At the Villa in Tuscany

---

Early on Sunday morning Fay and I got up, made breakfast, had a cup of tea and headed up to the next closest town, Acona. We wanted to buy a loaf of bread and see the town. When the ladies upstairs tried to take showers they didn’t have any hot water. Julie called Eduardo to find out how to fix the water heater (a silly button got hit). With the water issue solved, a few of the ladies took showers, blew dry their hair and curled it all at the same time… Hmmm - not the brightest approach to living in an old villa. Since this is an older building - it is not meant for American appliances (en masse) they blew a few fuses. Now without lights, Julie placed another call to Eduardo. Such a dramatic start to the week. Then we realized that there was a piece dangling from Julie and Karen’s car - not surprising that it bottomed out on this winding, gravel road. So Julie placed yet another call to Eduardo. Julie had already told me she “found her inner Mario Andretti” driving on the roads of Italy in her little Austin Martin sedan (zoom zoom!).

Karen, Linda, Leasha, Carolina and Betty had decided to take the train to Florence to explore and shop. At 9 am they said they were leaving for the train. Julie finally shooed them out the door at noon. Wow, are we glad we’re not doing excursions with that group. It would drive us crazy to plod along at that pace!

By the afternoon, we had decided we wanted to order a special dinner to be prepared and cooked by Doriana (our wonderful housekeeper) for Monday evening. Now it was my turn to call Eduardo. The dinner request was followed by promises to leave him to the rest of his Sunday without interruption. I requested a typical Tuscan dinner of pork loin, roasted potatoes and green beans with a fabulous apple tart for dessert. I floated in the pool while mom read and wrote in her journal. Then we visited with Julie for a bit before leaving the villa to drive to the train station in Rufina to pick up Stephanie and Sarah. We got to the station just after the train deposited its travelers on the platform. However, Sarah and Stephanie were not there. I called Sarah to ask her where she was. She said, “our train left a few minutes late and we just left the station at San Giovanni. Mom checked the map and as we suspected the gals were on the wrong train! We told them to get off at the next station (which was Montevarchi about 45 minutes southwest of Florence) and we would pick them up. We headed for the highway with mom navigating. Fifty minutes later we pulled into the square near the station and found Sarah and Stephanie. Thankful to be rescued from their travel woes, we tossed their luggage in the back and squeezed into the rental car. Along the way home we showed them the strangest sight we Americans had seen so far. An outlet mall! We drove through in front of the mall to see the list of stores and found that this was no ordinary American outlet mall with Nike, Bali and Ann Taylor shops. The Italians, as we know, have a bit more class - and perhaps a bit more disposable income! Their outlet had Dolce and Gabana, Valentino, Versace, Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vitton and others I didn’t recognize. They were all couture designers - and too expensive for my budget even at outlet prices. Who wants to buy a dress for 1000 euros or shoes for 180 euros?

We tried to stop at the Coop in Pontassieve to pick up some food for Sarah and Stephanie, but it was closed of course since it was Sunday. When we came back to Rufina we noticed the Festival was still going on. We decided to investigate. It looked like a small Saturday market event with ceramic, lace and other vendors, as well as a food court. We saw the line forming for food and jumped in. They had order forms which we deciphered, with Julie’s assistance. We ordered soup, French fries, mousse and water. We enjoyed watching people, filling our tummies and listening to the 80’s music playing in the square (Eye of the Tiger was playing when we arrived). The temperature dropped quickly, so we didn’t linger after eating. Fay, Julie and I were looking forward to sharing the twisting, winding, narrow road with Steph and Sarah. Since it was dark by now, it was easier for me to navigate - or at least less scary since I could see the headlights of any approaching vehicles. They were impressed that I could drive so quickly on the road and were sure there were steep drop-offs with cliffs down to the valley floor. It is winding, but not so steep. I’m sure they were disappointed with the drive down the next day as it wasn’t nearly as scary as they imagined in the dark.

---