inside the fireplace) and a huge marble table, and a kitchen with a big picnic table and benches and a small corner fireplace sitting up on a brick counter in the corner. Tuscany, 2004 Photos by Eiji, Blair, Janet, Christine, Shawn and Becca Journal by Shawn Tuesday−Wednesday, 18−19 May 2004 Madison dropped us off at Logan Airport and we spent the night in flight, along with Jane and Eiji, our benefactors who gifted us with this trip. Airplane seats We picked a little at the snacks left for us by Untours were designed by the Marquis de Sade, I’m thinking. —very fresh fruits and vegetables and nice cookies We got our first official passport stamps (yay!) going and crackers. Plenty of other food in the fridge and through Germany customs in Munich. Italian security cabinets to get us through our settling-in period. in Florence (Firenze) was very lax—evidently intra- Europe travel has become more akin to our state-to- Janet and I wandered around the building, marveling state flights. But we were disappointed because we at the trees and bushes growing right out of the walls couldn’t get an Italy stamp in our passports. Harriet of Untours was there to greet us. It was sunny and on the hot side—but that was fine with the natives as it had been raining for almost two and a half months. She put us on a bus and off we went to Siena to pick up our rental cars, whereupon we wagon- trained off to Buonconvento and up the hill outside of town to Pieve di Piana, an eighth-century fortified monastery—our home for the next two weeks. (a fig tree grows out of wall just below our kitchen window). Lots of pigeons, and a resident falcon. The surrounding countryside is a beautiful series of rolling hills of green fields and tree-lined ridges, dotted with villas and little towns here and there on the higher Our quarters were where the Church bigwigs stayed hills. in their days of civil unrest, with modern conve- niences. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room An old man drove up and asked (in French, not with wood-burning stove, dining room with sit-in Italian) why we were taking a picture of a tree stump fireplace (no kidding—it even had a bench to sit on in the wall. I replied to the effect that we found it —1— interesting and beautiful. Turns out he was the care- tombstones were interesting—many had photos, all taker, and he promptly invited us on a more thorough had plastic flowers and little electric lights. We were look over the place. He opened the chapel and ushered later to see how wonderful it looked at night, softly usin... glowing. We thanked him and went on back to finish unpacking and doing all those little exploratory things folks do when checking out a new place, then we headed off to town (Buonconvento) for dinner at Ristorante di Mario. It was Eiji’s birthday feast. We ordered a sort of smorgasbord of dishes and shared around the table. I fell in love with the bean and barley soup. There was also Siena spaghetti (fat noodles), guinea fowl, and several other dishes I forget the names of now. This was our first introduction to the most stunning aspect of Italy—relatively non-descript buildings com- monly house artifacts a thousand or more years old. The great sense of age, of timelessness, and the knowledge that a hundred generations have lived in even the most common hovel—a hush settles on your soul and a newfound appreciation of life’s impor- tances settles softly with it... Anyway, back to the chapel. You enter from a side door accessed by first entering a courtyard. My French was horribly rusty, but the gentleman was gracious The coolest present was a side-lit kaleidoscope. Eiji and patiently explained that the frescos on the walls and his daughters Becca and Christine regaled us with dated from the thirteenth century and that the altar stories of presents they’d received as kids—a helicop- was the original from the eighth century. He pointed ter from Dallas, a koala bear from ″not-Australia.″ to a clearly modern crucifix and with a very apologetic air proclaimed it to be ″of present time.″ A group of travelers from Norway filled a nearby table and they sang a second round of happy birthday for Then he showed us through the walled cemetery, Eiji while we were dining, which was really nice. Somewhere between the restaurant and the cars, Tim lost a contact, but the kids didn’t have any luck finding it in the dark. So off for home(!) and bed at 11:00—all of us completely pooped. And we have bats! Our ″apartment″ has a courtyard and several bats silently flash by in the courtyard light in the evening, playing ring around the rosy with the big pine tree outside the gate that hangs over half the courtyard. They are incredibly acrobatic in flight and they can go past your head less than a foot away and you never hear them. How cool is that!? Thursday, 20 May 2004 pointing out where his father and grandfather were I was the last out of bed at 9 a.m. (this was not to be an both buried. Beautiful rose bushes grew down both unusual occurrence during our stay) having slept like sides of the central lane, and along all four walls. The a brick. Another gorgeous day. Topic of conversation —2— around the breakfast table favored ″how dark the night″ and ″how cold the morning.″ Having slept so late, I had nothing to contribute there... A lazy morning. There are lots of chameleon lizards playing tag on the courtyard walls. We humans are feeling content—great sighs, spontaneous dance steps, singing and whistling back to the birds... After lunch Blair and gang chased us all the way back through town and up to the Pieve, trying to give us the key because they wanted to stay in town and do some shopping. Key finally delivered, off they went. We entered to find the washing machine had left us a little surprise and there was no mop to be found, so set about cleanup with a towel and bucket. Kitchen floor very clean now. Headed over to the Untours orientation meeting at Fattoria Pieva a Salti, a working farm/restaurant, evidently famed for its dishes of wild boar. We just had coffee and biscuits out in their ballroom building while Harriett explained about the dos-and-donts, local laws, etc.—helpful, but soon boring what with all the questions asked about stuff she’d already covered. We slipped out to wander the country and hang out at the beautiful pool. Finally, siesta time. Absolutely perfect snoozing tem- perature with breezes in the courtyard. Have fallen in love with sandals, but snoozing with bare feet on the cool bricks is bliss. Janet and I took a two-hour stroll completely around the monastery on the dirt roads, made a quick dash to town for paper supplies since dinner was not immi- nent—everybody was back and sound asleep, and Jane and Eiji were contentedly reading in the living room. Becca and Tim prepared a wonderful dinner of baby potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus. During preps, Then up to the restaurant for lunch. Harriet joined our we were all congregated about the kitchen tables, so troop and Blair picked her brains for local details. The we made plans for a trip to Siena bright and early the food was excellent—small ziti with alfredo sauce, their next morning. Tim and Becca are planning to spend a own organic veal and a delicious fruit cup with couple of days in Assisi in a few days, so we also hope strawberries, kiwi, apples, pears and blood oranges. to arrange a horseback ride when they return. —3— I found it impossible to grasp the sheer volume of sculptures, frescos, tile mosaics and paintings, both inside and out. Mostly white marble, it really stands out in the otherwise rose and terra cotta brick colors of the rest of the city. The library with its magnificent illustrated music manuscripts (they’re called ″minia- tures,″ which is ironic because they are quite large) After a few hours of cards, we trundled off to bed. But first, Janet and I helped with Italy’s water conserva- tion efforts by showering together. So ends another perfect day... Friday, 21 May 2004 I’ve already lost track of time—didn’t know what day of the week today was and had to ask. We all got up bright and early—well, early anyway—and journeyed out to the ancient (medieval) city of Siena. Il Duomo was our first and most amazing stop. It is a huge cathedral and it is considered to be the finest example of Gothic architecture in all of Europe. were particularly impressive to me, as were the seven sacred fields of study carousel sculpture. But every- where you look there is something beautiful to rest your eyes upon. It’s a bit overwhelming—I figure it would take many visits to fully absorb—and I exited a bit earlier than the rest of the gang and hung out with Eiji across the piazza, just soaking in the fac¸ade and watching the jaw-dropping reactions of other visitors. —4— When the clan was finally all gathered back together Then we simply wandered around and window on the front steps of the Duomo, it was time to eat.