Recalculating...
PREFACE: This entry is comical and fun but just know that there is some profanity in it. From Tuesday, May 17th. Love!
I don't know if any of you know about these amazing invention but it's an Italian bread and it's known as Scachotta (sp?)...
And it's amazing.
Did I say it was amazing? Because by amazing, I mean, freaking incredible.
Salty and crunchy with just enough olive oil mixed in, it can only be found in Tuscany. So, after Chris and I rented a car and drove out of Florence this morning...
Wait. Before bread talk, I must talk about driving. Forgive me, but I just enjoyed a midnight snack of this splendiferous bread and a travel size Nutella.
So, we rented a car to drive OUT of Florence. And you know what you have to do to drive out of Florence? Drive IN Florence.
Holy. Shit.
I love that in their day to day lives, business and pleasure, Italians are not ones for efficency. Although it was a little harder for me to adhere to this way of life when we first arrived (being used my insane schedule in New York of gogogo and rarly stopping) it's actually something I've welcomed and fallen in love with while Chris and I are on this vacation. In the last week and a half, I very rarely think about the time or the internet and never about the tv. I am able to take each day and each moment as it comes and if we don't get somewhere right on time, the worse that will happen is that we won't make it. No wonder people who live in Italy live longer.
Yeah, well NONE of the above paragraph is true for when driving in Italy. Not even a little bit. I don't know why the same mindset does not apply to driving but dear God, these people drive insane and they drive fast. I've been to Paris and London and I remember driving with my family, half fearing for my young life.
This time, both Chris and I were 100% fearing for our lives.
Italian drivers do about the opposite of everything that we Americans are taught. Surrounding drivers dart in and out of lanes. They speed up for a curve and will pass you on a blind spot. Vespas play a game of cat and mouse with each other and passing cars while pedestrians NEVER look before they cross and even if they do look, they walk into the ongoing traffic anyway.
ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
Oh yeah. So we drove through that. Luckily, Chris knows how to drive a stick (although learning to driving a diesel was a little rough in the beginning) and after a few attempts and a few squeals, screams and screechs (both from the car and us...) we finally made it out of Florence.
I may have said a prayer thanking God.
But the pay off for getting out of Florence was amazing. My goodness, the views we saw-again, no picture does justice. And if there's one thing I wish I could bring home with me, it would be the smells of Italy. The food, the plants, the countryside, even the city, it's all so intoxicating to me. I wish flowers here could stay fresh long enough to bring home. Or better yet, at a souvenir shop they had created jars that contained "The Smells of Italy" and I could be brought back here with just one smell anytime I wanted.
We drove around for a few hours. Stopping for pictures. Stopping for lunch at an adorable wi-fi cafe where Chris and I agreed that it was the best pizza we have had on our trip thus far. Then we finally get to Siena. Siena, not as large of a city as Florence but still a pretty good size, is set, obviously, in the mountains. And that means, even though we had a GPS to get us to the hotel, the hair pin turns and alley ways and confusing Italian road signs makes it one hell of a trip.
Again.
Just to paint a picture: I would tell Chris where to go and then of course the GPS, with a mind of it's own and it wanting to change it's mind on a whim, would say everyone's dreaded words from such a device, "Recalculating" in that mocking female smoker voice. And at the same time, almost everytime, Chris and I would throw our fists up in the air, to beat them on the car and simply yell in unison,
"FUCK!"
Yep. That happened more than once...
Long story short, we finally made it to our little hotel. It's very cute but not either of our favorite place that we've stayed. But it has a bed, a roof over my head, breakfast in the morning and when I sit outside, I get wi-fi. Not to mention, if I were on my own, I'd be staying in a hostile...
Tonight, we walked downtown Siena. We saw Piazza del Campo where the annual (crazy ass) horse race known as the Palio is held twice a year. We had dinner with zucchini flowers (we're now obsessed with this vegetable and the way they prepare it here) and Chris had risotto while I had an awesome eggplant ravioli. And then, as everyone's tradition who at least visits Italy, we got gelato and wandered the neighborhood streets that reminded me somewhat of Astoria.
We're only here for a night and tomorrow we don't really know what we're doing. We may just drive the countryside and stay with our new girlfriends, Wanda and Jenny right out of Siena. Or we may just drive until we find somewhere we want to stay. We shall see.
Whatever it is or wherever we go, as always, it'll be one awesome adventure.
