If ever you go to Tuscany I very highly recommend you plan on staying at La Selvella.
We really didn't want to leave but we had a 2pm bus to catch and check out was at 1030. Breakfast was from 8am to 10am but we were praying we would still be able to have a coffee. We put our bags outside and scrambled down the steps to the dining room.
I walked in and Marina revealed a huge breakfast on our table. She even baked gluten free bread and a biscuit just for me. She offered us eggs and bacon and of course we said yes. We had an amazing cappucino... actually I had two. The entire time we were there, the dining room fire was burning and the 3 dogs were gathered around our table. We expresssed the utmost gratitude and Marina hugged us both when we left. We had already been promised a ride to Radicofani by Marina. She volunteered her husband Giuseppe to drive us the 5kms into town to catch our 2pm bus. Instead he drove us up the steep hills and gave us the grand tour.
It was very foggy and visibility was poor but we could still see the tower peeking through the clouds at the top of the mountain. He circled the town twice and then parked in the center. He let us store our bags in a small property in town that he also owned. He instructed us to hide the key and enjoy the town.
We wanted to and we tried to but Julie and I got seperated and the medieval town became like a maze. It's an absolutely gorgeous town and I will definitely return here to spend at least an overnight.
We found each other and then went to retrieve our bags, hide the key and find the bus stop. We killed an hour with our phones in hand. I was playing with a cat and photographing random things to pass time in the cold.
Just before 2, a whole bunch of pilgrims showed up for the magic bus ride to Chuisi Terme. Julie wanted to get on last so she could talk to the driver and ask him about our route. I stayed behind Jules and let her do the talking. After a few quick words, Jules looks back at me and says "ok, we're good". We couldn't buy tickets on board but he was letting us ride for free. I followed her on board and just as my pack cleared the door, it closed and the bus started to move. It didn't slowly crawl away, the driver basically floored it. Most passengers had time to make it to a seat but not us. Julie had put one of her bags down on a seat in the 2nd row but still had her monster pack on her back. The monster weighs easily 35 or more pounds. The aisle was narrow and again Julie's legs were not listening to her brain. I just wanted to get passed her to get to a seat and safety but could not move. There were people in the first couple of rows and the rest of the bus had a perfect view of the show about to unfold. There was a step up to each row of seats and handles at the top of each seat that I was holding on to with a death grip. Keep in mind we were at the top of a mountain with the road bending every 50 feet. The bus driver clearly fantasized about being Mario Andretti as a child and was now accelerating at a ridiculous speed. Julie managed to get one leg up but was laughing and losing strength quickly. She put her head down thinking this will somehow create enough space for me to pass but instead gets herself wedged in her row. It was tempting to just push her into the open seat head first but I knew for certain if I did that she would still be stuck there today. So without letting go of my grip on the seat, I put my extra bag down and used my free hand to help her. We are still facing the back of the bus, the top part of her is in the seat but her butt and legs are still blocking the aisle. Neither of us has stopped laughing and I am trying to somehow squeeze myself passed her. I was still wearing my backpack and as a result was not very agile. I'm not sure how I managed to get passed her without hurting anyone but I did. When I got to an open row I turned to look at Jules and she had released the monster but was still twisted up like a pretzel. I was still laughing as I tried to wedge myself into a seat. I decided it would be best not to release my backpack but just sit with it on. The problem with that was I had to do a plié squat to slide into the space sideways as my girth was triple that of the average human. My legs were bent and one knee pointed west and the other pointed east. The good part was that I was so tightly wedged between two seats that I didn't need a seat belt. My face was so close to the kid's head in front of me that if he turned around we could probably kiss. I looked over at Julie (because the only part of me I can move now is my head). She was sitting to my right and one row ahead of me and was finally sitting upright holding on to the seat in front of her with two hands. She turned to me and with the excitement of a small child she said, "Look, I feel like I'm driving the bus".
Not sure if it was the heat and stale bus air full of teenagers and pilgrims, the laughing or the stricture of my mid section or perhaps the twisting mountain roads but I was starting to feel nauseous.
I don't get motion sickness ever but all I could think of was my friend Taya back home and how she would have either died or killed me if she was with us on that bus.
It was a 20 minute ride spent trying to keep my huge farm fresh breakfast inside my body.
Luckily when we stopped to transfer to another bus, the fresh air did wonders of good. Julie had removed her backpack on the bus so now she struggled with her luggage. She asked for help putting her backpack back on and let me remind you, this is a two man job. I helped her lift it on to her back but used too much force and it swung around to the other side of her hunched over body. This sent me again into a fit of laughter. Julie's head spun around like a scene from the Exorcist and with daggers shooting out of her eyes, she said to me, "I guess that was alot funnier for you".
Before I could respond the second bus arrived. It was a city bus so it had more room for movement and was an even shorter ride to the train station. The other pilgrims disappeared as soon as we arrived and Julie was wondering if we should buy tickets. I questioned her and said "for what? That ride?" Sweet Julie just wanted to do the right thing. So we entered the station and within 30 seconds we were approached by two police officers and they demanded to see our passports. So I said to Julie, "it's because we didn't pay for the bus... Ask him why" So she questioned him and he said it was a standard security practice. Seemed invasive to me but I'm a good girl (mostly) and had done nothing wrong. We got our passports back and started the very short stroll to our next hotel. I looked over at Julie as we walked.
She had one pack on her front and the monster on her back and a bag in one hand with her hiking boots that she curses at daily. It was a comical scene and I took pictures and video taped her and was laughing. She was smiling but it could of been because she was plotting my untimely death.
We arrived at our place and though we had to climb 8000 stairs, we were happy to have a balcony, fresh air and nothing but time to chill. I had some wine and did some writing and Julie relaxed scrolling on her phone. We decided to go for a walk and start looking for a place to eat. We saw a carnival type ride at the end of the street and went to check it out.
There was a bouncy castle for the little ones and all the teens were on the spinning swings or as Julie remembers it " La Giostra". She told me stories from her youth as she watched the teens here. I could see in her eyes she was lost in her memories. It was sweet and heartwarming.
We later found a restaurant near the train station and had a steak dinner with wine and chatted until we were ready to retire.
Unfortunately the bed feels like a marble slab and as I tried to get comfortable all I could hear was Julie muttering "horrible, these pillows are horrible" and she was punching them into submission. They must have conceded because the room fell silent.
Tomorrow..... ROME!
Buona Notte! xx
No comments:
Post a Comment