6th Post: Trip to Villa Demidoff, Pratolino

The 25 entering the town of Trespiano, 9/12 Waiting in Trespiano, 9/12 Gigante delle Appenines, 9/12 Me & Gigante, 9/12 Inside Gigante's Noggin, 9/12 (Notice support bars) I am not the spontaneous type, although I do like to experience new things. But I am the type that laboriously comes to a decision about which experiences I would like to have, and then when I spontaneously encounter something...I usually love it. Confusing, I know.

Today I learned that to be spontaneous is to allow life to show you things that you might never show yourself--or allow yourself to see. Something as minor as a day trip via bus to a small town outside of Florence has taught me these lessons.

I was skeptical. I had no information from my roommate Jo other than it's a villa, there's gardens, there's a big statue, and we have to take a bus out of the city. Nevertheless, I have been pushing myself to push myself so... I bought two bus tickets from the corner stand and followed Jo--with my 3 roommates and 3 male friends of ours--to the bus stop.

We see 25A pull away as we turn the corner into Piazza San Marco. We wait. We hop on bus 25 and right up and over brown and green Tuscan hills dotted with postcard images of Italian wineries and homes. Gasps. We all reach for our cameras. The bus shakes and bounces and winds its way down the skinny country roads, honking its horn at corners where it swerves into the other lane. I can't help but think of On The Road and the scene where Neal Cassady takes the wheel.

"No! No! 25 A! A!" The bus driver tells us to get off and wait because this particular 25 does not go to Pratolino, which is only the next town over. Shux. We wait and wait. I realize that, according to the bus schedule sign, we are in Trespiano: the Cemetery town. I turn around and see a long stretch of family tombs. This could be the beginning of a college student horror film, but I will never write that...don't worry.

The bus finally comes and the next thing we know, we are walking through the countryside. We have all seen images of this statue online--called "Gigante delle Appenines"--but when we accidentally stumble upon it...more gasps. Jo actually runs toward it.

Villa Demidoff was formerly owned by the Medici family (who basically ran Firenze for a time) half a millenium ago, and they used it to escape from Firenze during the hot summers. In the mid-1800s another family bought it, it became Villa Demidoff, and now it is a public park.

One of our male friends, Max, decided to take it upon himself to see if we could climb the giant. He found stairs, so we did. There was even a tunnel leading up into the giant's skull where we could see the bars holding it up. It was not until later that we noticed the fences had been pushed aside by the gardeners and we had wandered into forbidden territory. We had accidentally stumbled upon an amazing opportunity to go where many others have never been and will never go: where the artists' and workers' hands once worked laboriously (Our other male friend, Alex, has a teacher who helped restore this statue). A story for the grandkids.

Once we got back to Florence, gray clouds closed in on the city and giant raindrops began falling. Thunder boomed and bounced off of the stone walls. It felt like someone was hocking loogies at us. Soon the loogies became a steady downpour. I dreaded making the trip to where I am sitting right now, in the student computer center, typing...but I did it. For you.