Anyways, I got on the train for two hours from Pisa to Genova Piazza.  I got off in Genova Piazza for two hours.  I got on the train again for two hours.  I got off in Ventimigilia for two hours. The train ride was magnificent as usual.  The train was riding on the edge of the land during most of the voyage.

Now here’s the drama:

I got back on the train, and I was supposed to be on there for five hours, but I was on there for four hours.  Part of the train broke down in Marseilles.  GREAT!  I was on the part of the train that was broken.  I’m so lucky, am I?  So, I had to lug all of my bags off the train and wait half hour for them to bring a new set of cars to replace the broken set of cars.  While I was waiting for the train, I heard a soft spoken voice coming from somewhere.  Then, I overheard from people who were waiting outside that the train was going to be an hour late.  UGH!  Well, at least this was the last train that I was taking.

Anyways, I finally got on the train with the new set of cars and waited in the train that was immoblised for about 15 minutes.  The train finally took off.  It was dark outside, and I was a little disappointed about that as I wanted to see all the beautiful scenaries, but that was OK as I was on the train for only another hour.

I got to Avignon safely, and my entire host family was there waiting to greet me with lots of kisses.

Dear Jodi, Luca, Jordan, and Princess Sofia,

I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to live with you for ten days and learn to live the life as an American-Italian.  One year ago, when I was in Italy with my university, I never thought that I would be back in Italy so soon, but thanks to you, I had the opportunity to come back, and even see more of Italy including Pisa and the heart of the Tuscany.  Going to the beach, playing volleyball even though I sucked big time, playing water games with Sofia, and splashing the water was definitely full of blasts.  Having the opportunity to meet the man who is so compassionated about hearing screening, Ferdi, was a big honor for me.  Seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was a hit.  Helping Jordan fix his processor for a few days delighted me.  Visiting the markets to explore all the goods sold in Italy was fun.  Tasting the freshest and richest yogurt, tiramisu, tomatoes, mozzarella, and all those wonderful food will certainly be unforgettable.  It was also a pleasure to meet your friends at your BBQ party.  Driving through the Tuscany region to Montelclino, Pienza, and Siena was a big highlight of the trip.

I’d like to take the moment to thank you for all the wonderful fun and memories that I will treasure.  It was such a pleasure to get know you, Jodi, as a fun woman who wears pigtails and who has a wonderful sense of humor and is so passionate about being involved with deafness.  Luca, I enjoyed getting to know you as “the perfect man” who is so loving , caring, and intelligent.  Jordan, it was so wonderful to meet another cochlear implant user and to see that you’re thriving in the general society like me and that you’re such a sweet and affectionate person.  Sofia, I had such a wonderful time photographing you, playing games with you, and getting to know you as the drama queen.

You know what’s so incredible?  If it weren’t for my deafness and Jordan’s deafness, we would not have known each other.  Having a disability is always a gift.  My mother always tell me that my and my sister’s deafness offered her so much good opportunities in her life in spite of having to take a different path to raising her kids differently.  It gave her wonderful friends, volunteer projects, jobs, and a passion.  Before entering college, she did not have a direction.  She did not know which career path to take.  Even when she finished school, she still did not find the right direction.  However, when my deafness was diagnosed, I think that gave her the right direction and a passion.  She’s very passionate about helping people in the deaf community and anything related to non-profit organizations.

Jodi, I think Jordan’s deafness has given you the same thing – a direction, a passion, and an identity.  You wrote a humor and adventurous book, Rally Caps, that has character who is deaf and hears with a cochlear implant.  You’re very involved with projects for Newborn Hearing Screening and traveling throughout Italy and even have plans to travel to another country, Bulgaria.

Before I close up my letter, I’d like to mention one last thing.  When I say good-bye to places that I love and to people who I love, I always listen to the song called, “I’ve Got To See You Again,” by Norah Jones.  It’s a very emotional song, but listening to this song is very healing for me when I have to go through a period like this.  So, I’d like to leave you, the Del Dottores, with something along with this song.

As I was talking to Luca one day, I gave him an analogy: living through unpleasant experiences is like an immune system attacking the sick cells.  Children get sick more often because their immune system is weaker, but their immune system becomes stronger every time they get sick and as they grow.  So, when they’re adults, they don’t get sick as often as the little kids.  So, we live through unpleasant experiences, learn from them, grow and become stronger.

