Tuscany, Italia- Part 2

Our trip to Tuscany began with a beautiful bus journey from Florence to San Gimignano, Tuscany. Tuscany's heart are the vineyards and olive groves, which are more charming than we expected in the winter season (it is really warm for us). Tuscan people are even more captivating than its landscape. San Gimignano is a quaint village in Tuscany that use to have over 100 towers during the medieval time period. Currently, it only has 18 towers. San Gimignano rose from an ancient etruscan settlement around a seventh century parish and a castle gave to the Volterra’s episcope in 929; during the XII century became a city-republic. Its first walls were born in 998, when San Gimignano became a business center. While we were in San Gimignano we decided to stay at a bed and breakfast farm (agritourismo) on the outskirts of town. We first wanted to rent Vespas to go the bed and breakfast however, the rental shop was closed for lunch, which commonly in Italy means the entire afternoon until about 4pm...plus we looked at the prices and they were outrageous since they were the only shop in town. So we decided to hop into a taxi and go. When we arrived at our bed and breakfast we were greeted by our host and she informed us that we were the only guest staying there for the night. We asked our host what time dinner was served and she also informed us that they do not cook dinner for guests in the off season (not mentioned on the website of course).

However, she has a plan. She pointed at a town miles away from the house that we could see in the distance from our hillside bed and breakfast. She said we would find dinner down there and we could walk it. To our amazement, she thought this was a brilliant idea. Of course as we were walking on a windy road in the unknown hillsides of Tuscany with no shoulder, we thought different. This proved to be a great adventure that led to a wonderful dinner and a late night plea for a taxi back to the bed and breakfast that Monica had to negotiate the price in her best Italian effort. While traveling in Italy, every naive tourist needs a bit of grease in order to glide through each sticky situation, as there is no shortage of them. Thus, the words of our generous tuscan restauranteur echoed inside of our heads, 'It's not Tuscan cuisine without olive oil." Indeed there was no shortage of olive oil too. The next morning we arose to a beautiful sunrise and walked back into that same town miles away to take a train back to Florence. Here are some glimpses of this romantic region...

The Town we walked to in Tuscany, starting the trail through the olive groves...



Our Tuscany Agritourismo...









San Gimignano, Tuscany....

Italia- Part 1

Our first few days we spent in Rome touring around. Then we went to Tuscany and stayed for one night. The last day and night we spent in Florence. Somehow we managed to speak close enough Spanish to Italian to get around without missing any of our trains, planes and busses. While I would not dare negotiate on a bicycle the hair-pinned turns, impossible road construction and the unquenchable testosterone of young Italian men behind the wheel of a Fiat Panda Jolly, it is essential to go by car or vespa (motorbike) if you really want to enjoy Tuscany. A combination of Monica's uncanny knack for making the best of any difficult situation and my simple refusal to let exhaustion, inconvenience, pain and peril get in the way of a formidably relaxing holiday kept us in high spirits indeed. If it werent for these divine gifts of patience, persistence and bliss, Monica and I would have had the worst time of our lives. But how can we? After all, it is Italy! Indeed, we had one of our greatest times traveling together in Italy. There was never a dull moment. Allow us to enlighten you by providing a couple of tips before you journey to that dreamy land we foreigners call ITALIA....

First day in Italy...If you've ever spent an entire day or two touring on foot in another land, you will, as you know, develop a raw spot where your upper thighs meet your middle torso. The inevitable friction of skin rubbing against skin and the irritability caused by a combination of dyed boxer shorts and suspenders, doused with a bit of hard-earned sweat can make a leisurely walk in a nice place like Tuscany feel like the semi-aquatic life of trench warfare. While Monica retired to the shower, I was charged with the task of going to the local pharmacy to retrieve some chaffing ointment. As soon as I entered I was approached by a middle-aged Italian woman with a pleasant smile. Taking a quick glance around in the interim, I could tell I was not going to get far without the help of a local. 'Bonasera' I said, as the lady in the white coat quickly realized that I was either an American, Canadian or flamboyant Englishman. I felt that if this lady had been trained as a pharmacist, she could probably understand, if not speak, a bit of English.

Hmmm diaper rash ointment...that probably is going to translate in a very curious way. After a few attempts of saying diaper rash ointment in English and broken Spanish, I ended up having to act out the necessity of diaper rash ointment for her. I somehow had a brilliant thought of rocking a make belief baby in my arms while trying to signal pain in the baby's bum, using my own as a model. At this point the kind Italian woman still was not getting the message and took matters into her own hands. She called over another staff member and I found myself acting out the same scenario for him. There was a hesitation in his face but then he sheepishly said 'ahhh...rasha'! Yes! RASHA! I could hear a Hallelujah chorus... It was a miraculous breakthrough. They almost collided with one another as they dashed to the shelf that held the prized diaper rash ointment. Of course, I was feeling a bit sheepish myseIf and rather vulnerable so I felt the need to tell them it was for "our baby" (the one we don't have). I mumbled something about our 'bambino' and thanked them profusely, wishing them a good evening as I waddled out the door like a limp and severely chaffed penguin. By the way, for future reference, the name of diaper rash ointment in Italian is...'Pasta di Fissan.' Pasta!? What! I thought this was just a food. Not in Italy. Our first night was already so eventful we could only imagine what the rest of the trip was going to hold. Here are some of our pictures to highlight this amazing place...

ROMA-

The Vatican







Fontana de Trevi



Colloseum













Gelato!!!




Rome Sunset

Kwiduk

Oxford really is an international crossroads. Every nation in the world must at least be represented here if not living in Oxford. Kwiduk, who is from South Korea, is one of our friends we met in Oxford last October. He has a faith that can move mountains. Yet this is a faith that he has to fight for even within his own family. Kwiduk awakes every morning and begins the day with prayer (for at least one hour he told us)! This is so evident in how he lives. Even though he was in the beginnings of learning English, he communicated so much joy to us. As he has already left Oxford to go back to South Korea, we wanted to ask any praying person to pray for him and his village and family which is right near the border of North Korea.

Kwiduk and & Us in our Flat

Belgium Waffles & Chocolates

So our European adventure continues...over Christmas we went to Belgium to visit with Ian's family who lives there. We had the opportunity to see Brugges and Antwerp and parts of Brussels. Did we mention the food? Its the simple things in life that matter. Waffles and Chocolate. Brugges had the most spectacular heritage and scenery that we saw in Belgium. We had bikes (thanks to Ian's Uncle) to explore many side streets of Brugges. Here are some of the photos of Beautiful Brugges...

Banker to the Poor

This month in Oxford we got invited to meet Dr. Muhammad Yunus. We heard him speak in the famous Sheldonian theater in Oxford on Poverty and Social Business. He was a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But beyond the fame he is a humble man that loves the poor. Muhammad Yunus has often said, "Humans are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty; they suffer now as they did in the past because we turn our heads away from this issue." Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.
From Dr. Yunus' personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Us & Muhammad

World's First Fair Trade School-We Love Fair trade Coffee

Our university in Oxford is the world's first fair trade school. Fair Trade pretty much means exactly what it says. It is all about making sure that products exported internationally from “developing” countries to “developed” countries are produced under fair conditions. That means promoting the payment of fair prices, safe and healthy working conditions and responsible environmental practices. Here are some of the fair trade murals we see daily all over our school and quotes from local farmers...





More info on Oxford Brookes University Fair Trade:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/facts/environment

Neighborhood Sheep Apprehension...

Good thing we saw these along our way. Otherwise who knows where we would be with a cup tea.