northampton, ma

I basically already wrote this all up yesterday, hit the wrong thing on my wonderful Italian keyboard, and zap there went my entire post. So a day later, frustration having subsided, I'll begin on day 11 what got ate on day 10. Basically I have spent the last five days in Certaldo (although not really in Certaldo, I've only been into town a couple times and just to buy groceries). The hostel is set about 25 minutes away by foot, an old Benedictine monastery that was purchsed by a duchess and set up as a hostel-slash-villa. In the last five days I have met the duchess, gone to a 'monster' get together of expats, done a cooking course, bicycled to San Gimignano, and done a lot of relaxing. It's been an excellent transition from the hustle of Rome, weather aside.

Meeting a duchess isn't something that happens everyday. She came up into the dining room of the kitchen one night and basically held court (we knew, and she knew, that she was the center of attention. That sort of thing). She was funny and gracious, a nice experience. When she found out we had some Americans there she immediately went into her love of peanut butter. Most Italians don't eat it or maybe even know what it is, but she has family in the States and loves the stuff. When another girl here also mentioned her love of peanut butter, the duchess perked up and said ''Oh I have some! Want me to go get it?'' Apparently she had just gone to the US naval base in Livorno (on the Italian coast an hour or so from here) and went grocery shopping. She left and minutes later came back with a Costco sized jar of Skippy. Brilliant. We had some chocolate and I asked her if she'd ever had chocolate with peanut butter. She looked confused so I took a piece, scooped it into the peanut butter, and gave it to her. She protested, mentioning her diet and her scale, but my persistence paid off and she tried a bite. She made the classic Italian face when trying a foreing food idea, not wanting to betray that she didn't find it very good but also not hiding the fact it wasn't her favorite thing ever. Her typical Italian response: ''Well I like peanut butter, and I like chocolate, but not together I suppose.'' Further reinforcing the idea that Italians must have all their foods separate from each other.

The get together near Greve in Chianti was pretty fun, meeting people I have never met face to face but have wrote countless messages to on the Italian message boards (slowtrav.com and expatsinitaly.com). Some interesting personalities there, mostly people older than me who are living the dream of owning their own place in rural Italy. I felt a bit out of place considering my age and the fact I didn't have a typical story to share (eg. how's the restoration on the kitchen going? how are your kids adapting to Italian school?). The drive to the place the event was held at was beautiful, I had never before been to Chianti and can see now why it's so popular with the Brits and Americans.

The bike ride yesterday to San Gimignano was great, albeit tiring and difficult. About 5 miles of the trip there was straight uphill, no breaks in the slope. Luckily it wasn't very hot although my bike was shit and made the experience harder than it had to be. San Gim was worth it however and riding rather than taking a car or a bus there was great. Got to stop as many times as I like and soak in the beautiful vistas of rolling vineyards and villas on hills. San Gim was interesting in that there seemed to be a mob mentality of tourism. There was a mob of tourists, and they all seemed to congregate on the one main road through town, never deviating. The roads that run parallel to it were absolutely stunning, medieval and full of nooks and crannies, and I was the only one walking down them. Magical. Saw a thunderstorm cell pass in the distance, it missed San Gim but made for an interesting spectacle seeing the rain sheets and occasional bolt of lightning. It's been an odd June weather-wise. Today I took a break and did a cooking course. It was a bit basic, we learned bruschetta, a fusion style pasta dish with pesto, tomatoes, walnuts, garlic and parmesan, and tiramisu. Eating what we had prepared was the best part, and the host was very fun.

So now I'm going to press ''Post message'' and hope this time the internet gods don't eat my post again. Ci vediamo!