Gah, I am such a klutz. Earlier, I was sitting and reading in the library with Jon and Sachin as they planned their Florence trip, and as I was running to my room to grab something, I underestimated my leap across a few steps and crashed onto the stairs. Needless to say, in addition to scaring the others, I also gave myself a decent scab and bruise on my shin (which stung in my cold shower right after). I felt so dumb.
Anyway, things were better earlier in the day (other than waking up with a ton of bug bites on my face and hand). After our delicious lunch (ratatouille! with pasta, then ice cream with strawberries for dessert), I stayed behind to chat with Brigitte a bit and get to know her better. She's so nice and talkative! She told me a bit about her hometown (four hours away in Austria) and her family, as well as life at the castle (and how it's not as easy as it seems--they all have to work really hard, still!). She also told me a bit about her travels (and how her favorite is Africa!), and then she gave a brief diatribe about our generation and its obsession with technology and Google and such, even though those she knows without these things (ie. her friends in Africa) are much happier in many ways. I completely agree with her--nature is such a gift! But she concluded, realistically and rather unfortunately, that it is a very romanticized mindset. It was really refreshing and interesting to talk to her, though.
Then, at 4 p.m., I went up with Greg and Grace to have afternoon tea with Dr. Redman and Mrs. Mary de Rachewiltz, daughter of Ezra Pound. (Nbd, lol) we were joined by two guests from Bolzano, Pier Paolo and Ruth. It was an enjoyable and interesting time of conversation, and Mary really is so sharp! She showed us a book of her poems, compiled by her friend, and she read one to us. It went something like...
"I own nothing, save for the snow falling from the sky on my straw hat in a foreign land."
So beautiful. :) They also talked for a while about an upcoming Pound conference in London, where Mary will be a keynote speaker. She also let us go out on her balcony--what a great view! She also has a really extensive library, since she spent much of her life studying and translating Pound's Cantos.
For dinner, we realized we could eat leftovers from breakfast and save money. Yay! Haha :P
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