I decided today needed to be the day I give my body a break from the death grip on my steering wheel and adrenaline rush of maneuvering my RV around this tiny town. The weather is warmer and sunny today, which is a nice break from the rain of the last two days. A great day to get out and walk as much as possible.
I sat down to another nice breakfast with Silvia and her friend Rafaella. It’s so cozy in the breakfast room. Silvia starts a fire each morning. She makes me as many coffees as I’ll drink and always has a nice display of offerings for breakfast. Silvia, Rafaella and I are all about the same age – so it was interesting to talk about culture and their upbringing. We also started talking about vision and driving and how it makes them much more cautious as we age. They said all their friends call them grandma drivers. What do you know – we are all kindred spirits! LOL.
After breakfast, I ask Silvia about hikes around the property, she points me right up the hill and said there are 360 degree views from there. So I head up that path. It was such a beautiful morning and the walk was incredibly invigorating, noticing nature all around me with jaw dropping views. It’s interesting – at home, I always want music or a podcast on – when I’m getting ready, when I’m out walking, when I’m cooking. Here – I am just content with silence. I think the beauty all around me is so stimulating to my senses, I really don’t need anything else and I don’t want anything to distract from what I am experiencing.
Silvia has a little Lagotto Romagnolo (Italian Water Dog), he’s about 11 months old and he is the cutest little dog. His name is Ugo and he followed me off the property and decided to be my companion the whole walk. It was so cute – it was like he was my little protector. So much so, once we got near the main road he started jumping on me as if to say, ‘That’s it, that’s as far as we are allowed to go.’ So I said, okay, let’s turn around then. They use these dogs in Italy to hunt truffle. They only cost about 700 Euros here, but if you want one back home you’ll need to pay $3k – $5k. Pretty steep for a dog. I think I’ll just enjoy Silvia’s dog for the day and not think I need a dog like this back home, because you know I thought that by the end of the walk.
During the walk – wouldn’t you know I walked right past the ‘road’ that gave me so much trouble the night before. It was like returning to the scene of trauma in the daytime and wondering how you made it through. I will say – it did feel way less intimidating in the daytime, but still I could see, I would have never made it through if I had tried to keep going forward. It did make me think though – probably a good idea to stay off the roads a night as long as I am solo over here and still not familiar with the area.
After my morning walk, I came back and worked on my book and then my blog for a bit until I was hungry for lunch. So I walked into town to try Mario’s. This was the ‘real deal’ Italian local place. After they sat me outside, the old man (possibly Mario himself) came to my table and spoke to me in Italian. I told him (in Italian) I didn’t understand or speak Italian. So, he did what any good old Italian would do. He spoke the exact same thing to me in Italian, only this time, more slowly and louder. I nodded my head as if to say, okay yes, sounds good. I think he was telling me the specials?
A younger woman, realized my plight and came to the table with a menu in English – and within 15-20 minutes I had my first official Italian meal of the trip, complete with wine, coffee and dessert. I knew I wouldn’t be venturing out again after this meal, so decided just splurge on lunch. The cost for all of that was only about 20 Euro. A bargain, considering I also ordered food to go in case I got hungry later (I doubt I would – but didn’t want to leave again).
I enjoyed my walk back home and just taking in nature some more. It was wonderful to have this stress free day to take walks, and hike, and write. I watched the sunset off my outdoor balcony at the end of the night and smiled realizing, yes – I’m finally starting to relax and settle in – this feels fantastic.
