The Kindness of Strangers

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There would be no point to this trip if Melissa and I didnt meet people from around the world. I think there is no point to see another country and try to immerse yourself in it if you dont meet its people or people from somewhere else who are trying to do the same as you. Paul, Melissa, and I are in Siena for 2 nights and we just came from San Gimigiano. Last night was so random and crazy that I cant explain the whole story on here since there is mixed company that reads these but ask me sometime and I can tell you the whole thing. SO what Ill give you now is the edited rather bland story. We left Casa Cares by one and spent many hours on the dull train. We finally made it to our stop but the doors wouldnt open and the train began to pull away. A couple had the same stop as us and were pissed off, as were we, about how public transportation was ruining our plans and was giving a much un-needed detour. They were from Ohio and we chit chatted with them a bit and then tried to make our way back to Poggibonsi our station. I love that name. It will be the name of my first born. Then on our way back the train engine had problems and we were so aggravated but we got some ice cream called magnum (blatant phallic advertising) and we were happy right quick. We arrived at our campsite in San Gimigiano which is BEAUTIFUL countryside. We were lost in a neighborhood where no one spoke English but Paul knew a bit of Italian so we found our way. The Campsite where many people were camping at was really cool. We found our apartment and I thought it was a bathroom because it was this wooden circular structure but we opened the doors and it was this decked out awesome room. And for only 25 euro a night. Paul decided he wanted to meet the neighbors and when we rounded the corner we came upon an old withered man and his son...who was only in his whitie tighties and a tank top. He stood up unabashed and introduced him and his dad who didnt speak English. They were from the Czech Republic and were paying for thier room by playing street music daily. Apparently in places like Venice you have to have a liscense to play music but there you didnt so they played and made like 25 euro an hour. This guy was so energetic and he asked if we liked folk music and we said we liked Bob Dylan and got so happy. He told us to come see him play and also warned us of the vipers in the area which freaked me the F out. We then went back to our room and left for San G as we call it.

We got to San G known as the medival Manhattan and right away we were astounded. It is like a frozen moment in time. You can almost see the knights on horseback riding through the streets and fair maidens blowing kisses from thier windows. Wonderful views and it is the kind of place that just makes you want to play pretend. We had only been there about 20 min. when we saw the couple from the train. They were excited to see we had made it to San G and invited us to have some wine and dinner with them. We went to this great resturant on the hill and we got two bottles of wine which were delicious. They were so knowledgable on the wine and I knew nothing but I pretended to be as cultured as could be. Turns out they both work for the Air Force and were in Italy on business. Len and Laura were their names and they were hilarious and great to hang out with. They had some awesome stories like Laura spoke of a woman she worked with named Cricket Pigg. Seriously. Who does that to someone? Laura had also been to Amsterdamn and she told some stories about there which made me decide a trip there is needed. Len talked about traveling to Italy when he was younger and ordered wild boar which is crazy dish. He ended up paying for dinner which was very nice and appreciated. We ended up in the main square of San G around a well with two more bottles of wine having a grand old time just talking about life and such and then we parted ways.

Now we are in Siena and we have spent all day in the city which has a wonderful small town slash city vibe. The main piazza where they hold the horses races is really cool. For our last two hours in the city we sat at a playground slash park and watched kids playing and just observed them and laughed and talked about when we were kids and what it will be like when we have kids. It was really nice. Kids are the funniest things ever. They are just so entertaining. SO one problem here. I do believe our hostel used to be a mental hospital and being in my room for 5 min makes me feel like I am in need of a straight jacket. Its HORRIBLE. but it is 12 euro a night which is good for our poor pockets. Oh god I am looking around me and thinking that if I ever go insane Id rather be put down than have to stay in one of these places. Its really bad. But we will be in the city all day tomorrow too so not much time here. Than on to Naples I think....but we have been hearing about the trash and mafia problems they are having so we have to discuss that...I never saw the mafia as a reality but it is. Anyways back to the loony bin.

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