Day 76, August 5th

This morning I said goodbye to Brenden and then began my journey back to Italy.

Fucking London is so easy to get around via public transport. Italy - not so much. And the Stansted airport in London is so super nice versus the Pisa airport: tiny shit hole. Not to say I wasn't so glad to be back in Italy though. It's funny - like I bought my train ticket to Arezzo and really it's 3 trains from the Pisa airport to Arezzo. But it's just one ticket. And on the ticket it just says Pisa to Arezzo. So how the fuck are you supposed to know to take three different trains? This I don't get. I asked someone about the route and he said to take one train to Pisa Centrale, and then a second train strait to Arezzo. But I get to Pisa Centrale and on the board there is nothing for Arezzo. I mean I knew the way, so it wasn't a big deal, but I was thinking - fuck! If you didn't know....I mean it is just so confusing.

But anyway - I get back to Arezzo and Margherita met me at the train station. She took me out to her friends house about 10 minutes outside the city walls in the middle of a big vineyard. The land just goes on forever, and there is the cutest little wood cabin that her friends live in. At first it was just Margherita, me and her friend, Chiara. Margherita made her famous cous cous, I was stuffing cherry tomatoes with blue cheese, Chiara is making a vegetable tart, and we were all talking and laughing and it was so fun. We had set a cute little table for 6, but then - people just start coming. There ended up being like 20+ people packed into this house, but it was just a regular Thursday night.

Tables, chairs, extra places settings seemed to materialize out of nowhere. They opened more wine, made a little more cous cous, called someone to bring more gelato, it was the best. Then fucking Chiara's husband busts out a meat slicer - like a professional deli meat slicer - and he starts on the leg of prosciutto. Like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. Ha. Ultimately we had cous cous, melted peppers and onions, a veggie tart, a quiche, trays of prosciutto and different cheeses, stuffed tomatoes, panzella (a salad made with torn up chunks of stale bread, celery, onions and oil), hummus, crusty bread, and endless amounts of oil and wine.

Then came dessert: upside down apple cake, berry tarts, strawberries, homemade whipped cream and scoops of gelato, limoncello, sambuca. Everyone moved outside with their drinks and their cigarettes, and poured more wine and it was just the best night ever.

Day 77, August 6th

Today was pretty much the best day ever. I was staying with Margherita and I woke up and she was in the kitchen in her nightgown. It was nearly 11 and we had both just woken up. I sat on a stool at the little table and she made us some coffee. The windows were open and the weather was perfect. I could hear the church bells and we shared the last of the apple cake.

After a lazy breakfast, she went down the street to her cousins garage to work on some furniture that she is restoring. I stayed in the apartment with my laptop and then Margherita came back a bit later for lunch. She heated up tortillas in a pan coated with olive oil. Then she melted parmesan cheese on top and sprinkled it with tomatoes, arugala, and chunks of cream cheese. Holy hell it is delicious. We sliced it up and ate it like a little pizza.

A bit later I walked to Gabriel’s bar and his friend, The Lumberjack, was there - he wanted a drink that had tonic water in it, but there was no tonic water, so he took some money out of the register and went down the street to buy some. You could tell they were really good friends. I have such a good time hanging out there! Margherita came by and was on her way to meet friends in Piazza San Francesco and wanted me to come. That was super fun! It was just little plates of tapas and glasses of wine and everyone hanging outside. At one point we all started walking back to Margherita's apartment, but it was totally unspoken. Everyone congregated in her living room drinking espresso and tiny flutes of sambuca until 3 or 4 in the morning, it was such a fun night!

Day 78, August 7th

This morning Margherita and I sat in her lovely kitchen again and had breakfast. In the afternoon we went to a farmer’s market and then later on I went to the bar for dinner and such a fun time hanging out with everyone eating and drinking. Eventually I wandered home and Margherita came home soon after and I made us a pot of tea and we sat in the kitchen and talked forever, she's so funny.

