Antonella was busy in the kitchen, prepping breakfast, by 7, so by the time 8 came around, we were already dressed, showered, and fed. I called Steve, and found that, being Sunday, none of the tour companies were running. We were out of luck. “Well, if you guys don’t have to leave until 2, why don’t we just wander around town this morning and see the sights?” That sounded good to everybody, so we decided to meet at 10.
| What to do for the next two hours? Lana suggested that we
probably had just enough time to do laundry, which we really needed to do.
So we packed up and hustled down to the laundry mat, on the other side of
the Campo. As we walked thru the deserted streets, we passed a café that
was just opening up, and had the doors open to the street. They had a radio
on, and “Sweet Home Alabama” was blaring out onto the Campo. What an odd
place to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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After we got two loads of clothes in, we wandered around for a while as they washed, taking pictures and stopping at a café for a hot chocolate. The drink was thick and creamy, much thicker than anything I had drunk before…delicious.
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The clothes were done just in time for us to make our 10 AM meeting with Steve and Bob. We went back to the café for another round of hot chocolate, and we snapped some pictures of locals playing in the Campo on this sunny, cold Sunday.
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| After our hot chocolate, we walked up to the Duomo for a tour, but found that it was closed until 1:30. Of course, it was Sunday, they were having services! So Steve and Bob would have to miss it. We toured through the Duomo Museum, which was very interesting, and also led us to a high point where we could get some panoramic views of the town. |
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We stopped for a snack of pizza and wine at a small café.
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| After lunch, Steve and Bob headed to Rome, while Lana and I went back to tour the Duomo. It was beautiful. |
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The day was getting on, and we decided not to eat out tonight. We picked up some pizza, mineral water, and a bottle of wine, and headed back to have a nice quiet meal at the hotel.
As we were finishing up, the couple from Colorado came in and broke out their dinner as we all talked. They had a bottle and a half of wine, and we all shared. Soon an Aussie couple came in, and then two girls, one from Australia and one from the UK. We all sat around and ate and drank and had a ball. All of our companions were younger than us, and were all well traveled. We enjoyed hearing the stories of their adventures.
Then the wine ran out.
Stefan, the guy from Colorado, said “Who’s going to get more wine?” I volunteered and headed out. Seina is a town of about 60,000 people. It was 8:30, on a Sunday night. NOTHING was open. I walked and walked and walked, looking for a place to buy wine. I was having no luck, but was determined not to come back empty-handed. Finally I walked into a little café that was closing up. “Vino?” “Si, vino?” “Take way?” “Si, si!” I was a little surprised…I don’t think most cafes in the US would sell me a bottle of wine to go, these guys were willing. $20E bought two bottles of local Chiante, and the party got wound back up. We hit the sack around midnight.
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The Group, the next morning at breakfast. |
