If at First You Don’t Succeed…

Yesterday I finally took a day for myself and went into Siena. Mostly, the trip was to gain a better knowledge of the bus system, as I had to take the bus to and from Siena. Monday, I begin my Intensive Italian lessons, and even though I have to take the 7:10 bus to reach Siena on time, and even though class does not start until 9:00, well, you just never know, and I wanted to be sure I knew how to work the bus. Of course, I did not know what I was doing, and so, here is my story:
I had planned all along to take the bus to Siena on Friday, however, Friday I lost track of the time between poaching some eggs and washing my face. I looked down at the clock and it was 8:51am. Since the bus comes at 8:55am, and I was still in my pajamas, I knew there was no way I was going to make the bus on time. So, I started cleaning instead. This is really a story in its self, but I will try to make it brief. The bathroom was the biggest of my concerns. The soap scum on the bathroom walls has never been cleaned, ever. The first time I tried to clean the shower, I ruined a dish sponge, so while P&S were in America, I took the liberty of buying a few odds and ends, like a hard plastic bristle brush, which I used on the shower walls. I think I ended up getting most of the scum off of the walls, and I am sure that within a few more cleanings it will all be completely clean. Then, I started tackling the mould in the bottom outside corners of the shower. I read somewhere online that if you soak a cotton ball in either pure bleach or pure ammonia and press it into a hard to reach space, like a corner, that after a few minutes the mould will just wipe off. I am here to tell you this is true. I did have to use a tooth brush, and the edge of my hard bristle brush to get the last stubborn bit, but as it turns out, I am glad that I did. You see, I thinking I was just trying to be thorough when started giving the grout around the shower a light scrub, when suddenly all this black grunge started coming up. It smelled horrid, and I imagine it was a combination of years of dirt and a few over flown toilets. I got on my hands and knees (a towel under my knees) and scrubbed all the grout in the bathroom. Who knew the grout was suppose to be white? Then I took the mop and did a little sweeping. The apartment is finally organized so when it came to cleaning the rest of the place, I was mostly just sweeping, and moping. I did dust off the few pieces of furniture I have, but that was it. One day, I am going to tackle the windows. Even though you cannot see out of them, I bet they are still really dirty. Friday, I felt accomplished but tired. When I came over for dinner, I came over late hoping Sam would get the message; there was nothing on the table. So, I asked him if he wanted me to make the frozen pizzas or if he wanted to cook some of the meat he bought. Well, he did get the picture and start cooking (the way I see it is they had me doing the dishes the night I came to them and I was so exhausted. He has had a day to recover so he can certainly do dinner). Maybe as just some form of spite he decided to pan fry the chicken breasts he bought and make a complete floury greasy mess of the kitchen. Of course, he did not even attempt to clean up after himself, and even thought the girls took their plates to the sink at the end of the meal, he left his sitting on the table. It frustrated me to no end that there was greasy all over the place, but I was not about to clean it up, not my mess. And then I just decided, I had to get out tomorrow. So, I gave myself enough time in the morning and made sure I would not miss the bus to Siena this time.
The bus driver who picked me up was not a happy camper. I said good morning to him, and I think I might have heard a slight grunt, but who knows. I found a seat, as my stop is the first on the route, it was easy to find one, and I opened my book. Reading is not a good idea while on a bus in Tuscany. The roads the bus has to take to pick up everyone are so curvy that you start to get motion sick, even if you are not prone to being motion sick. In the end I had to close the book and concentrate on not feeling ill. The stop I wanted was ‘Porta Ovile’. ‘Porta Pispini’ came up first and I knew the next stop would be mine. What I did not know, however, was that you must stand to indicate where you want to be let off, and unfortunately, I had no idea I wanted to be let off a my stop until we had past it. Once we past the stop, I had to ride the bus all the way to the Siena train station, which is about 5.5km or 2.5 miles back to the gates of Siena. So, I walked. I walked all the way back to the city center and by the time I reached it, I was climbing a hill so steep I had to lean forward to keep from falling back, I was really regretting my decision to wear a turtle neck, a sweater, and a jacket. Plus, I had put on my Jo Malone Rose and Verbenas perfume, and I knew I certainly did not smell like a rose…
Still my legs did not give up, and I did reach the gate where I was supposed to get off after about forty-five minutes of walking. The first thing I did was to check out all of the bus stop signs on the street. I found out where and when my bus makes its stops and then headed up to the city center. The Porta Ovile stop is right in front of these series of escalators which I gladly road into the city itself. I had taken them several times before when I came with P&S, but I had no idea my bus stop would be right there as well. Once in Siena, I found the school where I was going to be taking lessons (it was closed of course), and then scoped out the town. I found where I can buy all my beauty stuff, my Clinique stuff, I went into the Upim and looked at all the things they sold for the home, I walked around the town, and looked in the windows of the very old and historic farmers coop (which I will be visiting next time). I also bought about 12 postcards and (that morning before I left I got all the stamps I need from the post office here in San Gusme) I made my way to the Campo. Funny enough, as I was walking down an alley I had not walked down before to get to the campo my eyes floated to this sign “Museum of Torture”, it read. I thought I must surely be mistaken, but nope, as I walked by I saw a worker cleaning the door, and a fake skeleton hung in a human sized cage, and of course the skeletons mouth was hanging wide open. I will have to check that out one of these days. I do not think you see that museum listed in many of the guide books.