Ciao ciao ciao! (And yes, they really do say that. ;))
Love love,
Adrienne
I don't know if any of you know about these amazing invention but it's an Italian bread and it's known as Scachotta (sp?)...
And it's amazing.
Did I say it was amazing? Because by amazing, I mean, freaking incredible.
Salty and crunchy with just enough olive oil mixed in, it can only be found in Tuscany. So, after Chris and I rented a car and drove out of Florence this morning...
Wait. Before bread talk, I must talk about driving. Forgive me, but I just enjoyed a midnight snack of this splendiferous bread and a travel size Nutella.
So, we rented a car to drive OUT of Florence. And you know what you have to do to drive out of Florence? Drive IN Florence.
Holy. Shit.
I love that in their day to day lives, business and pleasure, Italians are not ones for efficency. Although it was a little harder for me to adhere to this way of life when we first arrived (being used my insane schedule in New York of gogogo and rarly stopping) it's actually something I've welcomed and fallen in love with while Chris and I are on this vacation. In the last week and a half, I very rarely think about the time or the internet and never about the tv. I am able to take each day and each moment as it comes and if we don't get somewhere right on time, the worse that will happen is that we won't make it. No wonder people who live in Italy live longer.
Yeah, well NONE of the above paragraph is true for when driving in Italy. Not even a little bit. I don't know why the same mindset does not apply to driving but dear God, these people drive insane and they drive fast. I've been to Paris and London and I remember driving with my family, half fearing for my young life.
This time, both Chris and I were 100% fearing for our lives.
Italian drivers do about the opposite of everything that we Americans are taught. Surrounding drivers dart in and out of lanes. They speed up for a curve and will pass you on a blind spot. Vespas play a game of cat and mouse with each other and passing cars while pedestrians NEVER look before they cross and even if they do look, they walk into the ongoing traffic anyway.
ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
Oh yeah. So we drove through that. Luckily, Chris knows how to drive a stick (although learning to driving a diesel was a little rough in the beginning) and after a few attempts and a few squeals, screams and screechs (both from the car and us...) we finally made it out of Florence.
I may have said a prayer thanking God.
But the pay off for getting out of Florence was amazing. My goodness, the views we saw-again, no picture does justice. And if there's one thing I wish I could bring home with me, it would be the smells of Italy. The food, the plants, the countryside, even the city, it's all so intoxicating to me. I wish flowers here could stay fresh long enough to bring home. Or better yet, at a souvenir shop they had created jars that contained "The Smells of Italy" and I could be brought back here with just one smell anytime I wanted.
We drove around for a few hours. Stopping for pictures. Stopping for lunch at an adorable wi-fi cafe where Chris and I agreed that it was the best pizza we have had on our trip thus far. Then we finally get to Siena. Siena, not as large of a city as Florence but still a pretty good size, is set, obviously, in the mountains. And that means, even though we had a GPS to get us to the hotel, the hair pin turns and alley ways and confusing Italian road signs makes it one hell of a trip.
Again.
Just to paint a picture: I would tell Chris where to go and then of course the GPS, with a mind of it's own and it wanting to change it's mind on a whim, would say everyone's dreaded words from such a device, "Recalculating" in that mocking female smoker voice. And at the same time, almost everytime, Chris and I would throw our fists up in the air, to beat them on the car and simply yell in unison,
"FUCK!"
Yep. That happened more than once...
Long story short, we finally made it to our little hotel. It's very cute but not either of our favorite place that we've stayed. But it has a bed, a roof over my head, breakfast in the morning and when I sit outside, I get wi-fi. Not to mention, if I were on my own, I'd be staying in a hostile...
Tonight, we walked downtown Siena. We saw Piazza del Campo where the annual (crazy ass) horse race known as the Palio is held twice a year. We had dinner with zucchini flowers (we're now obsessed with this vegetable and the way they prepare it here) and Chris had risotto while I had an awesome eggplant ravioli. And then, as everyone's tradition who at least visits Italy, we got gelato and wandered the neighborhood streets that reminded me somewhat of Astoria.
We're only here for a night and tomorrow we don't really know what we're doing. We may just drive the countryside and stay with our new girlfriends, Wanda and Jenny right out of Siena. Or we may just drive until we find somewhere we want to stay. We shall see.
Whatever it is or wherever we go, as always, it'll be one awesome adventure.
Ciao ciao ciao! (And yes, they really do say that. ;))
Love love,
Adrienne
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