Lavandaria

I've been putting it off. When you are gone for, oh has it been two weeks? And you've brought clothes for maybe five days, IT'S TIME. You can only hand wash so much underwear in the hotel, and jeans would cost €15 to wash if the hotel were to launder--it would be cheaper for me to throw out all my clothes and buy new ones than have them do my laundry. I'd scoped out one laundromat nearby a few days ago, but wondered if there might be another close by. I shoved all my clothes in my carry on bag and headed to the lobby and asked ______ "dove laundavaria?" She told me there were two in town about equidistant from the hotel, and having been aware of one of them, I naturally chose the other.

About an hour later, and many inquiries, I found myself at a professional dry cleaner. She didn't speak English and hailed her last customer to come in and direct me as he spoke English.  "Turn left down there, and about 100 meters on your right." One of these days I will learn what a meter is... My translation is, a lot farther than you think. True to his word, there was "My Beautiful Launderette." The kindly owner helped me get started with the wash and told me it would be 40 minutes. I asked if there was wifi and she said "about 100 meters" and pointed down the road.

I walked and walked and found myself in the town of St. Agnello. I never found wifi, but some Italian women driving by stopped to ask ME directions in Sorrento. This made my day. Since I've been here, I didn't want to appear Americana to the average person. I actually changed my clothes before I left this morning as I thought the tommy Bahama beach dress would be too much of a giveaway, even though it was one of the remaining things I had clean to wear.

I also encountered a man with a giant shopping cart selling bunches of fresh aglio -- which he grows himself. Realizing the time, and the fact that I'd walked to the next town and no wifi and that MUST have been more than 100 meters, I returned to My beautiful Laundromat in time for the dryer.

Met Carlos, a man from Canada, but previously from Guatemala. We communicated much better in
Spanish.  "Fue un gusto conercerti."
"Aloha."
My laundry adventure took about three hours, and cost €9. Weather is moving in today. Much cooler, cloudier. I now have clean jeans in preparation.

Happy Mother's Day

I have just woken up at the Hotel Antiche Mura, an exquisite b&b on the Amalfi coast in Sorrento. Arrival by train starting from Siena was an adventure, having never taken a train before. With minutes to spare, Michael from the Tuscan Renaissance Center helped me on board with my bags, validated my travel tickets, and I was off to Firenze to catch the next train. No one ever asked to see the ticket from Siena to Florence, and when I inquired if they do, I was told, "sometimes..." Ahh, Italy!
The Firenze station is rather large, and I kept my eye on the "Departure" board to see what platform I would need to go to...and it was never posted. I asked an official looking someone finally, and he said, they usually announce it or post it a few minutes before you leave... Oh, I just heard platform 10.
The ticket was reserved for car 11, and again, I raced to the car hauling two large suitcases filled with art supplies. They didn't seem large when I left Maui, but the more you drag them around they get larger and larger so one is tempted just to leave them behind.
There was a character singing, snorting, and talking to himself loudly for most of the 2 hour ride to Rome. I enjoyed the company of a delightful couple from Argentina who got on the train in Rome who wanted to visit because of the new Pope. Onward to Napoli to switch trains yet again to the commuter train to Sorrento, which I caught again with minutes to spare, thinking all along that MOM was certainly looking out for me to be guided with the timing through all of this. I've been thinking of her a great deal on this trip and wishing she had made it to Paris -- her life dream. I shared this with someone at the TRC yesterday morning as I looked over the misty Tuscan landscape with my coffee. When I went back to grab a croissant before I left, Braddah Iz was singing "somewhere over the rainbow" through the sound system and I was as misty as the Tuscan Valley.
It was another hour ride on the commuter train. The gentle jostling of the ride lulled me to sleep and I awoke to su noshing, warmth, and the beautiful blue Mediterranean. The Antiche Mura is 4 stars. (THANK YOU DOUG!) A chandelier in my room? Seriously? Can I LiVE here? After unpaecking, I ventured out for food and had calamari at the Aurora Light. A young couple (he from Lebanon and she from Paris) invited me to join them and we shared an excellent bottle of wine, and I learned of their lives and travels, and compared cultural differences. Good fun!
I'd share photos here if I could figure out how to do it, but I'd rather go eat breakfast!
Ciao!

San Fedele

The wifi barely works at the 800 year old monastery so I've been writing manual notes which will be updated later. First impressions of the Tuscan  countryside is that it reminded me of Northern California wine country, which is entirely logical. After a day, I thought California is,   Basically a cheap knockoff of Tuscany in general. Hiked eArly yesterday morning to the nearby village of Vagliglia (sp?) serenaded by dawn chorus and surrounded be the sweetest air. Fog clung to the low lying areas and spring wildflowers in bloom.  Wild radish, mustard, lupine, poppies, Queen Anne's lace and more. A doe bounded along in front of me on the narrow winding dirt road. At the village, lilacs spilling over a fence beneath  tangle of olive branches, framed by wild red country roses. Saw wild boar tracks in the mud down by the smllish lake, its rippled surface pink with the dawn. The start of another beautiful day.

Quick conclusion

It's been approximately 24 hours since I've arrived in Firenze, and to be brief, I have this sinking feeling that I was born in the wrong country, had the wrong education, speak the wrong language, and have never truly eaten real food in my life. To be surrounded by such beauty and antiquity and, well, civilization, it is like being born again. Okay, no "renaissance" puns intended. I am overwhelmed by everything. The people, the art, the gelato -
This morning, after an excellent breakfast included with my hotel room (everything prepared beautifully and perfectly, berry tarts, frittata, sliced Italian meats, fresh juices, spiced apples, and coffee ohhhh the coffee!) I meandered toward the Arno river. Turning the corner and seeing Brunelleschi's duomo, well, I hate to admit this, but I cried from "beauty overload " if there is such a thing--taking it all it was overload...the facade, campanile, duomo with the sun coming up behind it...
I continued my trek toward the Arno, the throngs of tourists building as I went. It is like a carnival --so many people from everywhere imaginable, and they are all enjoying this party called "life."
I had chicken skin walking around piazza Della signoria..thinking of the bonfires, and Savonarola.
Tasted more gelato at Mario's, in my quest for the best. And time for another nap.