June 13th
After the kids slept in until 10:00 (that's really, really late for our gang), we headed out for a walking tour around the Duomo. It is truly an amazing sight!!! I can't wait to take the tour in a couple weeks and attend one of the Saturday Masses in English. We grabbed another gelato (do you see a trend here?) and jumped in the car to drive towards our villa.
After making a few wrong turns (including driving right up to someone's house on their private drive), we finally found our driveway. Since we couldn't check in until 4:00pm, we headed into the local town of San Casciano to do some exploring. We played in a local park for a while and then headed to the grocery store to pick up some supplies.
I was told and read that many Italians know English and jump at the opportunity to practice using it. Well, maybe I'm just in the wrong part of Italy because no one is practicing with me. I have yet to have any meaningful conversations with said Italians. My escapades with the locals at the grocery store encapsulate these experiences. I can't even get the guy to give me bags for my groceries!!!
Did you ever see the third Indian Jones movie.....I think it's called the Last Crusade? There's a great scene where Dr. Jones is captured, but his enemies realize that his assistant, Marcus, is still on the loose searching for the Holy Grail. Jones proceeds to tell his captors that "Marcus is fluent in over 30 languages, knowledgeable in local cultures, able blend into any environment.....you'll never find him, he blends!!" The camera fades over to Marcus - standing in a bright white suit in the middle of an Arab market yelling "Does anyone here speak English?". That's how well I 'blend' in Italy :-)
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