Under the Tuscan Sun

My day started off with a pastry and tea at Cafe Lib, our designated weekend breakfast spot at the Pepperdine Program. Then it was off to the train station, though instead of the usual route down Via Nazionale I took a more scenic route around the park and along the fortress, arriving at what I consider to be the back entrance of Santa Maria Novella Station. My train left at 9:15 on the dot, taking me chugging through the Tuscan countryside. I dozed some on the train, but woke up when an Italian gentleman on his way to Arezzo for work sat across from me. He made me a little nervous at first, just because I was alone, and because he had a slightly rough appearance, but as we grew closer to Arezzo he started to engage me in conversation (in Italian, of course), and turned out to be really pleasant. The train stopped and everyone filed off, but I remained in my seat, thinking that my train was to continue on, since my ticket did not mention anything about connecting trains, only "via Arezzo." As I sat, the gentleman reentered the train to get me, because he'd found out that Arezzo was its last stop. He even questioned a station official for me, and found my platform.

Grateful for the help, I climbed aboard my connecting train and rode the short distance to Cortona. As I exited the train in the Camucia-Cortona station, I fell in with a group of other American girls who were studying in Florence. They, like me, were trying to find tickets for the bus to ride up the hill from Camucia to Cortona. As we chatted, I found out that many of them were from Chapman University in Orange County, pretty near Pepperdine; one of the girls was even dating someone from my school.

Once in Cortona, I walked around the two main piazzas, della Republica and Teatro Signorelli. These two squares were, I believe, the settings for most of the Cortona scenes in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. I climbed up steep hill and walked into the Chiesa di San Franceso, then up, up, up what felt like a 45 degree incline through windy streets, then a stone path, finally up to the parking lot before the Basilica di Santa Margharita. The facade of the church was nothing too special, but I noticed all these cars had frothy white ribbons tied around their attenae, and there were men in suits loitering outside the church. Near the entrance were baskets full of little taffeta bundles of rice. Ah. A wedding. Slipping inside, a wash of pipe organ music filled my ears; the bride standing with her groom before the priest was older than I expected, a little stout and in her thirties or early forties. The wedding was ending as I looked around the church, and as the couple greeted their friends and family, the priest at the organ continued to play this very sombre (for a wedding) piece that was shaking the walls with sound. At the rear of the church was the altar, and on the altar, in a glass case, was Santa Margharita herself, mummified, wrapped in white robes, with a golden halo around her head. The people in the church viewing her were very reverent and awed, but all I was thinking was, "Wow, that's a dead lady."

After Santa Margharita I bought a ticket and went into the Etruscan museum. Walking around, I was really impressed with the museum. All the exhibits were translated into English, and LCD screens and projectors were everywhere. I thought the exhibits were pretty interesting, but I was growing faint with hunger, so I left and went restaurant hunting. I ended up at a little trattoria that advertised it had been established in 1904, had some good white wine and a spinach and pine nut lasagna. I was tempted to try Bistecca Fiorentina, since Cortona is reputed to have the best Florentine steak, but it was running about 14 euro a plate, no buono. The maitre d', Luca, was really nice and gave me a little business card with a map to the restaurant and his email address, in case I ever want to bring friends for a party there.

Lunch was amazing, but I needed to walk off the wine. I found a ceramic shop full of hand painted jars, plates, mugs, platters, all kinds of jewel-bright dishes. The shop owner spoke English well and helped me pick out a good souvenir.
The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. I stumbled across another wedding in a church I wanted to explore, had some excellent gelato, and found a nice shady spot in an olive grove to lay down and enjoy nature for a few moments.

By five thirty I was getting cold--hiking around and getting sweaty, then having a cool wind blow on you really chills you--so I bought a bus and train ticket from the tourism office and went to wait in the traffic circle and lookout spot just outside the city walls. I was sitting on a park bench, when a old man, in his 70's with a cane and all, came up to me, saying, "Bella, bellissima!" etc, etc. He asked me how old I ways, kept saying I looked young, lovely, and asked if I had a fiancee (and believe me, it was fiancee, not boyfriend. He was seriously interested in my marital status). I was polite and smiled, answered his questions, and before I knew it, he had his arm around me on the bench, trying to give me a kiss, "per buon fortuna!" I was seriously creeped out. I realize that it was a cultural thing, and that he was not hitting on me, but I was very uncomfortable, and so made some excuse about wanting to take more pictures, then went and hid until the bus came.

Luckily, after that little incident I had no other mishaps. The bus came, I made it to the train station, then onto the train, which was a strait shot to Florence, without a stop in Arezzo. I slept nearly all the way to Florence. Once in Santa Maria Novella, I made a beeline for the villa. I was cold and pretty tired from the trip, and, I realized a little hungry. Cafe Deluxe, or as we call it, Gladiator's, always has free food when you buy a drink. I ordered a tea, then decided I was up for a pizza. Alessandro cooked up a delicious Margharita pizza, I ate about 3/4 of it (the pizzas here are designed to be personal size), then wrapped up the rest, paid, and returned home.

My first solo trip was full of surprises, helpful people (and slightly creepy people), and felt really proud of myself for forging my own path so soon into my stay here. The trains are getting easier and easier to navigate, and since I've had two weeks of Intensive Italian, am able to get myself out of most situations and can communicate decently effectively when I need to know something. I'm so excited to find out what next weekend holds!