Hello, tutti mios amiccos...    Va bene?
Yesterday we left Frascati with a little bit of a sad heart. I know I'll be back, but my friend, Paco, probably not.   I neglected to confirm the train schedule,  so the train that we were supposed to take wasn't available on Saturday. This meant we would not make the train to Arezzo.  We spent two hours at the train station. The good part of all this was that the couple who ended up with us was from Germany,  in their twenties and were so adorable, we had the best time with them. They even helped put our luggage into the train.   In any case, we shared a lovely few hours.   We hope they made it to their plane on time to make their flight.
Okay, so we make it to the train station in Rome. I get our tickets changed to the next train.   We have a lot of luggage and a man offers to help us. I said yes, and he took the bags.All is well. He put the bags in the compartment and I tipped him and he left. The problem was that I had told Paco to get some change for the tip. I tried to intercept him, but was too late. In any case, these two women got on and I didn't notice that they had followed me to the compartment. To make a long story short, they came into the compartment and created such a raucous that I lost it!  They kept say that I was in the wrong seat, and that her husband and her baby were coming and they wanted to seat all together. I moved to the seat they wanted me to be.  Needles to say, they were gypsies at work.   The authorities really tell you that you can get ripped off....to be careful.   Soon afterwards, one of them comes in with one of my wallets,  and asks if it's mine. Of course, it's mine. I don't know how on earth she got it right under my nose. Except for the fact that the wallet had no money or anything of real importance, except for paperwork. I feel like she didn't think it was worth it, so she returned it. Well, her husband and her baby never showed up, so Paco and I were totally apalled.  But, we made it to Arezzzo just fine, three hours later.   We took a cab to the hotel and that's when another adventure began.
The hotel is beautiful, very sleek and very modern.  Our bathroom is all green marble with that sort of opaque glass all over that lets in the light but you can't see through it.   Glass sink, glass door, glass everywhere.  Our beds are very comfortable and bigger than a crib-size twin bed.... great pillows.  Good sized flat tv and more than you could ever need... so no complaints.  The only problem is that it's a little bit out of the center of town.  Still, the comfort is worth it.  The first night we were here, I slept 7 hours straight.  That's a miracle for me.  Last night was a different story.... I need to go to sleep before Paco because his snoring will keep me from sleeping....   you get it, right married ladies?     Or boyfriend-having ladies?  The first night, Sunday, we had dinner here.... it was superb.  I always hear that hotel food is not worth it but this is certainly the exception.  Paco had linguine with seafood, and I had a duck breast with pate de fois gras.  It was absolutely to die for.....  
Sunday, November 10.   We went out  hoping to find the Historic Center of Azarro.  First we found, wind, and then rain, and then an absolute downpour.  Nobody caqn say that I am a WUSS, because I held up the whole way.  The umbrellas would turn inside out from the wind.  It was really something.   We both got soaking wet and it was really, really cold.  I guess winter has finally arrived in Tuscany.  We sought refuge in a small supermarket and decided to call a cab to make it the rest of the way.    Great idea!  Back at the hotel, with a glass of wine in hand, we watched the Federer/Nadal match and a couple of doubles matches, including Bruant and Bryant (I think that's how you write it).... and settled in for the night.  It was a full day, by all means, lots more than we bargained for:  Walking time for the day:  3 hours.
We have a full buffet breakfast to start off the day and we make sandwiches for the evening, like really good Mexicans, we walk out with food for later.....Today, at breakfast we met two women from Seattle/Tacoma, Washington and they invited us for the day's outing since they have a rented car.   One of then, Danielle, is a filmmaker and one of her films was accepted for a Film  Festival in Florence last week.  Of course, they came to the showing.  They are here right now and will leave in a few days.   In the meantime, I think we're going to be hanging out together for a bit.  They are incredibly pleasant and fun, fun, fun....   Anybody who dares to drive here has got to have a lot going for them.......     We went to Old Town and walked around for hours and hours looking at all the shops and then went to the museum for Georgio Verasi's House.  It is awesome and very meaningful.   All of the paintings are symbolism and allegory-type depictions, so you really have to pay attention to the guide.  This was the house he actually lived in, married in, and did a lot of his work.  He was a true master.   We got lost going home.   Before that we stopped for lunch and we had a lovely lunch of mostly soup (it was definitely soup-time).   In the meantime, the day is dreary, windy, wet, and cold again.  Still, we plowed through and never gave up.  Tomorrow we're going to a monastery and museum and a ride in the countryside to see if we find a winery or a farmhouse where we can have a little wine and do some interesting, local lunch with local ingredients.  The farmhouse idea is very new and it's very popular.  You sign up and you actually interact and work alongside the owners in whatever they're doing:  cheese, wine, beef, olive oil, whatever....  Maybe next time......  Okay, so much for now.  Gotta do some other stuff for Pima college and then off to bed I go.....    Lots of hellos for all of you from here.
Keep on logging in.... I'll be writing in the next couple of days!!!!
Cecilia