This morning, I went into Pescia to meet someone I followed on Instagram. He is from Pescia originally, lived in the USA for 10 years, then moved back. At precisely the moment we were supposed to meet, he texted me that he couldn’t make it. Later, Stella asked me about him. I told her Mr. Instagram was a no-show, she called him an ugly goat, which sounds so much better in Italian.
Since I had already paid for parking, I walked around the city, bought a newspaper for Stella and a cappuccino for myself. I noticed a stone marker above a doorway of an old house that said, in 1211, Saint Francis of Assisi stayed here for 3 days. Wow.
Had a lovely lunch with Stella and her Dutch guest, Larissa at a restaurant in Pescia. Afterwards gelato nearby. On our way home we went to see about one of Stella’s guests who did not have hot water. Easy fix.
After last night’s drive of terror, I called Anna and Chiara to tell them I am not driving to Lucca and back tonight. So we met in Pescia earlier in the day. This was my only chance to see Chiara, who is heading to Pavia (about 4 hours north by train) to get a Master’s degree in chemistry. So good to see her, she is so beautiful, so sweet and so bright. She is very excited to start a new life away from home/family. She found an apartment a 9 minute walk from campus. Anna asked what she’ll do if it rains and she replied she would walk 9 minutes with an umbrella. LOL Her mother couldn’t come as she is teaching tonight so her Aunt Anna came instead. Ironically, after I got home (in daylight, thank you very much) I got a text from them that they got lost going home. I rest my case.