Farewell Tuscania!

June 25, 2010

I cannot believe this! Not for a second…I mean, actually leaving Italy…tomorrow? These past 5 weeks have been the longest and the shortest 5 weeks of my life! Looking back at those 4 days in Rome…goodness, I can't believe how much we packed into those few days and yet it still feels like that was just last week when in reality, it definitely wasn't! I wanted to just soak in the sights and sounds and tastes and smells and feels of Tuscania today. There was a bit of last minute stuff to do that made this frustrating though…like, packing (and stuffing!) everything back into my suitcases alongside  bags of colorful pasta and delicate showcase souvenirs from Rome and whimsical tea pots…and then going in search of a scale so that the bags wouldn't be overweight (I don't plan on paying that extra 50 euro thank you very much! Haha). I wanted to do a thank you thing for MC and Andrina and Irene as well as see the market one last time so on this ridiculously hot day, I went out on one of my last morning adventures (sad!) and headed out to the open air market. I was pondering what I could possibly get my host mom when I saw the huge corner store of flowers! I decided to get her a beautiful potted plant of pink flowers (MC's favorite) over a banquet because I knew that she wanted to add more to her garden. I got Andrina (today's birthday girl) as well as Irene a smaller version of the flower plant too. Walking around the market was very cool but interesting at the same time…I was thinking of how different purchasing things will be back in the USA after all this. I was able to say goodbye to the beekeeper honey man I had talked to a few weeks back as well as some other friends I had made along the way. I stopped at the school to confirm my plane ticket home and to print out some pictures of my family and boyfriend since Maria Carla had really wanted to see pictures of them. I tucked those in with a homemade card and went back to the house with Emily to see if we could somehow surprise MC with this huge potted plant I had gotten her. Luckily, she was on the phone when I got home and Emily and I had planned to put it on the kitchen table but right then, Maria Carla walked out of the kitchen, half preoccupied with her phone call and Emily whispered frantically, "Christine! Run upstairs!" and I did, half laughing along the way. Emily met me upstairs and we decided to place the whole surprise on MC's perfectly made bed and after a quick (hopefully, unsuspicious) goodbye, we made our escape!

The group had decided to meet up for lunch so I bought my very last suppli (delicious rice balls that we had in Rome for the first time) and shared some pasta with Emily in the breathtaking park. The owners of La Dolce Vita had really wanted us to stop by their cute little café at 2:30 and since it was already 2pm, Emily and I stopped by quickly at Andrina's so we could say good bye and happy birthday. The minute she saw us, she ushered us in to her home and giggling and speaking rapidly in Italian, sat us down for an apple crostata and chammomile tea. (yup, we were definitely getting deliciously stuffed at this point!) it was really sad saying goodbye and I hated how rushed we were (we had to leave just a bare 20 minutes after stopping in) but we did it and rushed over again to La Dolce Vita (ahh! All this uncharacteristic Italian rushing!)

But what a surprise! What an amazingly sweet gesture! The wonderful owners of the café sat us down and brought out this GORGEOUS cake for us and told us how much they appreciated us stopping in every day and buying a treat and a cappuchino from them! It was sooo sweet! Like, omg - how wonderful! The cake was fantastic…vanilla with a vanilla cream and a cascade of fresh fruits on top! The mom and dad and daughter Valentina kept telling us how they wanted us to come back to Tuscania and to stay with them when we did! I admit, I started tearing up…I mean, they were just so…kind!

At 3:30, we left with Irene on our very last excursion of the trip - the annual Medieval Fair at Viterbo. Off on the bus we went! We all had some left over euros to use up still so we stopped for some yogurt at the delicious Baby Yogurt. The fair itself was soo cool! Yes, I feel dorky saying this, but I felt kinda right at home…all the Robin Hood inspired stuff and the fairy material and the satchels and bangles and the flowers and the whimsical-ness of it all! Mmm! I needed to spend the last of my money (what am I to do with euros in the USA?) and went of in search of the perfect accessory or something to buy. It's a very interesting problem to have, this money spending business…I mean, yes it's nice to have money to spend but to do it almost unnecessarily? Mmm, not so much haha. In any case, with Josh and Emily's help, I settled for a hand made leather ring in the shape of a rose that kinda screamed "Christine!" and a really pretty hot pink bangle. Perfect.

Dinner was amazing as usual (my goodness, I've been blessed!). It was really nice to try something new - I had this wonderful pasta with a ricotta and pear filling that I'm itching to cook at the moment as well as a filling vegetarian antipasta dish and the most yummy bon-bon type white chocolate concoction for dessert. Yum!  After dinner, we stayed for a bit to see the medieval clad performers do some shows about trickery and fire and the like -- very cool indeed! 

The ride home was a bit of a sad and sleepy one, although the moon decided to give us a glorious gift - I don't think I've seen quite as big or bright of a moon here in italy and yet there it was! We got back in time to say good bye to Falleroni's. they offered us gelato of course even at 11pm but we were so stuffed we had to decline! Kisses on the cheeks ensued and many many hugs after with a promise to keep in touch…I sure am going to miss them! Sleep was definitely on the radar considering our early transit to Rome the next morning but before we laid our heads down to sleep, we decided to stop at Emily and Gabrielle's place to try the Fragolina - a strawberry wine that we first heard about in Rome (another instance of everything coming full circle). Then, with that sweet strawberry goodness to finish off the night, we said Buono Notte to Tuscania for the last time.