Woke up late this morning and watched the clouds, literally outside my window, lift and dissipate in slow motion. It’s a good day to stay home, read and take care of a few things. I went downstairs but the house was uncharacteristically dark. Perhaps Stella, an early riser, overslept, too? I waited about an hour and then opened the doors and windows (all locked from the inside) so that Arminda, her housekeeper, could get in. Stella heard me and joined me for breakfast. She gave me a momentary scare.
One thing that surprised me about yesterday was how crowded the train station was. It was packed FULL of tourists with their oversized suitcases and local students with their oversized backpacks. A pickpocketer’s dream. It was very difficult to move around and I lost Stella several times before we made it out of the station together. I asked Claudia if there was a special reason for there to be so many people, a Taylor Swift concert or something. She said it’s always like this. Oh Lordie, going to Mantova on Oct 18th is going to be a nightmare as I have been told that I will have to change trains at least 3 times. If all three stations are this crowded? Or worse, if there is a strike that day? oi.
Giorgio to the rescue, my Knight in Shining Armor. Uncannily intuitive, he texted me late yesterday that he wanted to come all the way to Pietrabuona to pick me up. We had originally talked about meeting halfway on the autostrada if a cousin could drop me off, say, in Bologna so he would only have to drive 1-1/2 hours one way. Or less considering how he drives. But he is taking the day off from work anyway and to him it’s not a 6 hour round trip but “un giro” a pleasant little trip. I texted him that he is a gentleman. He texted me back: and you are Franca. God bless him! So he’ll arrive here around noon, he can meet Stella, and then we’ll leave for Mantova right after lunch. Scratch that off my list of things to worry about.
On the road home to Pietrabuona yesterday, Stella and I passed an area under repair that necessitates turning two lanes of traffic into one with a timed automatic traffic light on either end. I asked her how long she expects it to be this way as no one has been working on it since I arrived 10 days ago. She said, well you know, there’s a lot of bureaucracy and first we need to get the necessary permits from Jesus, Mary & Joseph and all the Saints in Heaven. LOL