58 euro syrup?! What?!

Here are some San Galgano mayhem pictures!

She shoots, she scores! Claire – 13, Tracie – 2, Flies – 0. Claire is a hand-eye coordinated fly killing genius! We have had no new strange critters and the fly population in our house is quickly decreasing…mostly in part to the geniusness of my Raid skill and Claire’s swatting skill. The war will be won! (Is it sad that I find entertainment is updating on the bug killing?!)

Here at the farm I’ve started giving riding lessons to Anna and Mini has become my project horse. Last night I tried cantering him for the first time. It was…interesting. I felt like a sack of beans flapping my legs, kissing, and bouncing through his uneven trot. I have a long way to go before he is ready for beginners. Teaching Anna is lots of fun, and very educational for my own growth. I am learning that I am a stubborn “hard ass” and won’t put up with BS. As in, I hate it when people don’t make an effort and it makes me crazy to simply be ignored. It amazes me that despite this stubbornness, at the end of lessons Anna will give me a hug or randomly tell me that she loves me. It amazes me more that when I call her out on her dis-respect of me trying to help her learn to ride she actually listens and changes her attitude. It amazes me the most that despite my “hardness” we still laugh and have fun. I’m hardly a perfect teacher for her…I think I am learning more from her about who I am, and how to help through love, not control.

Anna’s favorite phrase is “I don’t know”. My dad used to get SO mad at me when I would answer questions with that answer. I have a much better understanding of that frustration now, I see some of him in me, and I appreciate his efforts to try and get me to say more beyond that. Dad, how did you do it…how do you get a pre-teen to talk beyond “I don’t know?”

So, if you didn’t know, I am terrified of the dark. No, I am scared of being in the woods alone at night. A few nights ago I tackled that fear. I took a ride by myself at twilight to pick up Claire’s hard drive down at Ferraia. I can’t lie, it was a little scary. But as I sang to myself (there was no one there to listen) I kept the scary thoughts away (you know the ones that say a vampire is hunting me). And then I started to enjoy myself! I let my hair down, closed my eyes and asked Saturno to canter. Cantering when you can’t see more than 5 feet in front of you with fireflies dancing is an amazing feeling. I felt the breeze in my face and the even rocking of his gait below me. I couldn’t help but smile, it was a fairy tale come true! I think I conquered my fear that night. I feel safe on the back of a horse…even the three year old that almost threw me a week or so ago, especially at night, it was like riding the whole way with my eyes closed, except not, and I love every second, especially the silence of the crickets and the whisper of the trees.

Sundays still remain my favorite day – a day of complete rest. Today we went to Mass at San Galgano and afterwards walked around the Abbey – open air cathedral ruins. Claire came with me today and we had a blast walking around, taking ridiculous pictures and admiring the beauty of the history, of the scenery. We played on the hay bales and admired the building from the 1100s. They even had the sword that San Galgano thrust in the stone still in the stone…Yea St. relics!!
But beyond that, I am smiling and hanging my head in shame as I hesitate to share the appalling truth of this story, the ultimate motivation for this blog. At the same time, it is so ridiculous I can not pass up keeping it in silence, with only Claire to share it with. Folks, I present you the fable of the rare and delicate 58 euro maple syrup:

It started off innocently enough. We took a day trip to Siena on Wednesday afternoon, did some shopping at the market, ate some gelato (I had vino bianco (white wine), which was SO good!), had some pizza while overlooking the Duomo, did some more shopping, and navigated through piles of tourists. As a side note, Claire makes rock star French toast. Unfortunately, the last two times we have had it, there has been NO syrup, which is just wrong!! So for two weeks we have been on a mission to get syrup. On Wednesday, on our way out of town, we went grocery shopping like we always do. We couldn’t find syrup! On top of that, the lines were long and we lost track of time. As we hurried through the cashier, we had to literally run/walk super fast with our canvas bags and week’s worth of groceries in tow to catch our bus on time, which leaves at 6pm! Phew, 6:10 and the bus is running on Italian time…we made it! We knew there was some syrup for sale across the street, without even thinking of the time, without even thinking, period, Claire runs to buy it. Bus comes. Bus tries to leave. I run out yelling “Wait! Cinque minuto por favore, mi ami”…as I point towards the door and my bags, probably looking like an idiot. The bus driver points at his wrist and the clock…he has to go. Fine. I wave him off. STUPID! Naturally, one minute after the bus pulls away, Claire comes running up. We missed our bus. Ridiculous! We call Vittorio, Anna, Thomas. No answers. Finally we learn that Vittorio is in Florence with an unknown return time, Patrizia’s car is broken, Thomas has company at his apartment. We are stuck. Taxi? Super expensive. As the clock ticks we play sticker tag with the fruit stickers and munch on cereal, we refuse to pay for a taxi. Sadly, as 10 pm approaches and Vittorio is still not answering his phone, we need a plan B. Hitchhiking is not an option, sleeping at the train station doesn’t sound like fun. Taxi it is. 5 euro syrup, plus 50 euro taxi ride, plus 3 euro tip equates to 58 euro syrup. How embarrassing. The next day we have French toast for lunch and the syrup tastes stupendous. We treat the bottle like it is made of gold and roll our eyes at each other while laughing. Only us.

Lessons of the week:
- Cold showers can feel better than hot showers
- Wind is AMAZING in this heat (I hate wind!...usually)
- Missing the bus for syrup makes for a great story
- Night rides are more relaxing than scary
- Being ridiculous is just an awesome part of being Tracie!
- Never underestimate the usefulness of large Japanese tourist hats
- I need to learn to say “I don’t know” in Italian
- It is amazing how many meals you can stretch spaghetti with meat sauce into!
- Watermelon Sundays are awesome Sundays