Bus Rides

It occurs to me that I have yet to write about my bus trips to and from Arezzo. These trips happen fairly often due to several reasons. The train station is in Arezzo as is the police station (which apparently you have to visit in order to get finger printed and you have to get finger printed in order to study in Italy…who knew?). Arezzo is just a central location essential to small towns such as Sansepolcro. I’m not an overly huge fan of Arezzo, but that’s just a personal feeling. I guess I should say that it has very little hold over me. However, the bus rides are a favorite of mine. Today (Sunday), I returned from Venice and Verona (which I will write about later) and we caught the 5:15 bus back to Sansepolcro. I have made the discovery that this is the absolute best time to take the bus because the sun is just beginning to set and the Tuscan colors are set off to an absolute tee. The small town of Anghiari is one we always pass when going back to Sansepolcro. Today, I have seen it in its glory. Anghiari is set on top of a hill and when the bus goes around said hill, the entire valley is laid out before the starving eyes of weary travelers such as myself. With the sun brushing the browns, golds, greens, and other autumnal colors it truly becomes the vision everyone says it is. The houses, quaint in their archaic ways, are clustered in groups scattered around the valley and their colors are man’s attempts at imitating nature. They have done a splendid job and unlike most manmade buildings, provide a pleasing scene for the onlooker that does not clash horridly with the surrounding countryside. It is this sight that finally produces a sigh of relief from me. I am almost home.

At the same time it is strange to think of Italy as home… mostly because so much of it is still foreign to me. I’m a just beginning to touch the tip of the iceberg that is Italy’s history and I won’t get far beyond that tip by the end of the semester. Yet I have friends here, and the girls are so close to me that they must be considered family. I have a comfortable bed, wonderful food, and people who love me both here and back in the States. Therefore, it must be a home.