Today was a lovely day really. My friend Susana from Mexico/ Cloarado and I signed up for an after school excursion into the country to Villa Torrigiani di Camigliano. After lunch I headed off to the meeting point and met the people coming on the excursion with me. 4 of us were Australian (different Australians to those in my class + me), 2 from the US and 2 from Latin America (including Susana). We piled into a bus and drove off into the hills above Lucca. Right from the start I was sitting next to an Australian bloke and his wife during our chat it turns out he was a GP in Melbourne…more chat,chat, chatting and we got around to finding out he was the Louey’s GP and knows Karen and Meredith. It was so funny, he was so excited and it was lovely to get to know them. We took multiple photos to send to Meredith!! They were a great group and the Villa was spectacular, really amazing and in the wonderful Tuscan countryside. We went on a tour of the Villa (in Italian but they gave me an English sheet!!) and then wandered in the grounds and the absolutely stunning gardens with ancient trees, banksia roses I would kill for and camellias, azalias etc etc to drool over as well as manicured mazes and on and on. Everyone was so friendly and nice, taking photos etc.
When we eventually got back in our van, Angelo, the teacher from school, took us further up into the hills through the vineyards, old mills, spectacular views that left everyone gasping. We went through the tiny hamlets of (just for the record in perpetuity) Sant’Andrea in Caprile, San Pietro Marcigliano and Valgiano. It really was just great, and a much needed dose of good company. Susana came back to my apartment and had a glass of wine before going off on her way. So all in all a really terrific day.
Home late and have just had some dinner. Now I have to tackle the neglected homework!! The only negative of today was that I nearly got totally ‘doored’ on my way to school this morning…the woman was mortified and I managed to dodge most of it and not come off my bike but it was a fright for an old girl