language was too much for me to handle. Sergio speaks a bit of English but he's shy about it. Second, as it turns out, Sergio does not speak much at all. Still, he smiles whenever he has the opportunity and takes care to make me feel at home here.
We came to the agriturismo - we had to drive a distance to get here as the farm/bed and breakfast is pretty buried in the Tuscan hills. Sergio explained that he worked in a refrigerator factory for years, and then at a hotel, and 25 years ago decided to buy his own farm. 5 years later he and Lorena decided to open a bed and breakfast here.
Sergio showed me my room - also carried my heavy suitcase up two flights of stairs in typical Italian older man fashion - I've seen this done so many times now - I'm pretty sure that Italians have something unique in their water that makes the older generation particularly strong. These men can carry and lift anything. After that, Sergio showed me the grounds.
Here's what they have: Endless herbs, vegetables (including asparagus and artichokes!), baby geese (so cute! won't be so cute when they grow up - ehem, Aroni, you know what I'm talking about thank yoooou Frisch parking lot). They have a little dog named Lana who is my favorite. There's a chicken coop, there are rabbits and bunnies who are very sweet. There is also an olive grove and more.
The olive grove was where I met Lorena who greeted me with a welcoming smile and a strong handshake. Lorena seems to be the talker in the house, and also the do-er. When we found her she was up in an olive tree cutting out dead branches. Lorena speaks no English, but is very patient with me when it comes to speaking Italian slowly and rephrasing if necessary. The first thing she said was "che giovane!" So, like everyone else I've ever met, Lorena was surprised that I'm so young.
Ok - now that I've introduced everyone and everything, I think I will just provide simple information moving forward. This is a lot for anyone to read about my travels! So, here's today:
Morning: Cut and trimmed stalks of bamboo. It was a lot of fun! It was sunny in the morning and I was outdoors and it turns out that I really like a reasonable amount of manual labor, so it was very nice. After that I helped Lorena trim the olive trees and clean the groves. We had a chance to talk a bit about family, and life here.
We ate lunch together - cold pasta (so far I feel fine!) with carrots and apples and a nice salad from the garden. I have no idea what kind of lettuce we're eating but it's delicious. Also, amazing radishes just taken out of the ground. Lorena and Sergio recycle as much as possible so the water that we use to clean vegetables will be taken out again and used to water the gardens.
After lunch I walked - there is plenty of walking to do around here but I'm not familiar with the area yet so I'll have to explore. Hope the wolves don't eat me. Just joking, Mom and Dad.
In the afternoon I prepared another unidentified lettuce for dinner (removed the stalks). We are waiting to prepare dinner because there will be guests at the bed and breakfast but Lorena is unsure about their arrival time and the number of guests that we are expecting.
The best thing that happened today is that Lorena and Sergio's grandchildren have come for a visit. Cesere (sp?) Must be 4 or 5, and Lorietta is probably 8 or 9. The are sweet - they walk up to me and smile, and stand in front of me so we chat as much as I can manage. Cesere just brought a baby chicken into my bedroom, one that just hatched. He just stood here holding it out to me without saying a word. It is the cutest thing - I've never held one before. He is very sweet with it as well.
Ok that's all for now! If you made it this far thank you for taking time to read about my travels!
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