Florence

So its been a while and as Tawni has so kindly reminded me "catch up with your blog!"

I will try my best to recall and help you to live vicariously through the extremely historical experiences I have happened upon so far.

July first.
Jacquie woke up VERY early. She did a lot before I even stirred including climbing the hill behind our camp site. Oh yeah! So we are staying at this camp site up on a hill overlooking Florence in an old olive grove. It has the best view, great beer, hot showers and a huge set of stairs to climb to get home every night! I did eventually wake up and we set out to explore Florence. We found a "bar" (as in coffee bar) and had capelloni (I think) Jacquie is so much better with this language. It was like ricotta cheese creamy delicious with mini chocolate chips rolled in a semi crunchy shell. A bit of heaven to go with our cappuccino. Then we set out on foot and made all kinds of discoveries. Like where the science museum is not :op we took lots of pics and strode down many streets and got the lay of the land. We had terrible pizza for lunch and were scared to try pizza again after that. (Don't worry we eventually did). I really don't remember much from this day except my feet hurting from all the walking. We pushed like we only had one day to see Florence and covered a ton of ground.

July 2nd
Today we got up extremely early (5:30am) to catch a bus to Siena at 7. We practically ran to the bus station and I sprained my ankle pretty bad on the way. Not wanting to slow down or think about how tight my shoe was becoming, I tried my darndest to keep walking. Once in Siena, we met up with PV and he showed us around. Siena is definitely a town anyone could fall in love with. Its cobble stone goes up one hill and down the next. Its tall brick and stone buildings are hardly spaced wide enough for a tiny car to pass through. Today it was adorned with the flags of different contradas (neighborhoods as far as I could tell) and everyone was wearing a scarf to show their colors. There were gangs of the same contradas parading through the streets following horses all dressed in matching colors. A lot of pride was being flaunted and history being replayed. You didn't wear a flag and walk alone without getting roughed up by another contrada. We met a lot of hearing and deaf students from the states and deaf people from all over Italy. We learned as much italian sign as fast as we could. It was one of the top experiences of my trip so far. So many different dialects too! The older deaf folks relied heavily on spoken Italian so that made it hard for us folks that didn't speak it. Jacquie has been interpreting for me since she got here. I'm so surprised at how much she learned in such a short time. I don't know what I'm going to do when Jacquie leaves me. I know nothing of the language here. Maybe ill go to England instead. They sorta speak english :)

Anyway, some deaf folks cooked our group some great Italian cuisine and then we all headed to the Compo. We stood there for 5 hours total. 2 hours waiting for it to start so that we could have a good view of one corner of the track. Then the parade started. It lasted one and a half hours! Each contrada had their own group of flag bearers that waved and tossed and put on quite a show and their own drummers and knight and horse and all kinds of midevil weapons. There were 17 contradas in all. They were all dressed up like pages and wow I can't explain but someday when I get home I'll show you. At the end of the parade was these 4 HUGE white oxen that pulled this wagon with the bishop of whatever church this race was dedicated to and other important people. After the parade the horses and their riders came out (bear back mind you) and started their way around to the starting line.

The Trip to Florence

After waving goodbye I went and found something to eat, found the restrooms (50 cents!?!) Then heard blah blah blah geneva platform 4...I ran. By the time I got up there most everybody was already on the train. (Did I mention they only stop for two minutes?) In my seat I watched the country side change again from following river valleys to winding our way through gorges. The architecture changed as well from stacked rock and clay tile roofing to more white wash walls with verigated tin and scrolly wood accents. We had arrived in Switzerland. At the train station I immediately left to see what I could see during my 2 hour lay over. I was taking a picture of a church across the street when a woman approached me and asked if I wanted a pic of me in front of it.

Meet Veronica. Older woman with 3 children ages 27-36 who looks in on her disabled neighbor and walks their dog for them. She has lived in several countries and speaks 4 different languages and asked if she couldn't show me around. I was thrilled! She told me how the church I was looking at had just had a big celebration for its 150th birthday. She took me to this river with a huge fountain and pointed to a huge old church on a hill. That one she said was 1500 years old. Then she told me to walk down to the lake and not to miss my train and not to trust people and to be careful with my bag etc...she was my Switzerland mom for an hour. Very sweet. She had to take Wendy the dog back to her neighbors and make sure they had everything they needed and then her son was coming for dinner so we parted ways. What a beautiful soul!

