I arrived in Grosseto just after 3pm after spending 3 days in Levanto. I quickly discovered that my bus to Castel del Piano wasn’t to leave until nearly 4 hours later. I promptly called my host to tell her about my small set-back and Amanda understood my situation, however this was the price I paid for traveling on a Sunday…especially in Italy.
The ride to Castel del Piano was roughly an hour and a half through the winding roads of beautiful Tuscany. In this area, there is no light. No street lamps to guide you along the hills through the night, but the massive harvest moon cut through the darkness and instantly became the spectacle of the evening. All I could do was stare at it and enjoy its radiant orange and yellow colours, in fact just looking at it took my mind off of the car sickness I endured throughout the trip.
During the ride, I thought about my family and just how much I wanted to speak to someone back home in Victoria. I thought of my parents and my siblings and I just wanted dial a number and just talk to someone. At that point, I became nervous about picking olives the very next day and staying in a home with complete strangers.
I arrived in Castel del Piano and as promised, Amanda was waiting for me at the bus stop. I instantly felt comfortable with her which deleted some of my nervousness.
As we pulled into her home, I met her husband Gordon and daughter Rosie who were waiting for my arrival. I sensed right away that I would feel comfortable amongst them as they emanated a friendly presence in their souls.
Amanda led me into the kitchen and sat me down to enjoy some supper. Moments later, I was greeted by a young couple who had been picking olives for the past week named Jaime and Wyatt. They had a certain accent to their voices which sounded all to familiar to me when I spoke to them. Somehow their voices seem to resonate with me.
“Should I tell him or should you?” said Amanda to Jaime while fixing me a plate of food at the dinner table.
“You can tell him!” said Jaime happily.
“Jaime and Wyatt are from Canada.” smirked Amanda. My jaw instantly froze from chewing on some chicken. That answers the familiar accent in their voices, I thought.
“Really?” I said happily. “Where are you from, Vancouver?” I said taking a stab in the dark.
“No, much closer to your home.” said Amanda.
“We’re from Victoria!” said Jaime.
"What???"
I refrained from calling my family at home that night. There was so much to talk about our home, with my two new friends.
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Copyright Antony S Scandale 2011
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