I absolutely adore this little village that I have a day off in. Yesterday as I was walking I lost my earbuds for my iPod and of course when I wanted some peppy music to get me through the last part of the uphill...they were gone. I couldn't believe it. I searched my stuff over and over and they were gone. When I got into town, I ran into two girls I had seen on the trail, and one of them held out my earbuds. I had dropped them. I must have looked thrilled because the two of them started laughing. She didn't speak English, and I don't speak German but Thank you Thank you is universal.
There are two churches in town and neither of them seemed to have any services in them even though today is Sunday. They still had an ancient and holy atmosphere. This on is Pieve dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta.
It had very little decoration except for this center altar.
A view looking through the wall into the town square and clock tower.
The church is Chisea de Santa Maria. So when I was sitting in this square tonight having a glass of wine, I got caught up in the most interesting spectacle. I didn't know quite what to make of it but I am sure there is a lesson there somewhere. This poor young man whose legs were frozen from the waist down was using crutches to hoist himself uphill. He looked like someone in a mid-squat exercise. All heads were turned on him but thankfully, mostly discreetly. As he neared the top of the hill and the entrance to the garden, suddenly there was a calamitous noise at the bottom of the hill. All heads turned. And a fit, able-bodied, young man fell off his bicycle with a loud crash. The crippled man sat down on a bench to watch the goings-on, surely he was glad NOT to be the center of attention. Finally, the bike-man righted himself and then pumped up his bike tire which had flattened. He then walked his bike to the top of the hill and shook hands with the crippled man, both laughing. As the crippled man made his way into the gardens, out walks four drag queens (?). One was a six-foot-eight man wearing high heels and a crown and not exactly graceful in high heels. Another one was an average sized woman (if there really is such a thing) topless, and wearing a sumo-wrestler typed diaper, showing full butt-cheeks. I decided against a second glass of wine. Just too weird!
The altar at the church.
This is a pretty serious library. Clearly, we have devalued books over the years.
The best news of all was this laundromat. Thank goodness there was an older Italian couple finishing washing a coverlet and the man showed me through many hand motions how it worked. I have enough clean clothes to last. YIPPEE!
What a wonderful night. I ate at this trattoria both nights I was here. The first night I had a thick spaghetti (imagine spaghetti the size of a straw) with tiny asparagus and fava beans. Yum! And tonight I have gnocchi with the same sauce. As much as I like gnocchi, the fat spaghetti was even better. Both nights I sat on the terrace but tonight there was a cool breeze that really felt like fall. It was magical. The only thing missing was Dennis. And the wine here is so very good but I am in the heart of Tuscany!
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