6+ Months     Hasta Luego     Days 122-157     Western sunrise     Days 85-122     Gaudi was right     Days 72-85     Barcelona rises     Days 59-71     Anchovies and Kitty Cats     Days 47-58     Patrino means paradise     Days 39-46     Alp d'Hamish     Days 24-38     French Laundry     Days 18-23     Conquering Britain!     Days 10-17     Made it to Mosjoen!     Days 6-9     Arrival in Frankfurt     Days 1-5     SF - Vancouver     - Email Leslie     - Email Sasha

August 30, 2004, Sasha Days 47-58 As I write this, Leslie and I have been through a roller-coaster of terrible news and wonderful outcome. Last Thursday I called my mother to say hi and I heard the terrible news: She was diagnosed as having cancer of the uterus. There is nothing worse than being so far away from your parents at times like this. She was going in that day for a radical hysterectomy and then we would find out if the cancer had spread. A very anxious and nervous next few days seemed to last an eternity as we awaited the news. First step was a success: the surgery went perfectly and there were no complications. The doctor didn't see any visual signs of the cancer spreading. The bad news is that the cancer was of the 'clear cell' variety, which meant it could spread to the abdomen with greater ease. The time difference meant lots of late nights phoning California, not that there would be any sleep anyways. The irony of being in one of the most gorgeous locations in the world, and in a complete state of dread and fear was a tough one. But my anxiety couldn't come close to my mom's, who had been dealt the harshest blow a doctor could deal. My mom insisted that we continue having a wonderful time and send her good thoughts and energy. So we tried. One of the many beautiful crops the Tuscans grow are sunflowers, and right now the fields are full of them. But since they dry them out, the flowers are all facing downwards, as if they're weeping. I almost felt like the whole country was weeping at the news of my mother. But there was one field we passed by many times with a gigantic sunflower in the middle of it sticking it's head high in the sunlight, almost smiling in the face of all he other's sadness. This gave me incredible hope because that sunflower embodies my mom's attitude, always smiling and staying positive no matter what. All right, no more analogies. The 4 days after the surgery were difficult because we had to wait for the pathology report. The first report came back with some great news, the tumour had only reached 1/2 of the thickness of the uterus, so it had not spread immediately. We still had to wait for the 2nd. report (lymph nodes) to tell for sure if it had not spread. Wednesday finally brought the wonderful news, that the cancer had not spread and no further treatment was needed! The news came late at night, about 3am our time, but Leslie and I were so overjoyed that we couldn't fall back asleep. It's been 3 days since the news and I'm still overwhelmed with relief, joy, hope and love. Someone is watching out for that woman! Back to the travel stuff: The tour book said it best, you can't think of visiting Italy without a sigh. It's a place of beauty, confusion, mystery, mania and peace all in one. There's un ugly side, a gorgeous side and just about everything in between. Coming down from the alps we randomly picked a destination on the map, Biella. A somewhat large unattractive city, but like most Italian towns, there was an old part which was gorgeous. For such a large town, there were only 3 or 4 hotels, and we ended up at what we called 'overcomplicated 80's hotel' in the nice part of town. Everything in the hotel was automated, over-designed in the 80's and not touched since. Onward south we were getting anxious to reach the curious 'Petrino,' our final destination in Italy. Leslie's cousins in London heard we were looking for a place to stay in central Tuscany. They had a good friend in Australia with a villa he rarely uses in the hills above Arrezzo. Some email exchanges later and the generous Dr. John Gage allowed us the use of his Italian home for 2 weeks without charge. Very lucky indeed! In the race to Petrino we ended up on the Autostrada for the majority of our trip southward. I'm still unsure if there is actually a speed limit on the Autostrada, as cars were easily reaching 140mph without concern. Needless to say we arrived very quickly. The roads leading up to Petrino have no names, so we were drawn a treasure map and instructions for where to find the key. We drove up a bumpy but gorgeous dirt road and if it weren't for Leslie's keen eyes we never would have spotted the small stone house. It took an hour or so to figure everything out like the water pump, boiler, electricity switches and unusual toilet procedures, but finally we were here, and you couldn't smack the smiles off our faces with a baseball bat. The dusty and disheveled villa would claim us for the next 2 weeks and we got to know the area very quickly. First to the little town Moulin Nuovo at the base of the dirt road. If you could call it a town, there is just one small store that doubled as a bakery, market, coffee house and meeting point for the 10 or 12 houses that surrounded it. The family that runs the market goes back probably 5 generations and it's about the size of enclosed bus stop. Dina mainly runs the store now, assisted by her mother and son Fabio. Seeing we were English speakers, Dina quickly called over Howard, who lived next door to do some translations for us. Howard is from London and spends the weekends between Moulin Nuovo and Arretzo. This is made possible by flights on RyanAir that literally cost $2 each way between London and Rome (Rome is the hub for RyanAir, even though it is a British company, so there are flights every hour from London which are almost empty. Somehow it works out that the money they make from other routes pays for these 'free' flights). Anyhow, Howard has been our guide and host while we're here. His wife Eddie, and son Pierro have been incredibly warm and inviting. So much so that we were guests at a proper Italian Sunday lunch with grandma's cookin'. It took about 4 hours and nap to get through. On Tuesday we took a trip up to Florence to spend the day wandering around, and the evening with Leslie's friend Dileta. Even in my anxious/nervous state, it was fun to visit the home where Leslie lived for 4 months during her Forence chapter. Dileta is the daughter of Leslie's host mother and lives in a tiny apartment below her mom's tiny home. Hanging with the locals meant a fun dinner at a restaurant that undercharged us at least 40 euros. Another interesting chapter in our stay here was meeting a group of 10 Floridians here on holiday, all staying in the same large villa near our place. They were exceedingly friendly and bought us lunch at the restaurant where we met. When they heard Leslie is a chef, they quickly asked her if she'd consider coming over for dinner (which really meant cooking a dinner). Leslie agreed and suddenly I became the sioux chef. The deciding factor being that they had a swimming pool and spoke English, two luxuries we've been craving. The dinner went famously and Leslie prepared a very creative menu considering the facilities and ingredients. Marinated roasted peppers, hand made gnocchi with fresh porcinis, insalada mista, and a rosemary rubbed pork loin. Everyone was thrilled, stuffed and very appreciative. Leaving us with some gifts and cash, and a nice afternoon speaking English without reserve. Oh, and a dip in a beautiful pool where some of the men decided to show us their synchronized swimming moves. Not quite as elegant as the Olympics, but not bad for 6 foot tall men with hairy backs. The next day included a trip to Montlcnio where some of Italy's best wines come from. Then to Montlplaciano, another small medieval city on a big hill. The ride alone was worth the effort. There's something about the Tuscan sunlight that makes everything so beautiful, and the afternoon light is as soft and warm as cashmere. No wonder it inspired so many books and movies and works of art. Tiny twisty roads meandering through vineyards, wheat fields, olive groves and ancient castles was truly magical. So needless to say Tuscany has been magical. We have another few days here and then we're off to conquer Spain. More adventures soon! Love, Sasha and Leslie