The Great Italian Adventure

Wow, how can i describe today.

I was awakened by the Tuscan sun coming in across the valley. I ran down to the train station for my day trip to Florence, but on the way I stopped at a bar for cappuccino and met Olivia, a beautiful Italian girl working there who happened to be studying english at the time. Needless to say we tried as we could, me in broken Italian and her in better English, to exchange stories of our families, and school, and traveling and ended up talking for about three hours. Realizing that I hadn't yet been to a vineyard, she actually asked me to visit her aunt and uncle outside of town for lunch and grape picking.

So we hopped on her Vespa and drove down the hill and through the valley past little farms, her hair and light blue scarf blowing in the wind across my face. Her uncle Giotto questioned me at first but eventually we talked politics over a glass of wine and her aunt Mariana served up a pesto pasta and thick garlic bread. By the end of the meal, Olivia and I slightly tipsy on the Chianti picked grapes, tossing more at each other than actually putting in the baskets.

After falling asleep underneath the vines, we awoke to a slight chill and a dimming sky. She tried to explain that she had to get back to work but i convinced her to take the last train to Florence with me. Again on the train, we talked about music and art and life and love and before we knew it we were in Florence amidst the city lights and roving street musicians. Strolling across town, we came across the Ponteveccio just as all the gold shops were closing down. She told how her her uncle had proposed to her aunt on the bridge almost 50 years ago and that she'd always made a wish when visiting it, hoping to be so fortunate. Right then, I left her there, found a simple gold ring for all the euro I had in my pocket and returned to her on my knee asking for marriage before she could say anything. She said si and so here I am, in love and making plans to spend the rest of my life here in Tuscany picking grapes and selling artwork out of Olivia's bar.

And actually, none of this happened seeing as I don't even drink coffee and my Italian is molto piccolo. I did however spend most of the day at studio working inside, while the fog outside never actually lifted from this morning. This is my last Sunday in Italy. Alora.