an adventure

Ciao bellas!
one morning as we were driving off in our van, Brain said: "Don Quixote and his faithful companion Sancho Panchez set out on something which if not an adventure, was uncommonly like one." I love that, and that's how it feels every morning as we pile into the van for yet another day in Italy. First thing we like to do (some a little more desperately than others) is find a place for coffee. Then with someone reading a map, someone else watching signs, Brain at the helm off we go. I'm the other driver, which is rather limiting...the other day just the girls came into town for groceries and email and I took a wrong turn down way too narrow streets and of course right into the town square with all the local old fellows watching as i lurched along (its a standard)and 'exclaimed' that sh..this is exactly where i did not want to be!!! but with some laughs and encouragement we made it out ok.
Just got back form Sienna, we leave at 8:00ish and get back 7:00ish, Ray is making supper, mike a fire and Brian drinking many well deserved drinks! Sienna is a city built on many many levels of other cities. one medieval honkin' church built on yet another older medieval church and so on. Great museums, but I said to Mike that I cannot look at one more dying Jesus in Mary's arms or one more fat cherub with little privates!! (no offense anyone).
Italians have a very different sense of store openings... we are never sure when anything is open for fear that it is a holiday, a Monday, a weekend, a Tuesday, the hours between 12:30 and 4:30, between 2 and 5 except on the third Sunday of the month or on days with even amount of letters, or year that end in...you get the idea.
Judy had finished getting groceries that Ray needs for his creation so gotta go.
ciao ciao
Francesca Luisa Maria Donatello (Laurie)

Sienna

Okay, so here we are in Sienna. The Duomo(which is under repair) and about six other places, had Ray and I exhausted, so we took a nap in the shade on a ledge. That's all I have to say, except the gelato is good here. A more intelligent post to follow, hopefully.

Monday II

I haven't learned much Italian, but I'm getting better at the Roman numerals on everything. Had to think waaay back to grade school for that info. Your comments have been highly entertaining-almost worth going to Italy for. Keep up the good work. Brian is at home now drinking wine after a grueling day of driving the straight-up hairpin roads.Joanne is shopping for supper,Laurie and I are glogging, Ray says he and Brian and Mike are going to drink wine and then try to fix the door of the rental van which seems to have gone off its rails.

In Tuscany

Buon Gioro from Tuscany. Brian got us here safely in our mini bus on Saturday. We can't even stand it, the countryside it so awesome.

The house we are staying in is just beautiful. I am going to take pictures of every room. The first night, we had a fire, and Judy made supper. We just walked around and admired the beauty of the place.Yesterday, we went to a freezing small church in our town for Mass. Then we went into the closeby town, and Brian and I walked back, about 5 km. I bet I took 100 pictures on the way. In the afternoon, we napped and then all of us went for a drive. Our hosts, Annunziata and Mario invited us all for a Tuscan supper last night. It was amazing. We had bread with liver pate when we got there ( and Mario's wine of course), homemade ravioli with tomatoes and meat, chicken scallopini, lamb, artichokes prepared two ways, asparagus, salad, bread, I can't remember if anything else. It was amazing. Oh yeah, 2 desserts. Certainly the best meal we have had. They were wonderful hosts, but they don't speak English and Brian was pretty tired translating the whole night. Mario is interesting, He loves to 'touch' if you get my drift, and asked us all if we 'slept in love' the first night we were there. Brian told him that we don't talk about those things in Canada.

Today, we are at San Gimingnano, where Brian and I stayed before. I found this internet place and now I am going shopping. We are in bigger centers most days this week. I'll try to stay in touch.

Judy is sick and I feel bad for her. We are all sleeping well, from exhaustion, I think (oh yeah, and for some, the wine). But it's a long time to be away from home and on the go and we are all starting to miss the families, especially those babies.

Beautiful Tuscany

So wonderful. Everything you think Tuscany would be like times ten.Tonight we are invited to the home of the people who own our 'villa' for a lamb supper. Olive groves and vineyards and the beautiful ochre houses...Ray and I feel as if we are living in a calendar.

Fr Richard

So this morning we walked to the Oblate house to tour it and visit our friend Fr.Richard Wolak, who we met in Saskatoon.He is a lovely man, and the perfect host, and we wandered through the beautiful and peaceful house and grounds with pleasure. It was the first time I had picked an orange off a tree and eaten it. It was the perfect orange flavour,as far as I was concerned, and it smelled sooo good. I picked a lemon too and brought it home with me. I just like to smell it-wonderful. We had lunch with the oblates too, in their dining room. Wow! A feast-pasta and grilled and breaded egg plant and zucchini and tomatoes, and risotto, and pork, and sausages, and a cheese platter and breads, and a salad counter with more veggies, grilled or salad.So good. Wine on the tables, and then we had champagne for someone's birthday. Then a visit in the rec room in big comfy chairs, and wonderful conversations with a few of the men there. So hospitable and kind. We walked home, and I went to bed. Not feeling great,I have a cold. Tomorrow we head to Tuscany. I can hardly believe how lucky we are.

Friday aready

Yesterday was a trip to St.Agnes and the catacombs containing her body. She died when she was twelve, defending her vitue,as they say. Google it,it's a great story. Anyway, her body is entombed under the altar of the church, and we walked through the creepy, narrow tunnel that was ,not a hiding place for Christians, like on the movies, but burial places for the believers.There's another Google project for you.In the afternoon Ray and I went to the church St.John Lateran, the Pope's home church in Rome. Beautiful beyond words.The pipe organ had been played by Handel. The next place we went was St. Peter in Chains, the church with the chains that held Peter. They are on display in a glass box. I lit a candle for you,Peter Hudec, and your family there. Got to go. More later