It was a beautiful day in Siena, and being the weekend, there were a lot of tourists. Americans were speaking English, I heard some French buzz by my ear a few times, and of course there are always the British. I sat on the ground in the Campo, like everyone else does when it is beautiful outside, and wrote for an hour and a half to everyone in the world I knew. I really enjoy getting out in the mornings, and I was so pleased with how pleasant it was to simply sit and people watch, I thought I might do this more often.
I had planned on going to see an exhibit on artists and madness, but I did not have enough time, what with missing my stop this morning, and then trying to find my way back, I just did not have the time, but I figure it is something to bring me back again. So, I made my way down to the bus. I was there in plenty of time, just sitting on the bench at the stop right outside the escalator doors, when all the sudden this great blue bus comes roaring past me. No breaks, no nothing, I barely had time to read that the bus was going to San Gusme, let alone stand up. You see, the bus stop is on the far end of a curve on a hill so the buses (all standards here) must not like to slow down. I actually sat waiting for another ten minutes, hoping it was just my imagination, and that the bus had not in fact just flown by me like a chicken on fire. Unfortunately, when I asked the girl sitting next to me where she was going, she was so kind to tell me that I missed the bus I was waiting for, and after looking at the posted bus schedule with me, told me I would have to wait another hour for the next one. I thanked her, and went on my way. Some might say I could have gone back up into the city, but everyone closes from one to three for lunch, and it was one o’clock when my bus was supposed to arrive. So, I made my way up to the stop ahead of where I was. At least this stop was more open and I had a chance to prepare for the bus’s arrival. Also, something I did not know was that you have to flag down your bus, as if you were hailing a taxi. I was very glad, by the end of the day, that I had taken the bus once before my classes started because being all hot and smelly for the first day of class would have made me so uncomfortable.
While waiting at the bus stop I met a Roman woman and her husband. She asked me how many gates there were to the city, and I told her I had no idea. Her husband then took off, and she told me they had forgotten where they had parked their car. She said he normally had a good sense of direction, but that they had been walking a lot today and just got turned around. Then she asked me why I was here, and I told her I worked for an American family in Tuscany, and that I was starting language school on Monday, and that I had missed the bus because it when flying past me without stopping so I was waiting for the next one which would come in another hour. I was actually pretty amazed I understood most of what she was saying, but some days are really good for me. She left after about forty minutes. I did not see her husband so I wonder if she went off in search of him, but she waved at me and I did the same. Finally, finally, the bus showed up. Of course it was the same unhappy driver, and this time the bus was loaded up with school children. High school children come into the city for school and have to take the public bus to and from if their parents do not drive them. Fortunately, I was able to find a place in the back. I made it home safe and sound.
The first thing I did was check to see if I had any mail in the mailbox, which I did, and then I went back to the apartment to make a quick lunch, by this time it was almost three in the afternoon and I had not eaten since 7:30 that morning. I gobbled it down, and then bolted to use the free internet downstairs so I could talk to mom and dad. Afterwards, I just decided there was no way I could go over to the big house and have to clean up a big mess. I left Sam a note and an email explaining that I was taking tonight and tomorrow night off (actually I already have those days off, but I like to give a little notice when I am not going to be there for a meal), and headed up to my room where I showered, and went to bed early.
So, here I am. It is Sunday morning, the bells of the old church are ringing, it is 7:45am, and I think it will be a good day. I hope yours is too.