Day 79, August 8th

This morning Margherita and I sat in the kitchen with our coffee and then we went to her parents house for lunch. They have a beautiful house outside the walls of Arezzo a bit into the countryside. It's a beautiful old stone house and they have a fantastic garden and trees.

There is a gigantic hedge of leaves that smell soooo good. Kind of like bay leaves, but not. But they use them to cook all the time. Also huge bushes of herbs and another gigantic hedge of tomato plants. Her mom, dad, aunt and sister are all sitting outside in the grass under the trees when we arrive and her sister Annabella is the cutest thing ever!

Lunch started with pasta in a thick mushroom sauce with olives, I still can't believe that pasta is like a first course. Then there was this amazing tart/quiche kind of thing with a flaky pastry crust filled with cheese and eggplant and lots of fresh grated nutmeg! What a great flavor. Then peas fried with pancetta, spinach and sage roasted chicken.

After lunch Margherita and I laid in our underwear outside in the sun. Then we went for a walk down their little dirt road and passed some many beautiful houses and walked through a field that leads to a little river. And this is where Margherita grew up. How awesome. We made our way back home and had coffee. Her mom doesn't speak any English so Margherita was helping us talk to each other. She showed me all these potions and oils that she makes. Each time she got up to give me some to try and I like it (which of course I like everything) she gets a little jar and gives me some to take home.

Later in the evening we headed back home, and then into the center for ice cream. Even late on a Sunday night there is so much life in the town. Later that night Margherita asked if I had any English movies on my laptop. The only one I had was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Haha. She has never watched an English movie without subtitles, but she wanted to try. It was really fun to explain stuff she didn't understand - like the joke about going from six to midnight. Ha.

Day 80, August 9th

Today was awesome. Margherita and I spent the morning hanging out and then I went to the cafe for lunch. It was the last day of my trip and I wanted to savor it. I went back home later in the afternoon and started packing, then back to the bar for a drink, and to say my goodbyes.

Then Margherita met me there and we walked down the main street to meet Annabella and go to this super cute bar/lounge to have drinks and some nibbles. We had some great wine and they had a delicious buffet set up for the bar area. We sat outside and Annabella had read about Arizona on Wikipedia so she had a bunch of funny questions. Later on we got gelato cones and walked up to Piazza Grande and took some goofy pictures.

We went back to Margheritas place and she poured us some sambuca and started making cheesecake. What a great idea! We stayed up until the early morning and then I took a little nap before I had to get up a catch my train. Best last night ever. It was a really sweet and perfect way to end my time in Europe.

Day 81, August 10th

This morning Margherita saw me off at the train station. She helped me with my bags and walked me up to the platform. I feel so grateful to have met her and spent time with her. The train ride was super smooth. I got to Termini and made the second train with only moments to spare. Then I got to Fiumicino and went up to the check in desk. My suitcase weighed EIGHTY SIX POUNDS. Hahahahahaha. Can you believe it? And like a total American I was like....well can I just pay extra?

And the lady was like yeah, no - it’s actual union law that a single bag cannot be over 32 kilos. So I either had to figure out someway to redistribute my luggage and check two bags, instead of just one. Now I understand why they sell luggage at the airport. I sat down next to the counter and had my stuff strewn everywhere all over the floor and I expertly repacked everything. I heaved the first bag back up on the scale and it was 32.2 kilos. She laughed and said she didn't think anyone would say anything about .2. And the second bag was 15 kilos. She worked the system as best she could so that I would have to pay the least amount for the excess bag charge. Needless to say - I was glad I had gotten there 3 hours early! I had just enough time to eat lunch before I boarded my plane.

It was 3 hours to Dublin, and then 7.5 hours from Dublin to JFK. Terra met me at the airport and it felt so great to be back in New York. It's a good transition back to Arizona - to spend a few weeks here first. We went back to her super cute apartment and I met her super cool and nerdy roommate, Dan. I showed Terra all the amazing things I acquired over the summer and then I put on one of my new aprons and made us something to eat. I’m so excited to be able to spend this time here with a free place to stay with a friend!

One More Week in Arezzo, Then Back Home {solo summer travels 2010}