Piacenza

Yesterday we decided it was best to leave Rome a day early (you can actually hear the your money being sucked out of your wallet--a faint swooshing sound tinged with regret...). We phoned Casa Rossa and asked if it was alright to come early and they agreed. We tooked the cheapest train (41 Euro) to Piacenza, which was not surprisingly also the longest. It took about 6 hours to get here, but the scenery along the way made me forget all my worries. Everyone in Rome speaks English and no one in Piacenza does. The husband, Francesco, of Casa Rossa speaks English well, but his wife, Laura, only speaks a bare minimum.

Casa Rossa has another American wwoofer staying there and the three of us manage to communicate with the locals fairly well. I can understand Italian, thanks to all the French I have had. Josh has a great accent and Lisa has the best vocabulary. Together we practically make one person! So far we have successfully made our way from the farm to Piacenza and ordered food. That is about all I can ask for, really.

Speaking of food, finding the Pizzaria was quite an adventure. Francesco and Lauras daughter, Giovanna, gave us the name of a local Pizzaria that she claimed was the best in town. I promptly lost the piece of paper with the information on it. So we set out from the bus stop armed with only the vaguest idea of the name of the place. We got lost. We asked an old woman if she knew of the place and only understood two words from her: duoma (church) and a sinestra (to the left). Thinking we would never find the place, we wandered past a church and toward the left. I saw a different pizzaria and was too hungry to bother going further. I happened to throw one last glance down the street and I saw a small awning with the word Tosello written on it. Increduously, we walked over to the shop and it was the Pizzaria we were looking for! I have to agree that it was pretty awesome food.

Work on the farm begins on Monday. Today we are wandering around Piacenza and tomorrow Francesco has suggested we head over to Bobbio and hike along the river. Sounds like a great idea to me!

(In case you have not noticed, there does not appear to be an apostrophe key on Italian keyboards. So, do not mind my grammar, or my spelling for that matter. I already know that I am a terrible speller, so no need to mention it! :)