Saturday March 27^th:

Mommy Arrives in Italy! A much anticipated day, good thing it came faster rather than slower. After a confusing and expensive situation, my mom managed to arrive in Florence. We took a group excursion to Assisi for the day and I met my mother in Florence later that evening when we got back. It took a bus and train and much eagerness before I was there. I am really enjoying Italy but it was so relaxing to see my mother, she just seems to make everything better. She has this weird way of making me level headed when all is going wrong. It’s really nice, she re-grounds me.

When I met up with her, I had been anticipating her telling me she had so much trouble she had and how everything was going wrong, but she didn’t. She managed just fine on her own in Florence, I was surprised, not because I didn’t think she could do it. I was over worrying and I think sometimes that keeps me sane. It must have been her charm and willingness to ask questions that helped her out. When I got to the train station, she called my cell phone and told me where to meet her, under a sign in the train station. I was looking but didn’t see her, but I guess she saw me because I heard her whistle. It is hard to describe this whistle, I can only say that it is an extremely familiar thing and my mom and dad can do it. I immediately could not stop smiling. We hugged for some time and then decided to get a move on. We walked for forever to get back to the hotel, Loggiato Dei Serviti.

After unpacking our bags, my mom and I went downstairs and asked the receptionist for a recommendation for dinner and headed towards his pick. We found it with no trouble; we walked into a small door that opened into a narrow room that seemed to go on forever. The room was so long, and from the look of the door it did not seem possible. We were immediately seated and brought water and white wine. As a side note: my mother never drinks…never, so this was quite a shock for me to see. We ordered antipasta of salami, cheeses, and bruschetta. I had lasagna, which was a first for me since I arrived in Italy. My mom ordered veal, she said it was good but I don’t think it was her favorite. Our waiter was very cute and spoke enough English, along with my bit of Italian. Too bad he didn’t have any family in Sansepolcro ;). My mom suggested we ask him out after he got off of work, but I quickly grew chicken feathers. We finished dinner and returned to the hotel for the evening. Waited patiently for the computer in the hotel, the Wi-Fi was not working. Made all of our necessary calls home, giving everyone the confirmation that we were still here.

Since my mom arrived in Italy, she had been trying to find anything close to American coffee. I warned her that it would not be possible to find it here, but she insisted it was possible because of all of the tourism. I told her a cappuccino was probably the closest thing she was going to find. This became her quest for the trip. Once we got back to the room, she was telling me about her first “caffe” experience. She went into a coffee shop close to the hotel and asked for coffee, he gave her espresso. She said she wanted to say “you’ve got to be kidding me.” As her story progresses I am laughing at her. She told me that the man knew she was confused with the coffee so she asked him for some milk and he made her a cappuccino. She told me that this whole time he was snickering to himself and she could help but be completely confused. At this point, I am just about falling off the bed laughing at her. I told her that I knew this would happen and told her she should have ordered a cappuccino from the get go. For once in my life, since I am rarely right, I could say “I told you so.” She just rolled her eyes at me and said she would have another go at it tomorrow. This lack of coffee was an issue because she is used to having coffee every morning. She tried caffe, caffe latte, cappuccino and a few other variations of the same drinks. It was amusing from where I was sitting; I just stuck with a normal cappuccino.

Sunday March 28^th:

Sunday morning was a later start that we wanted, which I really enjoyed. Since I have been in Italy I haven’t been able to sleep in much. It ended up working in to our benefit because the shops did not even start opening until around noon. We walked around Florence for a bit and did some light shopping. We walked by the Duomo of the Florence cathedral and just stared at it for a few minutes. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. The elaborate detail is so overwhelming; it must have taken quite a long time to complete. After wandering around the city for a bit, we made our way to the train station. I felt so empowered to be able to know exactly what I was doing, and be the navigator for my mom.

It was a nice change of roles. Once in Arezzo, we had a short wait for the bus to Sansepolcro. When we were waiting on the bus, this man passed by the bus and I knew he was getting on. I explained to my mom that he was on the 7:15 bus every time I have ever been. He must work in Arezzo somewhere, but it is funny because we recognize each other. It is almost a greeting eye contact. After all of that traveling, we were relaxing at the “Magi”; a hotel in Sansepolcro that is not too far from the Palazzo Alberti. We unpacked our stuff in the wonderfully lavish room. Took a stroll through the town and stopped into the Fiorentino to have dinner. The food was phenomenal, but I wouldn’t ever expect anything less. The Fiorentino is always a wonderful and memorable meal. We tried to get a good night sleep because I knew we would be waking up early, the street sweepers are great for that.