ARRIVEDERCI (Until We Meet Again)

"Open my heart and you will see

 engraved inside of it Italy."

                             

Robert Browning

     Our winter in Italy is over and we are back in the USA.  We hope you enjoyed the journey - we certainly did.  You might wonder what part of Italy we enjoyed most.  That's a lot like asking which of your children you love best. Each is unique, each has its own charm,

its own idiosyncrasies,

and its own gifts to offer.  We got around Italy most times with the leased Peugeot, but now and then we took the train.

 

     Discovering each region's foods was a lot of fun.  Sicily's pistachio lasagna, the Veneto's white polenta, Umbria's strongozzi - as Mario Batali (Molto Mario) once told me, "Susan, spaghetti is love." Though I'm sure Jim would like to know what grappa is supposed to mean, I think Mario sums up everything about Italian food that you'll ever need to know.

     As for the regional wines - they are, after all, Italian! If you've somehow missed out on Italian wine (right here in the USA) then, as our British friends would say, that's just a "bloody shame."
  

     We got quite a kick out of rosary beads in a shop window in modern day Pompeii - they were as big as Chilean grapes.

  Guess these get pulled out for mighty big situations.

     Herculaneum, with Vesuvius looming so near, provided thrills, chills and the everyday Italian awe factor.  But lovely Sicily, though decorated with innocent looking lemon and orange trees around every bend in the road, never let us forget that we were near the most active volcano in Europe.  How could we with Mt. Etna's vapor trails feathering endlessly from it's top.  Always colorful, Sicily could stop us in our tracks if for just a bit of peeling paint on an old building.

     Umbria (we got to know her best with our 2-month stay) sharpened our awareness of hill towns and the hearty people living there.  The paths that St. Francis walked are everywhere in Umbria and we were always ready to follow in his footsteps.  Confession here:  I lit candles for my dad (he passed away last September) in every church we visited, but since he was a Methodist, I bypassed the donation boxes.  I'm going on the assumption that it all evens out in the end.  We even got to see a pool shark in the making

- grandson Jake took to it like a baby shark to water.

     One more thing about Umbria - what I first thought were extremely fruitful orange trees turned out to be persimmon trees. From our Spoleto terrace, over a two month period, we watched those persimmons turn from a Day-glo orange to a dusky terra cotta.

     Half way through our Italy experience we spent the week before Christmas in Paris.  Even on a messy day, Paris does it with style.    

     

     We visited Florence twice on this trip. She never disappoints.  And, need I remind you, Michelangelo's David is a joy and honor to see, again...and again, and again.  Then Rome - not too shabby that.  As the bartender at La Mimosa (down in Calabria) said, "Italy is just one big museum."  We agree.  What a concentration of exhibits - here's one at St. Peter's Basilica.

     Venice stole our hearts again.  Just reread my last post, Serenissima, and she'll steal yours, too.

     Rome also has Marcella (better known on their drivers' licenses as Marco and Rossella.

  We can never thank them enough for their hospitality and friendship.  In the same light, thank you Cindy Gerard for introducing them to me in the first place, on an unforgettable trip to Italy several years ago.  Thanks, too, Cindy, for all your great blog comments, all the while you were working on your, what will it be this time, 6th or 7th time on New York Times Best Sellers List?

     Kristen Cohen, thanks for the Daddy-Kit Bag - it went everywhere, held everything and still looks great.  Thank you, Cat, for setting up the blog and answering all our computer questions - where would we be without you?  Most of all, thanks to Jim for putting the photos on the posts and taking many of the photos himself. You're a trooper. (No, you're a trooper.)  No, you're a trooper. Oh, puleeeze, just buy me something bright and shiny and have done with it.

     On our way to France to return the Peugeot we decided to keep the spur-of-the-moment philosophy alive and kicking.  We saw its sign and took an unexpected side trip to Lake Garda.

     As most of you know, we visit Lake Como whenever we can, but this was an opportunity we could never pass up.  What a treat.

  The lake is in the foothills of the Alps (hey, they have to start somewhere and it isn't Switzerland)and turned out to be a real gem.  Snow capped mountains slammed up against a clear blue lake with (get this) palm trees, purple pansies and lemon trees.  It looks like rich man territory with lots of gorgeous old villas and, at least in the town of Maderno, neatly moored sail boats next to the promenade.

 
  A nice way, I think, to end our three month Italian sojourn with an introduction to a place we've never been before and want to return to again.

Thanks for coming along.  You were great traveling companions, always on time, went everywhere we wanted to go, and never snored.

 
Susan, who wants to do it all over again. 

 

     

"Was it in short, ever well to be elsewhere when one might be in Italy?"     Edith Wharton

(so tell me what you think of our trip)