I Girasole – The Sunflowers!
I always wanted someone to escort me to the sunflower fields in Tuscany! I recall being in a crowded tour bus with my mother in 2013 and thinking, “I wish we weren’t going so fast past these amazingly, beautiful sunflower fields!” Ever since that day, I wanted to return to see them. However, every year that I returned to Florence there were no opportunities for such an excursion – until this year! Several years ago, in Florence, I had the luck to meet Lucia, a beautiful, intelligent young lady as I walked through Florence. As you may have read in one of my earlier blog posts, I just happened to walk into a small store where Lucia worked after walking back from Piazzale Michelangelo and she was so friendly! Ever since, we have kept up our friendship via Instagram and Facebook!
So, on this beautiful second day of my trip, Lucia graciously offered to drive me to the sunflower fields and we had a wonderful time together, eventually! I say eventually because, at first, I was worried our plans would not work out…..
The start of that day began with a difficult walk to language school with my lingering jet lag, which seemed to make my brain even fuzzier as I tried to use Google maps again to find the language school. Google maps just wouldn’t work on my phone and while walking quickly to avoid being late I did not look where I was stepping. Suddenly, as I approached the streets near Michelangelo Institute, my right foot turned and slipped off a curb. It happened so fast and the pain was excruciating. All through class, I had difficulty concentrating. My fear was growing as I thought the worst had happened. Was my ankle broken or was it a bad sprain? After class, every step was painful, but I managed to find a local pharmacy. The pharmacist was very kind and gave me little pills to take (Three times per day. I still do not know what they were!), cold packs, and an ankle brace.
Lucia messaged me through Instagram to say that perhaps we should go on our trip another day. But, I was determined to go! I decided after a few hours that I would be able to walk with my ankle brace on. Unbelievably, the pain subsided. It took me only about 15 minutes to get to our meeting place of the tower of San Niccolo not far from the Ponte Vecchio bridge. I walked gingerly and my ankle seemed better thanks to the pharmacist!
But, that darn phone still would not connect to Instagram! I didn’t understand why this was happening on a brand new phone when I previously purchased a an international plan. Sadly, this occurred throughout my entire stay in Florence. However, soon Lucia arrived and came in this beautiful little black car! And just like that – my bad thoughts disappeared. Lucia is an excellent driver and we passed through amazing landscapes and tunnels! (I couldn’t take enough photos!) We had such a wonderful time talking and listening to music in the car. Lucia apologized for taking a route that seemed to have a lot of traffic, but I didn’t mind one bit!
As we approached the sunflower fields, I felt like a child overwhelmed at Disney World for the first time! The fields of sunflowers hypnotized me with thousands of yellow star-like flowers billowing in the sun. The first field Lucia stopped at had sunflowers with slightly bowed heads. I didn’t care at all! Immediately, I whipped out my cell phone and began taking photos. Lucia did the same and took some lovely photos of me in the fields. After a short while, Lucia wanted to drive us to another sunflower field where the flowers were in more upright positions. There are no other words that come to mind except it was simply breathtaking!
For me it was just an incredible feeling to be among so many golden sunflowers. I will always be extremely grateful to Lucia for taking me there. She also made dinner reservations for us at a restaurant in Certaldo, a lovely town in the province of Florence, Tuscany. What an unexpected surprise! Lucia and I admired the medieval architecture after dinner. This was a much better time to walk, since the way to the restaurant on a steep hill was quite a challenge in the hot weather!
At the Enoteca Boccaccio restaurant, Lucia and I had a lovely filling dinner outside with a spectacular view. I was happy to let Lucia choose everything for the meal. I had never tasted truffles before and they were delicious!
After dinner we walked around the historic area surrounding the restaurant and looked at the amazing 13th century architecture of such buildings as the Priori Palace, the court of justice, which used to be a prison. Now it is host to contemporary art exhibitions. Also, it was quite interesting to see the church of SS Jacopo and Filippo. Boccaccio (1313 – 1375), the well known Italian author of “Decameron,” is buried here. Additionally, the Musuem Casa Boccaccio , where the author lived his final years, now contains exhibits of his literary works. Unfortunately, it was too late to visit. Perhaps, I will return to this quaint town on another trip to Florence!
As we took the long walk back down to where Lucia had parked, the evening skies closed in with a picturesque skyline and further nice views of the town. We also encountered a few domestic cats along the way to spend a little time with. (Lucia and I both love cats!)
Our drive home was a bit challenging as Lucia became a bit lost. But she is a spirited young lady with a lot of determination! I had no doubts as she used the mobile phone for Google maps and a little help from her mother! Eventually, we made it back to the center of Florence. What an adventure to always remember!
Thank you from my heart Lucia! I will never forget this fantastic day!
ValVentures 