Wednesday was a day full of excitement. To start off the day, Matt and I were put to work at the cemetery. We had to clean the outside, picking weeds and sweeping up the leaves, to spruce up the area. Luckily today was a very beautiful day with very few clouds in the sky and the sun beating down on us. One of the monks was also outside with us cleaning. I think he went a little more into detail than we did, because he was cleaning out the drainage holes where some of the dirt was collected. All I really did was pull the weeds from the ground and sweep up some of the debris of leaves and rocks. After we were done with the outside, Matt took this long stick with a scrubber on the other end to reach the tall ceiling inside the cemetery. It was easy to se that no one had cleaned in there for quiet some time, because the door itself was covered with a giant spiderweb, and when Matt wiped down the lights above, tons of insects and spiders fell dead to the floor. Tomorrow we are assigned to do a similar chore. This time we are to collect branches, cut of the twigs, and place them with the firewood.
Later that day after lunch, which by the way was amazing, the Abbot took Matt, myself, and another monk with him to his car. I didn't understand what was going on when he called us out from cleaning the dishes, but the next thing I knew he was handing Matt the keys. One thing you should know Matt has driven the Abbot's car before, but only a few feet moving it in front of the shop for him. This time he let Matt drive his brand new golf and for a longer distance. We left from in front of the shop, drove down the hill, and took the road back toward the cemetery. I think the Abbot wants his own personal driver and this was just a test for him. I on the other hand will never be able to drive here because I unfortunately can't drive stick. Maybe one day the Abbot will let me practice on his older car, but I wont hold my breath. I also managed to take a picture of it so you can see how nice this car is. Matt is lucky because other than the Abbot, he is the only one who has driven that car.
In the afternoon we were supposed to work in the shop, but once we got there Cecilia told us to get out and explore. She is kind of like our mother here; always telling us what to do and not to do. We even have to get her approval on girls before we can talk to them. I guess she means well. So Matt and I decided to head down to this waterfall that was hidden somewhere in the woods. There is a postcard in the shop that shows both the waterfall and the monastery in the background, so we had to find it. On the walk down we get some great views and photos of Santa Scholastica and the surrounding mountains. I will admit it did take us some time to find the waterfall, because we had to find some random road with a sign saying this way to Benedict's fence, or something like that. I really can't remember what it said, but we wound up asking some guy who works at Santa Scholastica where we could find it. He told us it is near Nero's old villa down the mountain. That actually made it easier to find instead of a sign. We knew we were getting closer because we could hear it now, but it was still out of sight. We had to cross this bridge over the river.
Once we made it over I suggested we go a little deeper in and sure enough, we ran into the waterfall. It was the best sight I have seen in awhile here. The water was so blue and the waterfall looked refreshing. Too bad I didn't have my swimsuit, because this is one lake that I would not mind swimming, and I really don't like swimming in lakes or oceans, so that tells you how special it was.
In total the journey took us about an hour and thirty minutes. The walk down was not too bad, but the walk back up was a little much. We actually started talking about what it would be like to have special powers. I said if you could choose one power to have from this list: super strength, you could fly, or teleport, which would you choose. Matt first said that he would love to fly. I went with teleporting. If you really think about it, it would be better to teleport because you could think of a place and be there. I guess we are still kids in a way, but if you were to walk up this hill, I think you too would begin to think of crazy things like that too.
When we got back to the store we asked Cecilia if she would give us a beer. I think we deserved it after walking a long distance and making it back without passing out, but of course acting like our mother, she gave us water. I think it was a worthwhile trip and would definitely do it again. Next time I will wear something a little more comfortable, like a short-sleeve shirt, and bring a bottle of water and swim trunks with me.
After we closed the shop. I managed to convince Cecilia to take us to Subiaco tomorrow some shopping. It will be a pretty slow day and I think we need a break from the monastery. Maybe I will be able to find my purple shoes there this time. I just know I will not come back empty-handed.
This morning was a job-filled one. We were going to go to the cemetery to do some more cleaning, but that job was on hold. We made our way down to the shop, but before we could even set foot inside Cecilia tells us to follow her. She takes us outside to where the thorns that Benedict threw himself into are kept. She unlocked the gate and told us to pull all of the weeds and sweep up the leaves. As soon as we finished there, Cecilia took us by the cemetery to help Fabrizio, the grounds keeper, with some wood collecting. Of course Cecilia didn't come with us to collect the wood, she just pointed out where we would be going.
The other day when Matt and I were over by the cemetery, we did notice all of these limbs from trees thrown over on the side of the mountain. The Abbot did point out at some point we would be collecting them. I never would have guessed it would have been today. I tried to get one a little lower down the hill, but almost lost my footing. After that, I decided that I would just do the cutting. Plus Matt is taller than me and has a longer reach, so it would make more sense for him to go in rather than me.
We thought we had finished collecting wood and decided to return to our rooms and relax, until we ran into Fabrizio. He said to follow him and we went back to the cemetery. The next thing I know, he is driving an excavator. Some of the limbs were so far down that we couldn't possibly reach them until Fabrizio came back. He managed to pull at least another ten tree limbs that we had to shave down. We finally were able to go back after finishing those last limbs. There were some more, but not even Fabrizio could reach them.
Before we started to eat our lunch, Mattia was commenting on the food. Don Carlo, the 84-year-old monk who likes things his way, was listening to him and decided to chime in. He said the funniest thing that just made Matt and I burst into laughter. Mattia was talking about what they were having for lunch and Don Carlo corrected him. Just to add insult to injury he told Mattia "you know nothing. Shut your mouth." The thing is Don Carlo really only picks on Mattia. Every meal with him makes me laugh because I think Mattia gets nervous around him. I guess you can say that this is my simple pleasure.
After our siesta, we went to the shop expecting Cecilia to take us to Subiaco. She pulled out this map and was pointing out all of these sites we should visit. She then said we were to walk there. We both looked at her like she was crazy. It took us at least 45 minutes to walk to the waterfall the other day which is half way to Subiaco. Once I heard this, I said it's not worth the walk there and back so I told her that I would stay in the shop today. She took us to her office after that and showed us some funny videos. I guess this was to distract us or something. Next thing I know she caves in and decides to drive us to Subiaco.
Now I know what I promised the other day that I would not come back without buying something there. Unfortunately, after going to Subiaco, I did come back empty-handed. The only thing I got out of the trip were some photos and of course gelato from Italia's son who owns the shop. I think it's starting to grow on me, because I now kind of crave gelato. I know we have it at least once a weekend I can't wait until I get my next fix.
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