I saw men playing roller hockey on old roller skates (not the in line kind) near the lake. It was beautiful as the sun was going down but then I realized I must have misplaced my memory card for my camera in Avingon France when I downloaded my pics at the station before the fam left :( 16GB down. Back at the train station I got a little nervous. The only train at my departure time was going to Roma. I met a woman from Texas and her two sons headed to Rome celebrating one sons graduation. The other was a sophomore in high school. They had just come from Paris and it sounded like they were having a great time. The train pulled up and thankfully had a piece of paper that showed all the stops. Florence was one so I hopped on and found my berth. Inside was a boy from Belgium. Right after me came in to guys from Pakistan. Next stop we picked up a very old man from India (his feet where amazing! Dry wrinkled and looked as though he had never worn shoes in his life!) He coined the phrase "its salty" meaning its hot where's the AC. And last but not least a guy from Rome headed home. I found myself in a sleep car with 5 men. Not what I was expecting.

The guys from Pakistan where cousins on a crazy wild trip fitting in 5 different countries and multiple cities into 9 days. We were all getting off in Florence then They were headed to Pisa then Florence then supposed to be in Vienna that night! Crazy men! Javid was studying in Lead, England getting his PhD and come to find out he is a part time note taker for Deaf students at the university. Zulfia works in the oil fields for an Italian company in Pakistan. They invited me to take a quick tour of Pisa with them. Arriving at 6am with nothing to do till 1:30 I was game but told them as long as we get back before Jacquies plane I was cool with it. They said they still had to see Florence too and catch a train at 6:30 so we went. It was awesome!!! They were very fun to travel with. We arrived walked to the square with the tower and church and old wall. Took tons of silly pics. Their philosophy was to follow the chinese people because a they stick out and have very innovative picture taking ideas. We bought tickets to climb the tower the steps are marble and worn down a ton! The top was a little scary if you don't like heights. But they don't let you stay long. Its weird to climb down a leaning building! I was happy to have my feet on solid ground again! I had to pay to pee again and then I realized I'd lost my new wooden ring (set it down while applying sun block) I was very disappointed but it had been a good day so far. We sat down to a meal of light Italian beer and pizza. It was so good! Making our way back to the train station we just missed the train to Florence that would have gotten me to the airport on time. I started to get nervous. Jacquie and I had no way to contact each other and our plan was to meet at the airport. Javid debated the validity and authenticity of "they" and that helped me keep my mind off the fact that JQ would be sitting there forever wondering what my fate was. We arrived and finding and waiting for a bus shuttle became excruciating! When the bus pulled up to the station there she was waiting to get on! I couldn't believe it! I had almost missed her! Poor thing. I was so sorry I hadn't been there when she landed. We made our way to Campo Michelangelo and life was looking up. We freshened up a bit and headed to town for dinner taking one of the Rick Steves walking tours. It was an incredible night and we saw the old gold jewler's bridge. We decided to have diner in a whole in the wall place that turned out to have incredible food hearty house wine and stellar service.

24 hours + 24 hours = one very long day

When I look back at where this day started and how much ground I've covered and all the people I've met I'm exhausted and full filled with all the wealth that is in my life. As a new friend told me...this is where our story begins and ends...but I think he was wrong. This is just one chapter that jumps around a lot. The chapter ends but all the characters show up later again in a distant place a and time. So this chapter begins in St Remy with my alarm telling me I've actually slept till 9 and need to get up and pack. I hit snooze a couple of times knowing that even though I have a birth in a train car that doesn't mean I know when I will next sleep. Packing my extra bag for Aunt Beth and stuffing some stuff in nanas bag I'm officially ready to depart my group. Its still quite a while before that happens but at least I'm ready. Mom, Nana, Coleen and Brenna are at cooking class. The girls and I decide to go into town to grab a few more pics and souvenirs before we hit the road. We drove down to the roman ruin excavation site to see what we could see without paying. It wasn't much but I climbed up through the scrub brush and out onto a pillar of rock and WOW! It took my breath away! You could see forever! Not so much right in front of you where they excavated but everything else, villages with spires piercing the centers surrounded by fields and orchards to the next town. I was about to yell to my sisters to join me when I heard the car door shut. They never heard me. Now I'm in a dress pretty sandels on an out cropping of rock and shale and there are stinging nettles and brambles everywhere you look. I try to pick the easiest way down but I realize its lead me to the wrong ravine. This is when Kara finally gets out of the car and calls my name instead of just honking the horn. She was thinking the same thing I was...stranded with a broken leg would suck right now, is she lost or hurt? Anyway, found my way down, went back to the hotel, loaded the cars and waved goodbye. Beth and I in one car, Tawni and Barb in another, the sisters in the van and all the luggage made our way to the train station. We left very early and it was a good thing cause we did get off the beaten path and stuck behind an accident in traffic with weird round abouts (4 lane highway going straight thru the middle) I hailed a non-english speaking semi truck and asked him how to turn around. Thru gestures we got our selves straightened out. One more stop for directions and we were there. Barb Moe and I stayed with the bags while the rest turned in the cars. That's when Coleen started calling frantically. They were lost "okay I followed the signs to Nice and never saw a TGV sign where do I go?" We had followed signs to Avignon so I was no help. Our porter was not worried. "Ah Nice! Its only like...mmm...30 mins away! Plenty of time! Do not worry they will be here!" Our train leaves in 45mins now. I'm totally worried! Needless to say Tawni runs back to collect a cd from the rental car coleens group showed up 7 mins before departure and nana found her train ticket 2 mins before the train pulled up. Tension was high and for the first time I was feeling a little teary. It was hard to let them go. When they took off, the silence on the platform was deafening! My body was buzzing. I was so used to being in tune with 11 other women and now I was just overly conscious of just me...to be continued!

