Milan to Montepulciano

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Saturday 27 May

An alarm clock start today… up at five to be at Milano Stazione Centrale for my 7.15 train to Montepulciano. (Pronounced; <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mon tepull charno, with the accent on the ar). After a five-hour train journey, and another two hours spent with country busses and transfers, I arrived at my place of residence for the next two weeks. One of the Il Sasso teachers (I’m here to learn some Italian… well the basics at least) met me and took me to my apartment, right across the road from my school… literally 20 metres away. The apartment is in a very old building, but the interior has been modernised and has everything I need for a comfortable stay. This town is thousands of years old, but I’ll go into more detail later.

I’m in love… this town is so beautiful, so quaint and so full of history. As I walked up the cobblestone streets to try and find somewhere to get some food supplies, I couldn’t believe I was actually here. I really think I need to pinch myself. I felt at home straight away and I kept thinking of my sister, Jane and how she would love this place. Then, there it was… a leather goods shop with everything a woman could want in handbags and shoes! I’d only been here half an hour, so reminded myself to take my time, savour every shop and choose my purchases carefully. Not only am I on a budget, but weight and bulkiness play such an important role when considering plane travel – and I still have three more flights on different airlines with different weight restrictions to consider.

I found a little grocer, purchased some lovely bread, cheese, salami, eggs, butter, milk, fruit and yoghurt and headed back to my apartment. I was in bed asleep by 4.30 and slept right through until 5.30 on Sunday.

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Comments

[Jane]

wish I was with you to experience it all.I can almost smell the age of Multepulciano, I'm imaging cobblestones,and vines growing over buildings- am I close? Are your grocery items more expensive than the local Iga? Do you see elderly Italian folk sitting outside their houses watching the world/tourists go by or is my description way off? Fill me in . Hope your Italian is shapping up so you can converse with the locals, I expect there are plenty of stories to be told. Look forward to your next entry and hope to see some photos. Love Jane.

[TassieToTuscany]

Hi Jane... it's just as you imagine and more!
Hi Jane, Iv'e been sending emails regularly... I hope you've been getting them. I miss you so much and of course I wish you were with me too. It would make the trip so much better to share it with someone (special). Prices for food are on par with Oz, but generally cheaper. Wages are low here, so you'd expect cost of living to match. I spend about Euro 25 every few days at the deli (equivilent to our corner store). Would be less at the supermarket, but it's too big a walk up the hill to come home with bags of groceries! You fantasies of elderly folk sitting out in the street watching the world go by is not a fantasy at all. It's exactly the way it is. I love it. Lots of people walk their dogs in the early evening and most elderly people dress up and parade the streets to chat with there friends. It's so great! Each time I see a dog similar to Tommy I strike up a conversation with the owner and play with their dog. I have to get my Tommy fix. I sure hope he's settled and not too sooky for you. Love you heaps Your sister, C Caterina xxxxxx