The Italians I Know...Part One: The Philosopher

It was September 2007 and with Mrs.Behi we were in our nine-day drive through Italy. A few days remaining to finish, we had already been to Milan, Sirmione, Verona, Venice, Florence and Pizza. That nice September afternoon, after hovering around some beautiful hill towns in Tuscany we headed towards Rome, the final destination of the trip. I was driving this little hatchback Ford that seemed a bit odd in character since a week earlier when we got it from Milan airport but yet moved us around nicely along. We were heading to Rome to give it back to the rental company the next day. The hills in Tuscany absorbed us so nicely with their spiraling narrow roads and medieval castles and farms and vineyards stretching all across the land and I guess I might have taken it too hard to the little car and it started gasping when we reached Volterra, high on top of a steep hill.
As we descended from Volterra and headed south, I realized that the oil alarm was blinking, not a sharp intentional blink that looked programmed but like a half burned lamp struggling to show some light but you couldn't tell if it was really on. We were on the belt road of Siena where I pulled over in a gas station and checked the oil. We had enough!
In a phone booth:
Me: Hi sir, I rented this car from you there and then and I am here now (on a Sunday) and the oil lamp is blinking
The car rental guy: Oh, yes sir I see that you are going to return the car tomorrow in Rome
Me: Yes!
The guy: So I say you carry on, you know this might be an electric malfunction of the lamp! It happened before!
Me: You sure?
The guy: Yeah all Right! enjoy your trip...

And we did...It was almost sunset and we moved away from Siena heading to Rome. Then after 10 Kms and luckily with with us on the slow lane of the highway close to a parking corner, the engine stopped and didn't breath again. We were living in Libya back then and my cell phone was not working in Europe. There we were, helpless!

With the blinking flashes and the red triangle installed plus me gesticulating by the road wearing the yellow night jacket, I could see many cars slowing down but speeding up again. A young guy stopped and I asked him to call the rental agent. He could not speak English that well but promised to do something in the next gas station. No sign afterward. We waited for another half hour and Mrs.Behi was already starting to convince herself that she would spend the night in the car! Many passed us with rush to catch their dinner plans...

The first Italian that we know was also going to dinner. He was driving a car as small as ours and swiftly pulled over and stopped when met him and his friend. They were heading to have Pizza in a nearby town. There in the chill of the night and under a remarkably beautiful night sky full of stars, we met Michele, a professor at university of Siena who was and I guess still is teaching philosophy and medieval art. We were so happy and thankful that they stopped yet he was negatively surprised that we waited as long as we did and no one stopped. "Don't mention it, I was also helped before similarly", he replied.
He was so kind to call the rental company to explain the situation and followed up to coordinate the towing car to drag us back to Siena. While waiting, we got to talking and realized that the city that we were about to miss and had no plan to visit, was a real attraction for itself and it would be a pity not to see it. Siena became the unplanned destination and a positive side of the car breakdown.
Michele was a special person. Expert in medieval art and philosophy, I felt that he had a corner of comfort for himself departed from the noise of modern days.

We followed the towing car riding with Michele and left him and his friend in Siena to give them a chance to have dinner while their original plan had already ruined. All that with a promise of having them for lunch in Siena the day after.

It was all but regretful. Siena had a wonderful atmosphere. We met Michele again after getting a new car from the rental company and toured the town with him. He showed us his book on the shelf of a bookshop. He was a critique of Kant philosophy and the book was about that, in Italian.
The best part of the tour was lunch. He suggested that we eat in a restaurant in Siena run by a family for generations. It was a very humble place below one of the arches in a corner where you wouldn't see it unless you knew it was there. It was named "Grattacielo", Skyscraper in Italian. The place was a very small but I bet the taste of the food could indeed rival many rotating restaurants. Tuscan home made food was one of the best we had in the trip and we owe this to Michele and his favorite skyscraper.

We left Siena all refreshed and very happy by the experince. Our trip to Italy was a well planned one yet the deviation from the plan was the part that is greatly remembered. Thanks Michele :)

Comments

[claire valenti]

hello! to those who are planning to follow Mr.Behi's steps to the eternal city I suggest to visit vacation rentals in rome to start planning your trip by choosing from a selection of hotel rooms and apartments for any budget..ciao

[Don Cox]

Great story. Thanks.

It is nice to read about good people, when the news is so full (as usual) of the doings of bad people.

[Georg Hausherr]

Bonjour Mr. Behi,

Glad to hear you like Sienna. Great city with a splendid Piazza in the middle. And somewhere there, in one of those little coffee shops, they were serving delicious cakes and coffees.

Northern Italy, north of Rome, is certainly one of the most civilized places on earth.

Georg