St Remy

Today is Sunday. We have one full day here so we made the most of it. Breakfast was served at 8am so we made sure we were ready to jump in the car before we sat down to a VERY scrumptious breakfast of granola, croissants, fruit, orange juice and cafe au lait. Then we were off, first to a Market/flea market (antiquing) and then to the lavender fields. The market was amazing, I've never seen anything...no wait, the Alaska State fair on a sunny, non-school day...INSANE! I finally burnt to a crisp, Se la vie! It had to happen sometime. There was so much color and noise and movement! Linens, legumes, jewelry, clothes, trinkets, you name it, it was there. Even a box with a baby pig and rabbits they were wanting you to buy food to feed them! (seriously, everything!) It was a little overwhelming...especially the antiquing, everything was old, and I mean nothing was less than 100 years old! And most of it was over 100 Euro...it was fun to look through the old furnature, linens, crystal, paintings, books, etc. So much to see, so little time. We ventured on to another town (I'll fill in the blanks later when I remember) that was older than anything we have seen yet and built into cliff. It was awesome and got everyone excited! We drove onto the lavender fields only to be surprised at how they were mountain pastures and just small funny shaped fields here and there. The abbey was absolutely stunning just like in the pictures but not at all in the setting you assume...when they say fields, you just don't picture the drive to victory bible camp and end up tucked in a closed valley. Lots of fun pics later we headed to explore that fun village on a cliff, only to find pay parking, being cheap some of us jumped out, while others drove to a different angle and parked in a no parking zone with the rest of the tourists...LOL! So French! We got some ice cream (glace) and headed home (missing the McDonald's!). Back at the hotel we hurriedly got ready for the next venture. Back in the car we drove to the insane asylum where Van Gough spent his final year before taking his life. He lived there for one year and 8 days and painted over 150 canvases and did over 100 sketches! (the beginning of art therapy?) It is still a working hospital. Walking across the street we saw some Roman Ruins that were built around Christ's time. Very cool. THEN WE WENT TO DINNER...(it's 7:30pm, we haven't eaten-minus glace-since 8:30pm)...10:30pm we still haven't gotten the bill...I have to the bathroom but there isn't one...Evie is vacillating between crying and sleeping...we are all so tiered from the fun day that even finding our way home is a challenge. (oh, and I keep loosing stuff!) Arriving home I take a cold shower, felt so good on my burn, and we all went to bed, well, I'm there as soon as I post this! Tomorrow Coleen Brenna Mom and Nana are taking a cooking class offered here at the hotel. I am personally going to sleep in, run some errands for mom and pack. If there is time, I would love to see the excavated roman ruins but I am headed to Italy so we'll see. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to the family...I'm not ready

Goodbye Villa in the Vinyard - Hello St Remy

Today we said goodbye. It was so sad because we were just feeling comfortable and brave and could have stayed there another week without running out of things to do. Mom and I went out to Chateau Verez for one last bottle of vin while the girls lazed around the pool one last time. They met us in Vidabaun at another winery where I got my wine glasses and carafe. Thru town this semi rode two inches from moms bumper laying on his horn as if we could go any faster than the car in front of us! This place is crazy! (I personally love it!) The plan was to head to the lavendar fields. There were toll boths and highways and round abouts, dodging across 9 lanes to stay together. We decided to skip the fields and find our hotel first. (This ended up being the best idea) We drove around for hours, or so it seemed, in and out and thru St Remy. We even stopped at the office of tourism to ask for directions and still got lost! Driving around we met a guy in a truck who flagged us down by yelling Tawni's name. It was our hostest. He was going to the market and when he noticed 4 cars full of women driving around. He figured it must be us since a group that big especially all women is an extremely rare sight. It was a good thing. We only had coffee that morning and it was 4pm. We were all tiered and hungry. After settling in and getting the intro to the house and grounds and town we went to town for dinner...only to find that no one serves food till 7pm! It is a beautiful town with tintsie wintsie alleys and the old arches to the old walled city still standing between buildings. There was a huge church and while paying for parking we saw three different sets of brides and grooms leaving their weddings! (More soon)