Travel mercies

OK, I’m going to make you jealous first and then I shall report on my journey to this place.  This is a picture from my window at the villa in Pistoia where I am staying with our group until September 27.  The gravel driveway goes between olive groves and the view extends west to the Appenines.

This picture is of the garden where I am now sitting at a table with my morning tea and my tablet talking with you.  On either side are 400 year old magnolia trees and various groups of people are starting to awaken and move about to the sound of the fountain, roosters, and dogs.

I think this has been the first time I have made all plane and train connections without any major issues!  No weather problems, no mechanical delays, no oversold flights – well, we were an hour on the O’Hare tarmac, but that is just standard operating procedure, right?  I ended up in Florence at my hotel right when I thought it was going to happen.  I didn’t even sleep on the train because I was so fascinated by the real time monitor showing our speed at 230 kph, egads that’s fast.  Last time I took the train from Rome to Florence in 1973 it took 4 hours – yesterday just 1 1/2 hours.  Maybe we don’ t do everything the best at home…

After checking into the hotel and discovering a charming room complete with a vine covered patio and comfy chairs, I ventured out to see how much Florence had changed – not much, surprisingly.  The David is still standing in his courtyard with his private parts for sale at the many vendors throughout the side streets.  The Duomo is still surrounded by tourists, except now they are all holding cameras taking pictures of themselves.  Italian design in all the windows is still absolutely breath-takingly beautiful and tempting to the pocketbook. 

I was surprised by the number of Gelatorias everywhere.  Here I was worried about getting to sample this delicacy.  I stopped at one that seemed appropriately decadent with more than the normal number of flavors.  Mistake.  How could I possibly decide which one to get?  So I did the only possible thing – I had a triple dipper.  Fig, mango, and dark chocolate.  The only difficult part was eating it quickly enough that it all didn’t slide down my arms and into the street, which would have been a great waste of a national treasure.  Yup, that was my dinner.

Lights out at 8 PM and no awareness on my part until 8:30 AM.  More food for breakfast on the rooftop garden overlooking all of Florence.  More walking around the city, over to the Ponte Vecchio and back via more shops.  Time in the Florence train station and a quick 1/2 hour ride to Pistoia.  The only glitch in the whole operation was arrival in Pistoia where I dutifully went to the taxi stand to wait for a cab.  Unfortunately, I arrived at lunchtime and all drivers were at home having lunch, like normal people are supposed to do.  In the meantime, two more fellow students arrived on different trains and the three of us piled into the lone cab who left his hearth and home to transport us to this charming villa. 

I will detail more about fellow students and faculty later on.  Impressions on the first jet-lagged day when watching zombies arriving is probably not the most accurate of discernment possibilities!  There are 4 returning students, 9 gap year attendees (brave enough to tackle the world right out of high school!) and 4 college students and me.  Most are from the states, including two from Charolotte, one from London, one from Norway, one from India, and another from Germany. 

This afternoon we have lunch at 1 and start classes at 2.  Tomorrow we go into the town of Pistoia to start our exploration of art, history, and culture.  Woo Hoo!  I still cannot believe my luck at ending up in this place with these possibilities.  How often can I say thanks for my life?