Italian wonderings

I flew to Rome from Cairo to meet Matt who was arriving from Australia. Back to western civilisation, and I was curious to discover I was feeling the effects of ’reverse culture shock’. Seemingly clean, efficient, organized, cold and face-less compared to the warmth and exciting chaos of the Middle east and Africa. However, this was ROME and I was excited to be seeing Matt again and sharing the journey with him! Our Italian trip was a whirlwind adventure. From trekking around ancient Rome, to beautiful Florence and then on to explore the picturesque Tuscan hills all within a week! Pressured travel is definitely not the best way to absorb a country, however we didn’t have the luxury of time on our hands.
Rome was wonderful - to see where this ancient civilisation began - after seeing the expanse of the empire over my travels. We wondered through the ancient ruins and the Colleseum with an excited American girl as our guide who unfolded the 2000 years of amazing history in about 2 hours. She was brilliant, bringing alive the historical events.
One of those special travel moments - when you come face to face with the heart and soul of a city was shared with an old Italian guy during an evening sitting in St Peters square. He was volunterily clearing away rubbish, and came over to talk excitedly to us about the coming Christmas activities in the square. He spoke mostly in Italian passionately and engagingly. It didnt seem to matter to him or us that we didnt understand alot of what he was saying, we just enjoyed his obvious love for his country and city. He then began singing to us some carols in Italian. We felt touched and warmed by his sincerity.
From Rome, we caught a train to Florence, where we hired a car to do a road trip around the Tuscan hills. After experiencing the driving in Cairo, to me, Italian driving was a walk in the park. However, I was only the passenger! Driving on the left-hand side of a different car on the right side of the road in a foreign country is definite test to ones nerve, and Matt was most un-nerved, but he did a fantastic job. Despite finding ourselves on the wrong side of the road only once and going around the roundabout the wrong way, we only experienced 2 honks and one rude sign! Tuscany was as beautiful as the postcards, pictures and Italian films represent and we were rejoicing to be back in the still peace and fresh air of the country! As we drove, the weather began turning as dark clouds rolled in bringing a rich intensity to the colours of the hills against the textured clouded sky. The rain didn’t deter our enthusiasm, as we enjoyed being forced to take things at a slower pace. The town San Gimignano was a special highlight. A tiny walled city, with cobbled pedestrian-only streets winding narrowly through quaint tall stone buildings with wooden shutters on their windows arched doorways and rising turrets and bell towers. We climbed the main bell tower to catch the magical view of the town in the early morning. Colourful terracotta rooftops connecting rows of cute stone houses in a hodge-podge of close living. Rolling hills, washed with the colours of Autumn, textured with trees, vineyards, orchards and open spaces of deliciously green grassland. Breathing deep the crisp country air, hearing the bells of the village ring out the time, feeling the warmth of the morning sun, and enjoying the spaciousness of the moment.
We enjoyed some great Italian food - pizza, pasta, gelato and coffee, but one thing I wont forget was a huge waffle sandwhich with massive scoups of ice-cream. Indulgement!