Country Number 5

We arrived safely at Il Castello in Fighini at around 3:30 AM this morning after 40 hours of grueling travel. Getting out of Pamplona was a task to say the least since all of the trains to Barcelona (and connecting trains) were sold out. Chad took control of planning this escape, and we eventually ended up taking a route that included a 3 hour bus ride from Pamplona to Irun, a 14 hour train ride from Hendaye to Nice, a 7 hour train ride from Nice to Milan, a 3 hour train ride from Milan to Florence, and an hour and half cab ride from Florence to Chiusi. The 8 hour layover in Nice was a good break and allowed me the chance to fall in love with the French Riviera. It was a short affair, but I promised that I would return.

As great a job as Chad did with the arrangements out of Pamplona, there was one detail that we just couldn't work around. Our train arrived in Florence at 10:50 PM - 2 hours after the last train to Chiusi. We contemplated a few different ideas, including renting a car, taking a bus, and/or spending the night in Florence and catching the earliest train. Once we arrived we discovered we missed the late bus, there were no car rental places open, and a hotel was gong to cost 80 Euro. A little Hindu man named Riveen asked us what we needed and we told him he could help us find a hotel room. After he made a call (worked out his commission) and started walking us to the hotel, Chad, somewhat jokingly, asked him if he could drive us to Chiusi (about 123 km) for 80 Euro. He looked like he was going to overheat his brain was working so hard trying to figure out the expense/possible profit ratio. He eventually decided that he needed to consult his GPS to figure out exactly how far it was. He didn't know it, but the fact that he had a GPS unit was a huge selling point to us. He eventually decided that 100 Euro was what it was worth to him (what he thought he could take us for), and Chad and I, although knowing we could talk him down a little, were too tired to hastle with him. 100 it was.

The ride to Chiusi was about an hour and a half and on the way Riveen gave us a quick lesson in Italian. He spoke 6 languages: Italian, French, Spanish, English, Hindi and Creole. For what he knew in international languages, he lacked in sense of direction and ended up dropping us off about 4km from where we were supposed to meet Whitney and dad. My cell died in the middle of trying to give Whitney directions and Chad and I suddenly found ourself in the middle of a small Italian village, at 1 in the morning with no phone and all of our luggage. Riveen's Italian lesson came in handy and I was able to ask for directions to the train station, although not able at all to understand the answer given to the question. Chad minded the luggage while I went in search of la stazione di treno. Everyone I asked would point down the hill so I just kept walking down the hill. I eventually reached the bottom of the hill, realized that our ride was no longer there, and that I would now have to walk the 4km back up the hill. No fun. We were now in survival mode. We stashed the luggage as best we could and went on a search for power so that we could get a charge to my cell phone. We eventually found one in the middle of old town Chiusi, placed a call to Whitney and eventually got picked up. It was the appropriate ending to our 2 day voyage.

This morning was my first true chance to really appreciate the beauty of the Villa. The views are breathtaking, and the serene atmosphere is a great counter to what we have been experiencing over the past two weeks. It will be nice to be able to unpack completely, do some laundry and just unwind for a few days. I have posted our final pictures from Pamplona as well as pictures of the Spanish Countryside and the French Riviera. Remember, you can access all of the pictures here.