When I first planned this birthday trip with the kids, Matt and Michael offered to meet me back on my birthday, so I had to decide where to go until we met back up. I had wanted to return to Italy for years, because the last time I visited I was seventeen, with my mom, and the first time was when I was fifteen. So that pretty much counted as not having been here at all as any kind of grown up. I was hoping to return with my lover, since it is a land of romance and sensual pleasures, but the time was now. So I planned to visit a couple of towns in northern Italy and eat my way down to meet up with the boys in Rome (the only place I could get them out on the free tickets). However, I must now report that the week here has been really wonderful and I feel like I have really been in country – walking the Cinque Terre, visiting five small and not-so-small towns, and I head to Rome tomorrow. What a treat, really.
So, with a whole day ahead of me – and last night’s dinner still inside of me, I head out straight away to rent a bike. Gotta work on some of the mounting Italian side (and behind) benefits. I pedal the bike up the path and onto the wall that surrounds the city, which is about 40 feet wide, with a great walking path used by so many people.
Along the way the wall is sometimes wider and there are grassy areas with swingsets, picnic tables, and benches. People of all ages and nationalities are walking, riding bikes and just hanging out. I stop every so often to snap pictures
and after the second time around, kick it into high gear (literally) and do another couple of laps (each is aboaut 2.5 miles). I then ride down the ramp into town and cruise around various streets and alleyways with newfound purpose: snapping pictures of all kinds of doorways. Probably will come to nothing, but it’s fun to have a goal. Kind of like looking for treasure.
I return the bike after about two hours, and head back to the house to shower. I stop along the way at a little shop that looks old and good, particularly when I see a sign for foccacia con lardo marinado. I go in and ask for one, okay the size of foccacia he cuts, then see him put on some of the marinated bacon. It’s not cooked, and I can’t bring myself to eat that much fat. So I tell him I’ve changed my mind, and ask for some proscuitto, marinated, grilled eggplant, and dried tomatoes instead. Looking good, Billy Ray! Keep walking back and bump into Guilio, who heartily approves of my choice of spots. I walk up the three flights, sit down at the table and eat lunch while finishing my book. Good and oily and delicious! Shower, dress, and head out again.
First stop is to go to the gelateria recommended by Simone. It’s kind of a hike, but you know me! I finally find it, and order chocolate and….pine nut. Finally, a second flavor as good as chocolate! And no worries about ordering dark chocolate. This gelato is like an orb of silken ice melting over my tongue with the most intense chocolate flavor. It’s amazing how silken it is…No granules of anything, not too sugary, not rich and fatty. Just intense, silky goodness. The creamy mate is the perfect foil to the rich, dense chocolate, with bits of pine nuts providing a little texture to the otherwise smooth delicacy. Okay, enough of that.
I head back through the gate in the walls:
and over to the museum of contemporary art, which is hosting an exhibit from the collection of Peggy Gugghenheim. The history of how and why she came to amass such a collection was interesting, although I’m not a big fan of avante garde art.
Headed over to the internet cafe to catch you all up on my antics, then almost time for the Puccini concert. I walk over to the church, which is filling up for the concert. A soprano, a tenor and a pianist. The tenor and soprano take turns singing songs excerpted from both Puccini and Mozart operas. The whole program lasts about an hour, and surprisingly, I decide I enjoy the soprano more. A really fun experience and a great use of church space, if you ask me!
Headed over to another recommended restaurant, located in a little side street with most tables outside lined up on each side of the pathway – red and white tablecloths and all. I have an enjoyable, but not killer, meal and wander back to my place. The 82 degree daily weather leads to such pleasant evenings and I breathe in the moment, the locale and my great luck in this world.