The New James Page 9   His thought journey halts as the train makes its final stop in Sienna. James exits the train and approaches an employee in the station. He points to the bus route on his napkin, and the employee points to the far left corner of the station. Two hours later, James boards the local bus that travels the country roads from Siena to Pisa. He is once again pleased with his progress and looks back to the napkin. He sniffs it deeply, but there is no special smell. James reads out loud the last portion of Alessandra’s script “Papa Germano at the Piazza del Castello in San Miniato.” He pats himself on the back. He is confident he will soon reach his destination. He feels a brief sense of accomplishment for having completed the napkin instructions. As a reward, he allows himself to glance out the window and soak in the beautiful country view. Or rather, the magnificent view penetrates James beyond his control. Only 15 minutes ago the bus left Sienna and the landscape is already rural. Poppy-splashed lanes contrast with strange bare hills. The bus makes a local stop every 10 minutes and a few people get off. After the first few stops James notices that the landscape has changed. He glances at the Arno basin on the side of the road and allows his head to turn backwards fixed on the basin as the bus proceeds. A few stops later he notices that the landscape has become more populated. The villages are more frequent and seem busier and louder. He guesses the population of each village, the gallons of gas they use. The last consulting project James was assigned involved forecasting natural gas consumption for the Midwest States. Then he sees a gem in the view. He spots a hilltop that sparkles. On this hill is an ancient city colored in red brick. He sees clutches of churches, convents and palaces that seem too near to each other for roads to exist in between. The bus stops and the driver announces “San Miniato.”