Back home? Well, yes

Friday.

We were packed up by the time we had breakfast and left our B & B a bit before 9 am for the tube station. We took the Piccadilly line to Heathrow but got off at Hatton Cross station just short of the airport where we took a shuttle bus to Terminal 4 to pick up our two bags left there when we arrived in London. We then took the Heathrow Express train to Terminal 1 where we checked in for our flight to Rome. We zipped through security and had a leisurely wait of about an hour and a half before our flight. We boarded on time but had a bit of a delay waiting for a couple to get to the gate – during which time the airline staff was looking for their luggage and the captain said over the intercom that whichever came first the people or their luggage off would be the determining factor in our departure.

We arrived in Rome a few minutes late after a rather bumpy flight over Paris but a beautiful cruise over the French Alps – hey life is full of tradeoffs. Anyway we landed just fine (important in flying) and picked up our car at Thrifty (which of course it ISN’T) and headed north on the A12 to Siena. We soon realized we were not going to make our original scheduled meet of 7 pm so we called Roberta to let her know we were running late. (Roberta was acting on behalf of the apartment owner, her father, who spoke no English.) Anyway right after we spoke to her Patti Bechi called to see how we were doing and we brought her up to date. She was planning on meeting us along with Roberta and her father. We pulled into the Porta Romana about 8 pm and soon met up with Roberta, her father and Patti. We took two trips into the city in Marcello’s car and left our dog of a Nissan outside the walls.

We all met at last at our apartment and what a place! It has plenty of room and the kitchen is absolutely fantastic. We all talked for a bit and they showed us the specifics of the place. I mean after all a space is a space. But of course this space is a BIT different. It happens to be located over the stall (stables) for the winning horse of the 16 August Palio. That’s right. After 44 years the Torre contrada (where we are living) won the Palio and there have been parties nonstop every since, although they officially end the 16th of October Anyway it didn’t bother us in the least and in fact only adds to the fact that we are home at last.

OK it sounds strange but we cannot help but feel that as we went about our shopping chores on Saturday. And not just shopping but visiting our regular spots: like the Bar Quattro Cantoni (4 corners) where everyone still remembered us and where continue to have our regular morning coffee, just like we did when we were in school. And later in the day when we went to Cantina in Piazza and renwwed our friendship with Airone and Alessandra and talked wine pretty -- much all in Italian -- and where Alessandra remembered us the moment we walked in the door. (The wine we tasted and talked about was by Jermann: we discussed which was better their Sauvignon or their Chardonnay.

We made two trips to Conad for groceries during the early afternoon on Saturday and one trip to the in-town department store UPIM for some household items. We’re settled in quickly and then spent the afternoon renewing a few other old friendships: places we have loved to walk and in whose company we have found many pleasurable moments. After an early evening passegiata and aperitivi at Nannini’s (two negroni sbagliati thank you very much: Campairi, Vermouth and Prosecco sparking wine) we headed back home to fix our very first dinner in our new apartment. After dinner and cleanup it was back out to watch the Torre festivities – their big celebratory dinner was held just a block over from our apartment – and stroll around the city and of course indulged ourselves in some gelato near the Campo.

A little after midnight the grand finale fireworks went off for the Torre celebration. Quite important for these people and gives one pause to remember that sometimes the things most important in life are those right in front of us, those things that are always with us every day, day in, day out. I guess it’s up to each of us to figure out exactly what those things might be, and maybe that’s the hard part.