Arriving in Montisi

It is about a 90 minute drive from Rome's Fiumicino airport and Montisi, excluding stops. Our driver Mossimo lived outside Rome and commuted for 15 years, so he is an expert driver. His significant other, Liz Cochrane, has importuned him to keep his hands on the wheel when others are in the car with him. Italian drivers have some interesting interactions, some of which, according to Mossimo require both speaking and use of hands! Sometimes just a deadly stink eye is given. It is a much more relaxing drive for all of us since we don't have to think about the driving or whether we're going to miss a turnoff.

With Mom (Jane) into the front seat, Susan and I get caught up on business and family things that had occurred while I had been on vacation; Mom is pretty tired (at 86 the time change is a little harder to roll with) so she isn't as active a conversationalist as she might usually be. After about an hour we stopp for lunch at an Italian fast food spot that Mossimo give his approval to and we have sandwiches which are tasty and Mossimo gets a couple of smokes in before we hit the road for the final stretch. In retrospect I think Mossimo may have been killing some time to give Liz time to finish tidying up the apartment Susan and I will be sharing. Liz had visitors come by that morning to buy paintings so had gotten a late start on that chore but had sold art which is good. They speak a couple of times, the last time as we leave Sinalunga, about 12 km from Montisi.

I was flooded with memories of our first arrival in Montisi (April 2008) and the several trips between Montisi and Sinalunga in September/October 2008 when we were there for three weeks. On that first trip, as we rode to Montisi in a van driven by Daniele, I remember not only how visually stunning it was, but a song I love (Redemption Song, performed by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros on Streetcore) coming on the radio--both are inextricably entwined in my memories now. Tre Quanda is the first medieval village that appears, then the Montelifre estate, and finally, Montisi. After we turn onto Via Umberto I we pass the bakery (awning down meaning closed), La Romita and Il Rondo, then Il Barrino, Villa Maddelena, the gift shop, the (New!) farmica, the florist, and the alementare, all closed because it is after 13:30--time shifts to the 24-hour system in Europe--and on to the Laconda B&B where Mom will spend the night. A quick glance at the Tabac as Mossimo parks in the piazza to see if it is also closed (of course it is), and to the Bancomat, which is always open. Not much action in the piazza and it looks different (there was scaffolding up in 2008 so it looks much more open now that the scaffolding has been removed), but it is good to be back.

At the B&B there is a sign taped to the door for Mom telling her which key to take and which room is hers. Although her room is on the top floor, it is situated overlooking the piazza and up Via Umberto I and she is excited enough to not mind climbing the stairs. I carry her suitcase up (she's a light packer); we are all in La Locanda for the first time so we're taking in the details and enjoying the discovery. Susan and I know Mom will take a nap and then sit in the window taking in the activity as the village comes back to life later in the afternoon. We leave her so Mossimo can drop us off and go on with his day (which we soon learn includes his nap). Mossimo backs up the hill to the Church in the Castello and we grab out stuff and roll our bags the rest of the way to Liz and Mossimo's home and our digs for the next week.

There's a sign on the door to the courtyard that there is a new kitten in the courtyard, but we don't see her until later (seriously, everyone retreats behind closed doors between 13:30 and 16:30). Liz greets us and shows us into the apartment and there is lots of discussion about sleeping arrangements and she finally agrees that I can sleep in the single bed in the sitting room with Susan in the larger bed in the bedroom and that I'll be totally okay. I take in Liz's artwork on the walls and the darling tiled wood stove and make up my bed while she and Mossimo confer and I know it will be a lovely place to sleep. Susan and I usually don't leave the Villa until after 10 p.m., so we won't be spending much time in the apartment; Liz puts on the kettle and she and Susan have tea while we chat the afternoon away.

We've been in Montisi for all of two hours and we have already hatched a plan for a week of knitting plus color lessons from Liz. I'm totally jazzed as this is along the lines of what I have been thinking about on vacation. Yeah! I think Liz, Susan and I will be a fabulous collaboration team.

Returning to Italy

On Oct. 9, at an insanely early hour I set out for Heathrow from our London hotel via cab. It was expensive, but I just wasn't sure I could manage the underground without help at that hour, when I'd never taken it to the airport. I am directionally challenged, and when presented with unanticipated options--like signs that say something other than what I was expecting--I get confused. Despite this, I'm a pretty intrepid traveler, and I always get to my location.

Fortunately the alarm had gone off (although no requested wake up call), and I managed to get the water so it wasn't ice cold (do they shut off hot water overnight?). I had some trepidation, but not about the trip to the airport, or even about meeting Susan at the airport in Rome (see below), but because the email from British Airways with my itinerary had the wrong dates and was to Mitch, not me. I had noticed this in Barcelona, but decided to take my chances. I knew Mercury was in Retrograde--as evidenced by all the glitches in our travel planning, so I just decided it would work out and I wasn't going to sweat it. But despite my certainty, it was possible that it would be an incredible problem if it didn't work out.

At the airport I checked in, but on the final screen at the kiosk it told me to see an agent. This made me a little nervous, but it was really too early to get in a twist--4:50 a.m. I waited on line and got checked in and dropped my bag without a problem. Starbucks was open--as was another similar business, but the Starbucks actually seemed less challenged by the prospect of making and delivering beverages to customers, so I chose it and got an espresso and muffin and settled in to wait until the shuttles to the gates opened at 6:10 a.m. I can't really remember most of the flight, or the details of getting on the plane; I was in 16F and I'm sure I slept most of the way. My only memory of the flight was looking out the window as we approached Rome and thinking Bella Italia! I read my book until it was possible to get off the plane and walked to the immigration lines, which weren't unreasonably long, but full of Americans who seemed to be the biggest whiners and complainers in the world; I guess they didn't realize that the Italians have their own way of doing things, which is why Italy is different from the US. My book was really good, and I read to shut them out. A little surprised that the immigration officer asked if I'd had trouble with the law when I was last in Italy, but that process, as usual, went without a hitch.

Now the tricky part. The day before in London I had been unable to charge my cell phone. Since I didn't recall Susan and I making arrangements to connect by phone this didn't seem like a big problem, but it

totally freaked Mitch out. He even offered to let me take his phone. He began quizzing me about what arrangements Susan and I had for meeting and was completely unsatisfied with my description of Mossimo picking Susan and Mom up then picking me up. He was making me a little crazy on the subject so I suggested that we call Susan. We caught her just as she was leaving the house and she repeated our arrangements (see above) and I wished her a good flight and said I'd see her in Rome. Mitch is right that it was completely unreasonable that we should expect to just "meet at the airport", but I planned to go to the marked exit for arrivals and look for Mossimo's black and yellow station wagon. I'm tall with bright red hair, how hard could it be? So I was coming out the doors from immigration and carefully reading the signs when my name was called by Susan. T

here she was, there was Mom, and most importantly, there was Mossimo (being picked up by a nice-looking Italian gives anyone a lift!). Indeed, as Mom had said when I'd last seen her in San Francisco before Mitch and I left for vacation, "See you in Rome!"

Photos are fresh basil and olive oil from Castlemuzio taken in my SF kitchen. I have no Italy pictures.

My grandma went to Tuscany and I got a sock monkey

We had a wonderful time in Montisi, as always. The weather was great, though cooling towards the end of the week. We drank wine, ate wonderful food, connected with new friends and old and enjoyed watching the activities of village life.

I knit some swatches and ripped alot on some baby socks, which I finally finished on the plane. I knit a sock monkey for Zane, which I stuffed and finished when I got home. He's pretty cute!