Meeting the Italian guy at the beach was a wreck, but I’m trying to live with a positive attitude.  All I can say is that I learned a great deal from my experiences and know how to prepare myself better in the future, as Luca advised to me.

The guy showed up at the beach with his friend, and I have to admit that I was not thrilled, as I had no interest in that guy.  Anyways, we went into the water.  I was actually delighted to be in the water as it was very HOT outside, and I seriously needed to cool off myself.  So, anyways, I was just swimming and enjoying myself and trying to act like I had no interest in that guy.  About half hour later, an unexpected turmoil occurred.  The guy hugged me and kissed me.  About a minute later, I pushed the guy slightly.   Since he had no understanding of English, I pointed to myself and said, “I want to…” and then moved my arms as if I’m swimming, “swim.”  Then, I went out and swam on my own.  My goodness!  “What was that guy?,” I thought to myself, “Are you living in Romeo and Juliet adventures or Disney Princess adventures?”    I don’t believe in judging by book covers.  I believe in opening up the book and reading the story. 

Apparently, many European guys are not believers of opening up the book.  One of my French friends has been telling me since we’ve known each other that French people just “do it suddenly.”  They fall in love too fast.  Well, I experienced exactly what my French friend has been telling me during all those years that we’ve known each other.  I lived through it, and next time, I will be prepared by being stronger by pushing any idiots who fall-in-love-too-fast off of me and yelling at him “F#$% off.” 

This guy was a good-looking guy, but I’m not so sure about his mind…

Actually, I would say that his mind is very stupid because he did not take the time to open the book fully.

His heart will be broken big time, and who cares?  He deserves it…

We were heading for a big day tour to three cities in the Tuscany region – Montalcino, Pienza, and Siena.

Montalcino is a gorgeous little village that is known for its wine and cheeses.  The countryside surrounding the village reminded me of the images that I’ve seen in movies of Napa Vally in California.  There are rows and rows of plants.  The hills are lushly green.  Jodi, Luca, Jordan, Sofia, and I had lunch inside a castle where we drank Brunello and ate pecorino cheese with honey.

We stopped in Pienza, a beautiful town where I made a pit stop last summer with my travel group for ten minutes just to see the architectural design of the town.  With a great surprise, I got to go back to this town and got to really spend some time there to photograph and to shop.  It’s a very small and an ideal Renaissance town in the Tuscany region and between Florence and Siena. There are magnificent massive green hills surrounding this town, a typical feature of the Tuscany region.  There are lots of boutiques where we can purchase interesting goods such as ceramics, paintings, jewelry, clothes, and even food like cheese!

Here is a historical background Pienza that I wrote last summer:

Pope Pius II, who was born in this town and is considered one of the most educated pope of all the popes, wanted this entire village remodeled as a typical Renaissance town. Bernardo Rosselino who was probably inspired by Alberti Batitsa, designed many of the buildings such as the cathedral, bishop’s palace, a new town hall, and a palace for the Pope.

“This city is definitely on my list to visit when I come back to Italy one day. I know it seems insane that we visited this city for only one hour, but the reason we visited was to see the Siena Cathedral so that we, the art historians, could understand why the Florence Cathedral was built.”

I wrote this message last year when I visited Siena for just less than an hour.  I was so damned disappointed as I really wanted to soak in this gorgeous medieval city.  Well…well… I got to come back only one year later!  Unbelievable!  We went to Siena after our visit in Montalcino and Pienza.  We browsed through the shops, relaxed in the piazza by the City Hall and watched the sky go from bright blue to black and lights go on.  Siena is certainly a city of lights at night.

