Wine and Company

I arrived at Maria’s door promptly at 7 o’clock and was admitted to a beautiful room with a comfortable, red upholstered sofa and armchairs pulled close to a dancing fire giving off tendrils of warmth. The room had 12 foot beamed ceilings and a large wooden desk. Maria offered me a choice of beverages and I selected a red wine bottled by her brother. The wine was quite good, a rich, deep ruby color with a hint of smokiness perhaps gleaned from the wood barrel in which it was aged. She had a variety of treats to sample; a spicy sausage, olives, tomato slices, and little toasts spread with a variety of toppings like smoked salmon, cheese, and something approximating caviar. I liked them all!

Maria’s bathroom was a wonder! One first enters a lovely dressing room maybe 15 feet square with a large white bathtub angled across the corner. The bathtub is the old-fashioned sort where the head and feet portions are higher than the middle. The lavatory was a small room off to one side with any old style wooden chair, with arms and a hinged seat, literally a “throne”, which had been plumbed for modern use.

We chatted comfortably in a variety of English, Italian, and a smattering of French, occasionally consulting the Italian-English dictionary I’d thought to bring. Maria grew up in the south of Italy, near Naples and then, marrying a Frenchman, she moved to France where she raised her daughter, Laura, who now lives in Canada. She purchased the 4 story house in Cortona 8 years ago and had it renovated. She confessed that although she likes Cortona and finds it beautiful, the people are rather reserved and hesitant to welcome her into their circle of friends. I think many small towns are like that-closed off to ones they consider outsiders. We found we had things in common. Both divorced, and both rather shy, we find is somewhat difficult to approach new people. We laughed quite a bit and felt very comfortable together. Perhaps Maria will like having me live upstairs. She mentioned she would like to take me to a nearby village to show me something beautiful.

Upon my departure I was kindly gifted with a bottle of the homemade wine I’d enjoyed so much. Such kindness! Another example of a happy encounter!

I tackled a much larger hill today, and with a rest stop or two made it. Afterwards, I wandered back down to my favorite ceramic shop where I’d purchased an olive oil bottle for my mom. I chose one for myself along with a decorative plate to hang in the kitchen and a little bowl to place my open wine bottle in and a bottle topper painted in lovely shades of blue, yellow and orange. I trotted home to get my mom’s bottle so I could have them all shipped together for a staggering sum of money. However, I just cannot lug them all over Europe, they’re far too heavy.

The young woman in the shop, Lana, remembered me. She has the lovliest long hair and speaks three languages, a fact which always amazes me. She spent a long time arranging the shipping of my ceramics, and we chatted while she completed the transaction. We are neighbors as she lives in my neighborhood with her family. Before I left she gifted me with a small piece of an olive oil and beeswax hand cream. It’s in a solid chunk, but as you warm it in your hands, some comes off to be massaged into your skin. Another happy encounter!