Home Is Where The Heart Is...: Memories Under The Tuscan Sun

The best thing about this experience; living in Italy, has been sharing it with others. Mom and Dad arrived early Friday morning and they were thrown into the lives we have been living these past 2 months. Upon their arrival, they had a quick and extensive tour of Milan and they attended a “Super Dinner” hosted by the Milan Rhinos team. It was a whirl wind adventure, but nonetheless it has been an adventure.

Mom’s birthday and day one’s itinerary was heading to Tuscany! We started our backpacking journey by walking from our apartment to Central Station at 5:30am. We hopped on the 6 am train to Florence and our backpacking began. Before I continue, here is the disclaimer; we backpacked: meaning, we wore the same jeans, no makeup, and we look pretty rough in these pictures. Since Brock and I had already been to Florence we brought Mom and Dad to all the highlights, took some pictures, and we were on our way to our next stop; Siena.

After our train ride from Florence to Siena, we did some more walking. The men with the maps and the women trailing far behind; we could have sworn we were lost, but the men assured us: “We know where we are going!” They directed us uphill, downhill, around corners, through alleyways, across construction, all on our search for the quaint town of Siena’s central square (Piazza Del Campo) and every once in a while we all looked back to make sure Mom was still with us. If you haven’t realized by now, my husband has a sweet tooth. So after a quick stop for a chocolate pastry, we were ready to do some more walking! Mom and I figured, we already walked 10 miles in one day, so this little treat could do no harm.

Siena was a new adventure to all of us and it was a perfect representation of Tuscany; rolling green hills, cute villas, and acres upon acres of vineyards and olive groves. Our original plan was to stay one night in Siena, but because of its friendly beauty we arranged for just one extra night and day. Our first night there was Mom’s birthday (her 26th … times 2) and we enjoyed a true Tuscany meal. The next day we toured the towns of Chianti and San Gimignano with two stops at local wineries for schooling and wine tasting. The experience was great but was made even better by the group we toured with. Our tour guide Francesco loved his job, loved wine, and loved to laugh “more or less”. He entertained his tour bus of 8 and he truly showed us the warm hospitality Tuscany had to offer. The tour was made even better by the people who were with us. We were joined by a brother (a brand new doctor) and sister (the fashion student from Milan) from Tel Aviv, Israel, a young married couple, both doctors (third generation Londoners from India), and us, Brock (Hershey, PA), my dad the engineer, my mom the 100% Italian/ New Yorker, and me, the teacher from Florida. After a few stops at the wineries and some shared jokes, we became instant friends, and even discussed possible solutions for the problems of the world. After all, if all of us got along as diverse as we all were, why can’t the rest of the world.

“All aboard, next stop, Pisa.” We were excited to go to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower with my Dad, the engineer. It was supposed to be a quick stop: see the tower, take a few pictures, grab a pizza in Pisa (my husband’s idea), and leave. It didn’t go as planned. We didn’t make it off the train and into the town without being escorted to the Polizia Station…we were in big trouble. Basically, to make a long story short, we did what we were told to do, according to the train’s Ticket Office, but the Train Guard did not agree and he wanted to charge us an outrageous fine. We tried to communicate the misunderstanding but stating it simply he was a jerk. He took our tickets and waited for us at the next stop and brought us to the Police. It got very heated and tense and they were going to confiscate our Passports. The communication was very difficult due to the language barrier but we tried our hardest to speak Italian and listen. And with my little Italian...I knew we were in big trouble! Especially when one of the Police officer yelled..."BASTA Signora! Pagar (pay) or... something else I did not quite understand. But it was to the extent of “ STOP LADY! PAY OR WE TAKE YOUR PASSPORT!” At this point, when it started off with 1 Police Officer and the Train Guard, the room was now filled with 3 Police Officers and 1 standing guard at the door. At this point, when we realized it was getting out of hand and they just wanted the money, Mom became the negotiator and we paid (half of the original fine, way to go Mom!) As we left, I cried from being so overwhelmed, Dad was MAD, Brock was beyond MAD and now upset that I was crying, and Mom just laughed in relief, “It’s just a part of the adventure!”

Pisa our quick stop took a little longer than planned. Once we got back on the train and headed back to Milan, we laughed. “We did so good getting along and molding to this new culture, surviving, and taking care of each other, but it’s not until your parents come (your safety net) we almost get thrown into jail!” Brock just couldn’t believe all of this had happened! All in all, we walked from beginning to end; out our apartment door and back in, 40 plus miles! And Mom was still behind us as we ended our journey. Our adventures have just begun and Under the Tuscan Sun we left a lifetime of memories.