Here’s a little historical background about Siena that I wrote last summer:

During the late medieval period, also called proto-renaissance, in 14th century, this one particular city in Italy was once the most powerful city in the world. They built the very first city hall in Europe, Palazzo Pubblico. Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco painting of “Good and Bad Government” is in this city hall. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see this painting that I have studied in art history because we had only one hour to see the whole city! This city also had a great pride in their enormous and the most majestic cathedral, the Siena Cathedral, that once made Florence felt powerless. This cathedral was incomparable to all the other cathedrals that I have seen. This cathedral looked like a candy palace. It was entirely made of marble in all sorts of colors – green, white, and pink. The engaged columns were twisted and looked like twisted lollipops. The corinthian design on the engaged columns made the façade more magnificent because of the designs’ outrageous details. There were beautiful carved statues on the façade. There was a big huge round mirror on the top of the façade, and it was reflecting the clouds from the sky, and also magnificent paintings on the pediments. It was even more majestic than the Florence Cathedral in my personal opinion, and I know that does not sound good since the Florence Cathedral was meant to outdo the Siena Cathedral. Back in the 14th century, when the Siena Cathedral was built, Florence felt powerless, and therefore that was the reason that the Florence Cathedral was built.

Siena also very much reminded me of Bayonne, France, a little town where I visited twice, because of the similar architecture designs. The buildings were tall, but not too tall. They were only about six stories high. They were built literally next too each other. There was not even a space between each building. Basically, each building looked like they were glued to each other! The windows on the buildings were very elongated and had wooden shutters like the buildings in Bayonne. The buildings had similar colors – beige, white cream, green, and yellow. There was an obvious reason that both of these towns look similar! They’re both originated from Medieval period! Also, both cities had a large fence made of stones surrounding them! Even though the medieval period is my least favorite period because of the great emphasis on the religion and the less emphasis on the education and philosophy, the architecture during that period were magnificent.

Paotie,

You need to kick Jodi’s butt big time…

Here’s the story.  It goes like this:

I’m at a random bar in middle of Grosseto.  “There’s a guy behind you…” Jodi pointed her finger to the direction that was behind me.

I turned my head around and see the guy who was sitting at a table next to us with another guy.  He smiled at me.  Then I looked at Jodi.  “I think he likes you…” said Jodi.  I turned my head around and looked at the guy.  He smiled.  I smiled back.

“He’s moving closer to you,” said Jodi.

I turned my head around and looked at him.  He smiled.  I smiled back.

Then Jodi was busy texting on her cell phone.  I continued to turn my head around and look at the guy.  Every time I looked at him, he smiled, and I smiled back.

“I think he really likes you,” said Jodi, “he’s moving closer…”

“HaHa! HaHa!”  I started to giggle away.  Jodi gets up and looks at the guy, “Hi!  I’m Jodi!”  She shook his hand.

“Oh god!” I thought.

“Hi.  I’m Rachel,” I shook the guy’s hand.   The big flirtation begins…

“Where are you from?”

“How old are you?”

“Are you in school?”

“What are you studying?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Do you drive?”

“Do you have a car?”

The guy rolled in with lots of questions for me.  Jodi was our translator since he hardly knew any English and I didn’t know any Italian.

During our conversation, two young Italian women join in.  One studied English and French in college, and her English was quite good, and I had quite a few conversations with her.

“Do you have a phone number?” he asked.

“My cell phone doesn’t work here, but I have an e-mail address,” I pulled out my little notebook and tore a piece of a paper.  I wrote my e-mail address and gave it to him.

Conversation continues…

Then I heard Jodi whispering to the guy, “I think you’re pretty.”

“Huh?! AH!  OOOY!”  I thought.

“I think you’re pretty,” he said.

“Thank you, “ I smiled.

“Do you like guys who work out and whose body is well-built?” he asked.

“Yes, but I’m fine with guys who are not well built,” I said, “Personality is more important.”

“I just started working out,” he said.

“Nice!” I said.

“Do you like science fiction and horror films,” he asked.

“Noooo.  I hate them,” I said.  I’m very honest when people ask me if I like science fiction and horror films.  I get grossed out very easily when I see them.  I even faint when I see blood.  Since I wanted to keep the conversation going, I picked out a random phrase…

“My brother and sister both love science fiction and horror films,” I said.  Yup! What a random phrase!

Jodi was laughing away., “I have to think of a blog title…”

This is not the first time that I’ve had this moment.  I’ve had several and left all guys with broken hearts including three in France recently.  I’m a heart breaker.  Yup.  Sorry about that.  I’m just very picky when it comes to choosing guys.  Personality comes first.  Appearance comes next.  I need a guy who is bright, affectionate, and has sense of humor.  I need someone who enjoys being educated by reading news and any latest information.  Basically, I need someone who can stimulate me.  I’ll find someone one day… it’s not going to happen overnight.  I’m just enjoying my life as a 21 year-old for now.

