Torre del Tartufo, Part 2, Day 1

Not so good Pret a Manger sandwich at Gatwick. Ketchup is never a good idea. Two children took turns screaming on the flight -- one was in the row directly behind me, kicking my seat back with gusto, the other two rows ahead. I understood after that flight how some parents lose their minds and do horrible things. The dad of the family behind me looked like he was ready to desert, and the mom wasn't much happier.

After practicing, "Vorrei un biglietto di andato e ritorno per Arezzo per favore" for two weeks, once I landed in Pisa, I got Euro from a bancomat (ATM), and then asked the nice lady at the bigliaterria, "Can I get a ticket to Arezzo? Round trip?" In English. Sigh.

I took the train from the airport to the central station, then from the Pisa central station to Florence, then to Arezzo, and I'm kind of proud to say that I figured it out with my Berlitz phrase books. God bless Berlitz. I did manage to say, "Vorrei andare a Torre del Tartufo, per favore" to my taxi driver in Arezzo ("I'd like to go to Torre del Tartufo, please") fairly successfully.

I forgot about the last bit of the journey to Torre del Tartufo -- it's a glorified, partially-paved hiking trail, and I tried to keep the taxi on the path with my thigh muscles (they're there, buried under the fat). I got a glimpse of the bridge that Sarah took a chunk out of last year, and then got a reminder of just how far you have to go to get here. It's heaven, and it feels like home.

Barbara Helmer, the manager gave me a HUGE hug upon arrival, and took me to see Franco and Simonetta (Oana arrives Tuesday). Fellow students are Glen and Linda, from Vancouver, who recently sold their interest in their trucking business, and are spending a year traveling the world; Michael and Carolyn, who are an opthalmologist and orthopedic surgeon, respectively, from Belfast (they don't know Sarah); Kristin, from SF, and Claire, from NYC, who have been friends since college -- Kristin does ad sales for Google, and Claire works for Morgan Lewis in NYC; and Elena, who is from Santa Barbara. Seems like a great group, and I'm looking forward to the week.

Had too much to drink before, during, and after dinner, but did want to capture as much as possible. Dana stayed in the same room I'm staying in, and she left me a very sweet note and gift -- classic Dana Greatman. Seems like she had a fabulous time, which makes me so happy. Italy soothes the soul, or at least soothes my soul, and I'm relieved that she had a similar experience.

It struck me on the train that if I had all the money in the world, I'd spend it becoming fluent in Korean, Italian, German, and Mandarin. For reals. I need to find a way to make that happen, but in the meantime, I'm so happy to be ensconced in my room in the tower. Pictures and video coming soon. Buona notte!