And so it begins... To a very rocky start (read on to find the pun). 'Twas quite the windy evening as I walked up the ramp of the Isle of Wight ferry, so much so that the ticket lady held my hand for fear I'd be blown over, due to my oversized backpack (damn those extra shoes). After 2 coaches, an attempt to sleep on an airport floor, the worst sandwich I've ever eaten ( I mean really people? Avocado and olive? Who honestly thought that would work?)and a 2 hour flight, that I must have slept though because I do not remember a second of it, I was in Italy. Now I just had to get from Bologna to Florence in 2 hours, which would have been fine had it been any other human being, alas, this is Jacqui Becks blog. Mum says "go straight to the tourist information box and ask how to get to the train station.", so I do and here is what I get (read next section at high speed) "get the bus, you go down, out and right (points left)." Suddenly her answer starts speeding up more and I'm left with "you have to get tjkfsbcfebvq36hjvv8" (genuinely what I heard). So I say thanks and go the way she pointed, figure out it was the wrong way and walk back, find the bus, get to the station, end up having to by a first class ticket as all trains to florence are booked for the next 2 hours. Finally get on the train someone's put their things in my seat! Apparently someone is sat there says the man opposite. Luckily for me this man looks at me with pity and probably thinks, due to my disheveled appearance and little girl lost eyes, this is the first and last time I'll ever be going first class ( which is most likely true) and he gave me his seat! Then the evil warlock came back to my seat and went to sleep, so as soon as my stop came I dragged my backpack out and took her legs with it (mehehehe).
And here is where the fun begins... I met the family I will be au pairing for and they drove me to the gorgeous little countryside apartment that we would be staying in for the night. We then drove to a massive ass vineyard where an artist was doing a show and possibly raising money towards bees? Or owls? Something like that anyway. So this artist had built two large paper and clay chimney/fireplace type creatures outside, one made to look like a volcano and the other a rectangular cage. We went inside where there was a presentation on bees (hence the possibility of bees) and I met the owner of heaven who when introduced looked suddenly taken aback (I think that's a word), which I like to think was because of my outstanding beauty but most likely was the fact that I hadn't washed in a while...
The evening went on and the moment it got dark the volcano had fire shooting out the top and the cage was glowing orange, then some guy starts playing the guitar and another waps out a digeredoo! Ohhoho this is the life.
What happened next I can't even begin to describe, the volcano collapsed and above the ashes was a glowing with heat catacomb, 'twas one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Then they outdid themselves by opening the cage to an owl sculpture on top a giant game of very hot Jenga. The night ended to a blues band. Boom.