On the way back from the Tornesi Winery tasting, Heidi and Jeff remind me that they have massages scheduled between 4pm – 6pm. Heidi would go first, then Jeff. I had an idea that while Heidi was in her massage, it would be a great opportunity for me to bring Jeff over to Pienza to take some photos. He’s a photographer and was always looking for opportunities to capture new sights on the trip.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and Pienza was only about 8 minutes away from where we are staying at the farmhouse. As we walked through the different little avenues atop the hill town, echoes of so many previous trips with different friends were whispering to me from many corners. I spied the iconic bench where I took a memorable photo of Amy on my first visit to Pienza in 2015. We passed the Lavender shop where Carla and I couldn’t escape from the shop owner who kept talking to us in 2018. We passed the ristorante where Dana, Tony, Maddie and I sat down to our first meal together in 2017 and formed a still existing bond of obsessed Italy travelers. We passed all the favorite gelato shops – I could almost remember each flavor I had ever sampled. We passed the sandwich shop where Carla and I had ordered the most simple but memorable sandwiches of our lives in 2019. I peered in the window to make sure the same little lady was there who made the best sandwiches. Yes, there she was. I wished I was hungry for a sandwich in that moment.
Yes. Everything was still there and still the same. Nothing had changed. The only thing that was different was that I was on this trip without any of those same friends. And now walking through this town, as Jeff peaked in and out of alcoves and alleys to take pictures, while I kept strolling, I missed each one in different ways. I was discovering that so much of the joy of this trip or any trip is that it an experience to be shared. All the highs and lows of travel are better shared – both during and long after the trip. For each friend that I mentioned in the memories above, we still laugh as we recall so many moments of those trips and in a way it extends the trip forever. It is such a bonding experience to travel internationally and the memories stay with you long after the trip is over.
As melancholy continued to poke at me, my phone started to ping me and I was brought back to present time. It was Fernanda, she was asking me, ‘Where is Heidi? It’s 4:20 and she isn’t in her room and she isn’t in the cabana for the massage.’ I respond with, ‘Well, I dropped her off at 3:45 and she was going straight into her room to get ready for the massage. Are you sure she’s not there?’ Then Jeff tries to call and text Heidi, no answer. Hmmm, that is so odd. Where could she be? It’s getting close to 5pm, the time for Jeff’s massage, so we head back to the car in a bit of a hurry and slightly concerned that they can’t find Heidi. As we get back to the car, I get a new text, ‘Oh never mind, Heidi was already in the Cabana. Niccolo was confused.’ Okay, thanks, glad she is okay.
We get back to the farm just before 5pm, and sure enough there is Heidi, walking back from her massage from the cabana. She had showed up there right on time at 4pm. I asked, ‘Was the masseuse appropriate? No funny business?’ We all laughed. She assured both Jeff and I that he was completely appropriate. In the past, there was a masseuse there that had a reputation of rubbing the family olive oil all over your body from the tip of your head to the tip of your toes and every place in between. I had steered clear of the massage ever since I heard that tidbit in 2018. Any questions? Just ask Debbie.
