A few random thoughts and thank yous

First of all, to those of you following the blog and enjoying it, we are so glad. To those of you who are posting comments, thank you so much. It's very nice to hear from you. Josh, call your sister and tell her I'd like to hear from her, too!

Second, another huge thank you to Maddie, the travel agent. The places and people she has hooked us up with have far exceeded our expectations. I knew before we met Monika the other day that it was going to be a great experience. Our friends, George & Eleen, were in Italy last July and had told us about this amazing day that they had with a guide named Monika. In one of those "small world" phenomena, we ended up being booked with the same guide. By the way, Monika says " Hi, to George & Eleen". I think you've already read about most of the amazing things we did with Monika. She seems to know every road and almost every person in Tuscany. As we were having a quick espresso at the shop of one of her friends, Mo asked what she does in the off season. Turns out she's affiliated with 2 very small colleges in the U.S. Of course, one of them would be Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wa. What are the chances?

Thanks again, Monika, for the amazing day and for your suggestions of things to do on our own. Yesterday we went to Rapolano Terme on the advice of Monika. This is a natural hot spring spa that we never would have gone to had it not been for Monika. I'm pretty sure we were the only Americans there. Again, it was a little challenging manevering through the different bathrooms and changing rooms that had no signage in English. Cinda & I thankfully found a nice woman who spoke enough English to keep us from doing anything embarrassing. Not sure how it went for Mo & Robb, but I heard no screams or funny stories.

Lisa, thanks for all the books and suggestions. We think of you so often here. I can see you living here. We were shopping at the local street market yesterday in Castellina in Chianti. Came across the most beautiful black swater with ruffly fur down the front. I asked Mo who it reminded him of and he immediately said Lisa. We would have gotten it for you, but I wasn't sure about the size.

On the subject of shopping; WOW! I want to buy everything. While there are a lot of large, high end shops in the bigger cities, I especially love the small artisan shops in the small towns. Scarves are all the rage here. Everyone wears them. Even Mo and Robb are rocking the man-scarves. Mo got himself a lovely black leather man-bag in Radda yesterday and a belt in Castellina. A pair of pointy leather shoes and maybe some red pants and he really will be "Euro-Mo". One of my favorite places to shop is, of course, the kitchen stores. It's probably good that I'm limited on how much I can carry on. I made a huge haul at the ceramic shop and fortunately, that will get shipped. Also arriving at home when we get back will be lots of vino and olive oil. The only thing we can't figure out how to bring back is the meat and cheese, and it's a real shame. You just can't get meats and cheeses like this at home. Most of you reading this blog probably don't know who Topo Gigio is. You should google it. Topo Gigio was a little Italian mouse puppet on the Ed Sullivan show. Topo Gigio is my new name here. I LOVE the cheese. The Pecorino di Pienza (that we bought in Pienza) is outrageous. The other night we had antipasti with aged Pecorino and Pecorino fresco on bread drizzled with honey, then broiled. The only thing better than a hard Pecorino is a soft Pecorino. I know, I never thought I would say that either!

Well, enough from me for now. By the way, if anyone from Longview is following and you talk to Trish, tell her to give Lil a kiss for us. Has she driven them nuts yet?
Ciao
Topo Gigio