Tuscany Bound at Last. Saturday 19th September, 2009.

Darling and lovable Claudia seems to live a life of casual and stylish chaos, her mobile phone never stops, and I get the feeling she puts out fires as she has to and deals with things as they become worthy of her attention. We had planned to leave for Tuscany between 10 and 11 and were out the door just before 1pm after JR patiently sat with her and booked a few legs of her Aussie travels in preparation for when she arrives in Oz . AJ was excited to be driving through the crazy Roman traffic at last, he sat in the back seat with a grin plastered across his face, happy as larry to be in Italy and on his way to Tuscany. His heart has always belonged to Italy since his first visit with us a few years ago.

Castiglione della Pescaia is beautiful. Claudia thinks it has a population of about 5000 both inside and outside of the medieval city walls. Like so many other Tuscan villages and towns, it sits on a hilltop, a castle and clock tower at its height. The added bonus is that it is seaside with miles of beach to explore and a busy and quite large fishing port. We are all brimming with excitement at our new exchange for the next two weeks. Claudia treats AJ like a Grandson, spoiling him with treats, whatever his heart desires and she loves that he loves it. She took us to her favorite local pizza place and would absolutely not allow us to pay. She finished with a ciambella (sugar covered doughnut), giving into her sweet tooth, and brought a chocolate bombacrema to the table for AJ, he is so spoiled. We drove to a nearby beach to meet her friend Katrina. She was sunbaking with friends and came onto the cafe’s terrace for a quick introduction and coffee. Katrian is our local contact if we need help with anything during our stay. She has a thick smoky voice and is brown and a berry which is quite the norm here on the Italian coast.

Our Castiglione apartment is nice and clean, Claudia shares my need for cleanliness which makes me happy. On arrival she opens the windows and shutters which overlook the piazza below with is beginning to bustle with late afternoon meetings of locals. She hasn’t organised the dongle for our internet connection despite previous communication telling us she will show us the internet connection on our arrival, now we have to await her friends delivery of it, who knows when that will be. I emphasise our need for internet as previously discussed with her. She led us to believe it was all organised – maybe in her mind awaiting the delivery of a dongle from her friend (whenever), is a version of organisation and just differs from ours. Our car exchange agreement has been changed also which is not really a drama, it is just that it is Saturday now and our hire car will not be delivered to Castiglione until Monday, leaving us village bound for tomorrow. We think it will be a great opportunity to explore our new home and surroundings so we are not too worried, we are beginning to learn that this is Claudia and her ways, and it fits in with the Italian way perfectly – it is us who have to adjust and that will come with time in our new host country.
We wave goodbye and give Claudia kisses as she leaves to drive back to Rome. We all adore her and her discombobulated ways. We look forward to spending one night with her when we return to Rome.

AJ has a choice of 4 beds to sleep in in his room with its green shutters opening out over the busy piazza just like ours. AJ is keen to get on Claudia’s bike and go exploring so JR and I take part in the very Italian pastime of an evening stroll up and down the busy via. He keeps running into us and seems a bit down. He sees kids out with their friends and I think it reinforces the feeling of loneliness for him. He loves us I know but we are no substitute for his friends. We show him his boundaries around the streets inside the walls and at one end he is allowed to cross the main road on a pedestrian crossing giving him accesss to the pier area and promenade along the beachfront, it will be great for him and safe I am sure.

We arranged to meet back at our piazza at 7.30 and to our surprise AJ arrived with Manuel, a boy his age. They had met in the nearby square. We were going for dinner but AJ was keener to meet a few local kids so off he went with 10 euros in his pocket and pep in his step. Manuel was eating with a group of 12 and 13 year olds, celebrating one of the girl’s 13th birthday. AJ joined in and was allowed out until 10.30 as long as he was with the group. As it turned out, we saw him a few times as we wandered around the village after an amazing dinner of our own consisting of salsicia pizza and spaghetti carbonara. I love Italian food! AJ’s curfew extended out a few times as we bumped into each other. We could see the kids were having innocent fun, running around the streets, up and down from the castle, and he was so happy. He called it quits just after 11 after his new friend was picked up, he was buggered. He caught up with us sitting at a roadside bar, on padded bench seats, I had the remains of a tall Pina Colada on the table. He shared his adventures with us. We were all so happy in our new home, the next chapter in our wonderful adventure making France a faraway, but no less wonderful memory.