The anticipation of an upcoming trip can really alter your life; work seems to be a by-product of your day and only one topic occupies your social conversations – “When are you going to Italy?” “What are you doing there?” “Have you ever been to Italy before?” Very standard and mundane questions but ones asked nevertheless and the great part is… you don’t mind answering them a thousand times over – “We leave on the 8th” “We are going to a cooking school in Tuscany” “I have been to Italy before, but not Tuscany, and this is Kelly’s first trip to Europe.” I really can’t get enough.
And then there are the travel books, novels about Tuscany and the obligatory Italian lessons loaded onto the iPod. One side note to whoever produced the language lessons we purchased: Please do not spend equal amount of time on a two-syllable phrase like “La via” – “the street” - and a multi- syllable phrase like “Sono un mangione” - “I am a big eater.” Ok, I stole that second phrase from Rick Steve’s Italian phrase book, but that is only because the lesson went too fast for me to catch whatever phrase it was. I suppose it’s my fault for waiting until the last week to start listening to the lessons I purchased back in March.
Where was I? Oh yes, guidebooks. Guidebooks – Kelly loves them… and I… well, I will need them at some point I suppose. Ideally we will take first hand accounts and personal recommendations over any well travelled author. Fortunately, we’ve had numerous restaurant and winery recommendations from friends. The Food & Beverage Director from the Nell recommended a small pizzeria in Florence where he had spent the evening drinking Chianti with the owner. Johnny sells wines for a couple wineries there and has provided us with contact info. But ultimately, it was Arie who so politely reminded me that he has a good friend, Alessandra – Ale for short, who not only lives in Montalcino, but works at a very good winery with a Michelin rated restaurant. I can already taste the culture!
So, my point to this blog? There is none other than I’m excited to go and I just got 10 minutes closer to leaving by writing this. Arrivederci!
We finally got to see your blog today. Sounds like a great adventure. I'm sure Ale will be happy to see you. How are you going to keep up the blog while you're in Italy?
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