At 5:00 am. . .

Thunderbolts and lightening, very, very frightening! (for those that know Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I thought this was appropriate!).

Yes, I did wake up to major thunder and lightening yesterday morning. This was totally unexpected but welcomed! It cooled everything off so nicely. However, I had my doubts about going out yesterday not knowing how totally rainy it would be. But I thought, why not? I am from the Northwest. This was nothin’!

I was ready for a full day of adventure seeking, not knowing how full my day would totally get…more on that later. I went to catch the lovely bus at 7:45 am only to find that there are no busses until 10 am on Fridays. Argh! I went back, caught the lovely bus and made my way to Poggibonsi at 10 am. The weather cleared up and it stayed cool the entire day with a perfect breeze for my trip to San Gimignano!

This was my second trip to San Jimmy (Gimignano is one of three words I cannot say so from now on, it’s San Jimmy). I gathered that because the weather was questionable, the amount of people there was surprisingly little. The bus drops you right at the entrance of the city and a long, narrow street outlined by leather, pottery and food merchants winds its way to the center piazza.

I took my time and became overwhelmed at the amount of pottery in this town! Tons of it. I have included photos of one store that I just fell in love in. (Dave…it’s okay…no boxes will show up next week, I promise!). Huge hand-painted ceramic table tops lined the walls. One in particular was over 3300 Euros! Okay, you do the math on that one at today’s exchange rate! (about $5500!)

I made my way up to the Duomo and in the back of it was a little shop where a woman sold some beautiful watercolor paintings. Her name was Valentina and we chatted a little. Her work was very good, I thought anyway. It was not hurried or messy. There was thought in what she did. I bought three little paintings of recipes in Italian. Can’t read them, but hey, they look good!
Then, I went back down to the Piazza Della Cisterna and had a little lunch. I just wanted something small and ordered an appetizer prosciutto e melone (cantelope wrapped in prosciutto ham) and a coke. I told the waitress it was for one person and when I got it, it was HUGE. Half a melon and an entire pig! The coke was small. Ha ha. Got my bill…expensive little stop, like $25 bucks! Needless to say, eating at home is paying off. I doubt if I will continue to go out too much unless I am starving!

I spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos of the town. They are below. I found little alleyways, great little shops and terraces in which to take some photos. I found a motorcycle for Dave too! (Photo below). The clouds were rolling back in and so I went to catch the 3 pm bus because I did not think the weather was going to hold out much longer. I was right. As soon as I got on the bus to go back to Poggibonsi, it thundered and rained, very hard. Somebody must have been watching over me. I had been able to dodge downpours the entire day!

I met a couple backpacking from Paris. They spoke English and I could tell they wanted to practice. I wanted to practice my French but English seemed to take over! They asked me, of all people, how to get to Florence and I actually knew how to do it! They also asked me what I thought of George Bush and I did an eyeroll. They gave me a high-five back! Then, a couple from New Zealand joined our conversation and it was not until then did I realize how much our upcoming election really means to the rest of the world. They have no say, no voting rights, but who we choose this next November very much impacts their lives as well. I got the feeling they think McCain would do a better job and Obama is too young for the job. Ummmmm.

So far my trip to San Jimmy was just perfect…until I got back to the stupid, stupid bus terminal in Poggibonsi! I swear, the bus station will be the death of me! We arrived and I looked at my schedule and the next bus was at 4:10. It’s only a 20 minute ride from San Jimmy to Poggibonsi so I had plenty of time to make my connection. I waited and waited and no bus. Come to find out, all busses were on the Dominica schedule…or festival schedule and I had missed the bus to Barberino by five, lousy minutes! The next one was in four and a half hours! I kept my cool, the best I could. Thank goodness it was not hot or a wave of evil would have probably overtaken my sense of reason and landed me in jail for punching out the ticket lady who just happened to point to the wrong return time that very morning! I asked for a taxi and she just put her hands up like “whatever.” I found the taxi stand and got my Rick Steve’s book out to ask for a cab. I called and asked in my best broken Italian for a ride to Barberino. “No go there,” was the answer I got. I was stuck. I was stuck in this god forsaken pit of a station for four and a half hours.

Poggibonsi is not a place in which to get stranded. NOTHING is ever open and it is a very depressing town. I learned it has never really recovered after being bombed in WWII. Normally, I would take my fate as an opportunity to wander, see more things, but Poggibonsi offered me no alternative but to wait this one out. I was starting to see some familiar faces of old, creepy, men that just like to hang around the station and never go anywhere. About two hours into my sentence, one tried to talk to me and I tried to talk back, nicely, but again, it was hard to communicate. Then, he grabbed my arm and I just about decked him! Seriously, I was just about to kick his little Italian butt to Rome and I gave him a look of do not mess with me and he left. That was my low point. I called David and asked my ever loving travel guru to get me a car. No more busses for me!

Then, I met a woman from Mexico studying here in Italy for three months. As we talked she told me of other places to visit and a young man of 19 joined our conversation. He was from Poland and here to study architecture. We had a lively conversation and it made the last hour actually a lot of fun.

I learned from both fellow bus station prisoners that the Palio in Siena actually started late Saturday afternoon. I even bought my tickets earlier that day with all intentions of going. In looking at the schedule a little more closely, the horse race started at 7 pm and the last bus from Poggibonsi to Barbernio was at 7:30. There was no way I was going to make it from Siena to Poggibonsi in 30 minutes. So, I decided not to go to Siena after all, in fear of spending another evening with creepy members of the bus station mafia!

I finally got home about 9 pm and I made it in the door when the rain came down really, really hard once again. The thunder and lightening started back up and it was spectacular! The entire valley lit up!

Having made peace with my near wave of evil moment at the now referred to stupid bus station, I reflected back on how really perfect the rest of my day was. I saw things that I never dreamed were possible…the history, the beauty of the countryside, and the detail in which San Jimmy’s towers were constructed and the fact they are still standing today. It makes me think how truly young the US is and how sad it is that we tear down buildings that could have a chance of sticking around for more than 150 years! Plus, I had met some really great people from all around the world, aside from the Bus Station Arm Grabber.

Today is Saturday and I am just thankful to be safe at home. It is a beautiful day here today. I am a little sad about not going to Siena, but after yesterday‘s bus fiasco, there is no way I would even consider attempting it. I have already done my laundry and some grocery shopping. Premetra, my house cleaning lady, came by today to get sheets and make up the bed. I helped her as it seemed a little silly to do this just for me. It is part of the deal when you stay in the flat. She does not speak any English so she and I use sign language. She is so sweet…she drops off fresh flowers for me about every two days.

I found a butcher this morning who was actually open today and got chicken sliced for scallopine. I got all the ingredients to make a nice pasta dinner tonight, with wine of course! The music I heard last weekend will kick back up tonight so I think I may wander there later on. Meanwhile, I will work on my book today, I hope, and just be thankful for how lucky I am to have this opportunity to be here in this lovely country. Ciao for now!