There’s going to be another meeting with him and his little group this Saturday….

Don’t worry, Paotie, I’m probably going to leave him with a broken heart…

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is another example of the best mistake ever.  It was supposed to be a random building, but simply because the building became a leaning tower, it became a famous historical site that brought in lots of money to the city from tourists who are willing to pay 15 euros just to go inside that building.

I visited Pisa today where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is located.  The Leaning Tower looks exactly like what I’ve been seeing in the images in the textbooks and on the internet.  It’s just a tower that leans.  The architectural design is actually quite beautiful, and it’s very Italian because there are arcades and columns.

]]> http://misstravelgirl.com/?feed=rss2&p=603 0 http://misstravelgirl.com/?p=598 http://misstravelgirl.com/?p=598#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:57:38 +0000 http://VisitinglittletownsinEuropeisalwaysfascinatingbecauseIgettoseethetruelifeofthenativesratherthanjustabasketfulloftouristsphotographing. IwenttothecenterofGrossetowhichwasaneatlittletown.  Visiting little towns in Europe is always fascinating because I get to see the true life of the natives rather than just a basket full of tourists photographing.  I went to the center of Grosseto which was a neat little town.  Just like any towns, there is a beautiful Italian gothic cathedral in the center.  The Italian gothic cathedrals and churches are magnificent and they look like cake castles.  Not kidding.  The facade is made of marble and the colors are very light such as white, light pink, and light green.  The architectural style in this town was not surprising.  There were quite a few archades, lots of rounded arches on the buildings, and also a few pointed arches.  Rounded arches is a very common architectural design in Italy.

The biggest thing that I noticed in the center of Grosseto was that a lot of people were riding bikes.  It seemed to me that bikes is a big means of transportation in the town.  It’s terrific because it’s a great exercise for the person, and it’s also very energy efficient.  The town just had some clothing shops, convenient stores, bars, and boutiques.  They just had mostly essential stores for the residences.

I will post today’s event tomorrow.  I just went to the beach again and to Jodi’s in-laws for dinner.

Learning about one country’s lifestyle is even more immeasureable when I visit a native’s home because I have the opportunity to learn about how the natives live their life.  Tonight I had the opportunity to visit Luca’s parents for dinner.  His mother is a real Italian chef who made true Italian dishes.  One thing I learned tonight that I did not know in the past is that Italians normally eat pasta twice a day, lunch and dinner.  Unbelievable! That would certainly make my sister, Jessica, very happy.  I had two different types of pasta tonight.  I had Bolongais Pasta and another type of pasta that had olive oil with fish.  They were both very good.  Bolongais Pasta has tomato sause with ground beef.  I also had chicken and Italy’s well-known dish, Caprese.  Caprese is a type of salade that is consisted of tomatos and mozzerella with olive oil.  It’s absolutely delicious, especially the tomatos which taste nothing compared to US.

We all headed out to a pizzeria place for some delcious pizza.  Pizza in Italy are extremely tasty as Italy’s known for its rich tomatos and mozzerellas.  I just got a plain simple margerita pizza which was more than enough for me as I needed to taste the rich tomatos and mozzerella.  It was sure tasty.  Pizzas are definitely not worth missing in Italy!

After eating, we browsed at the markets where they have lots of cool junkies such as jewelry, purses, scarves, and toys.  Europe is always filled with wonderful markets, and they’re always fun to go as I always find something that I may not find in the store as they’re selling specialities, antiques, and unique and artsy handmade products.

Nobody can miss out the delicious gelatos Italy.  These ice cream are as creamy as they can be, and the flavors are disgustingly rich.  We all went to a gelato place where it was filled with many flavors that I have never seen before.  So, I had so many new flavor choices to try.  I just got a tiramisu flavor and a cream flavor.

As we continued to walk, Jodi’s 11 year-old son, Jordan, asked me to hold his hand, and we did hold each other’s hands…

Jodi cracked up hysterically…