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italy
Italy it seems, at least from my perspective here in Cortona, a marathon of food and drink and a nation of testosterones who drive at 6000 revs per minute sitting in your trunk. Our place here is located on the hill on the back side of Cortona amidst vines and olive trees. It very pleasant and gives us a place to return to after our days out, to rest in the hammock or to sneak away and read a book. Birds sing with abandon and reminds me of my school-age days in St Ives. We even have our own bat just outside our bedroom door who hangs around all day and then goes out on manoevres at night. Most will know that we are with Carol and Chris friends from West Van sharing a house for two weeks. The house is a renovated millers house sitting in a valley with a mill that is now lived in by our landlords, Sharon and Dan both retired Profs. from Van. The house is well appointed and was very welcoming when we arrived; wine, fruit, provisions for a light meal, bottled water and so on, even a bottle of prosecco in the the fridge. The big discovery for me on this trip is how wonderful the fresh pasta is unlike that which I know back home, that Vino Nobile from Montepulchiano seems a much better deal than Brunello and Vin Santo a bit like sweet sherry to my taste just terrific at the end of a meal, all relatively inexpensive. I do not know Italy well, my only knowledge being that of an impoverished student on the grand tour. It is difficult not to compare with France of which I am a fan and I would say it is equally impressive but of course significantly different and people very gracious, perhaps a function of not being in a large city. It is very important to be able to understand and speak some Italian. Whilst it is easy to hack along in English it is not too elegant and of course most of the world just passes you by, so my advice to all those contemplating visiting Italy is some night school would yield many times the effort in understanding, appreciation of others and not simply appearing gauche. Cortona is a very old town perched on the side of a hill, as all seem to be around here, its roots in Etruscan times. There is plenty to see in terms of fine churches, museums and so on which I have not invested much time in preferring to wander the streets or watching the old men deep in heated conversation in the squares or just hanging out. The markets are of course great places to visit being community events and a place it seems for women to meet and socialise. Lots of clothes and kitchenware for sale and a good selection of food. The local speciality, roast pork and stuffing in a bun is a winner at every visit. And the local restaurants, a haven of antipasto, pasta, gnocchi and roasted something; pork, duck, chicken, veal and the famous beefsteak, all followed by fruit and dulce with vin santo to follow. Must say am pretty sated on this diet and am looking forward to a change of diet as we move toward the coast on our way back to Nice and the plane to India. But perhaps the best memory will be the evening meal at the local village festival with Sharon and Dan before Carol and Chris arrival which was a hint of culinary delight to come.......Gary.
Report 3 - Gary
After dropping Chris and Carol off at Terontola station we set off from Cortona to Florence for two days and to the Cinque Terre for three. We debated whether to go into Florence or to stay in a village outside as an easier option, but as we approached Florence coming from Gimigiano through wonderful country on a little road, found ourselves already in the city, made our way to the station, parked the car, went up to the tourist info and as we waited in line to get in the door, a guy came up to us and asked us if we wuold like a room. This stuff makes me very uncomfy but I will always remember being in Bamfield on the west coast of the Island when a native guy asked us if we wanted a ride to the west coast trail trail head and I refused, only to learn thruogh a series of events that the guy owned a huge fishing boat, take things at face value I learned from that. So we chatted to the guy and we had ourselves a room in his apartment with parking. Florence is, busy , lots of tourist, has an amazing, huge, impressive cathedral, campanile and baptistry in green and white marble that we actually enjoyed a youth service guitars and all, the Uffizi art galery, lots of paintings of the birth of Christ by every painter contemporary to the Medicicis, a public market of two stoies, meat at grade veggies above, a wonderful evening barogue concert with much organ, rain, great gelati, walks by the Arno and some wonderful public squares, alleyways nooks and crannies that you can spend hours in, and of course hardware shops with the latest in orange squeekers, quite the indusrrial design heaven. As we left Florence we visited an English war grave with booklet describing the graves and the second world war in Italy. A moving experience, perhaps particularly the grave of a 17 year old trooper from South Africa. We went on, much quiet in the car, I expect that we were thinking our own thoughts as we drove along. Before we got to 5 terre we stopped in at Lucca, during the previous week I gave Chris a new Italian moniker....Lucca, so I had to see it for myself. A medieval maze with a square in the form of an ampitheatre, I guess it was one and an impressive city wall with walk and exquisite public park all around the city ouside of the wall, then more modern Lucca. This place typifies Italy in some ways in that the place seems to full of urban delight. Then came 5 terre. got there in the evening as it was getting dark and scrambled to get a place to stay in Monterosso and did quite well in a pension that I had read about in a guide book in our house in Cortona and we are still ther, 3 nights. The first day, walked from village to village then train to La Spezia for a look, the next day on boats along the coast and tomorrow off to Nice before we launch ourselves off to India. And 5 Terre....lots of Germans, the Dortmund Gefel walkwen gruppen, the Munich Gefel walken and so on and so on and on and on and on....Germany must be empty and there cannot be an adjustable walking stick available in Europe. But hte place is visually a delight. I try to imagine how the villages were built, houses piled on high on high up the valley sides off the sea, little, identical wooden boats with real fishermen, grapes and olive terraces clinging to the hillsides and little funicular devices to get the crop to the houses. Impressive in the process of self destruction as roads reach each village expensive restaurants with poor food and the pressure of tourists. Not sure if it is worth the visit but if anyone does, head for Vernazza, the jewel. Well tomorrow we leave, looking for Nobile de Montepulchiano to impress our French friends....it is a great wine!....Gary.
Report 4 The pressure is on for me to finally get down to writing my vacation impressions. I seem to get on to the computer and start answering received emails and then dinner calls. Susan Randall sent me a beautiful black leather diary that I have been diliegenty keeping up to date. It was my intention to copy that down but the cost would have be owning the internet shop. We left home on August 30th. I was feeling as if I was going to my executuion. Had closed the office, written my will, had a power of attorney in place, got rid of the car, emptied the house of many posessions, recycled all my old clothes and generally rid myself of surplus stuff. After what we refer to as 'the long goodbye' we did set off, one small bag of personal effects and for me a large bag of pills. Jennifer Heidemann's wedding in Ottawa was a pleasure. All of our friends from Ottawa days and some from vancouver were there. It was good to appreciate the continuity of our lives. Then on to London to see Mark, meet Kates parents, go on the London Eye and visit the Millennium Dome. Next was le Broc near Nice where Milla, a school friend lives. My new name seems to be 'Marie-Marie'. We chatted lots and managed to walk in the Alpes maritimes on a several good hikes. Cortona was next. We rented a house from Dan and Sharon Callaghan who are most recently from Vancouver. The Molino had a well equoipped kitchen, comfortable beds, a lovely garden and a large hammock. I loved to dream the siesta time of day there, generally reading Frances Mayes two books (her Bramasole is nearby)or Tim Parks 'An Italian Education' or another of Sharon's books about the Tuscan year. It was easy to immerse myself in the life around the ares. At the beginning, being a Francophile, I was comparing Italy to France all of the time. We found so much of Italy bewildering, the number of 0000 on the money, not understanding any of the language (an error, we should have done better) and the lack of the cheeses that we know and love. Then slowly, the courteousness of the people seduced us, the wonderful pasta with the rich creamy tasting tomato sauce (no cream in it, just the taste). Cortona was a good area to start in. The town is touristy, language schools and US Universities ensure that there are Americans around. Throughout the country we are amazed at the amout of history and culture available (although we really don't take advantage of it). It is well worth another visit. Was it expensive. Our house worked out at $110.00 Us per couple per day. We had lots of space, even a tv to watch the Olympics. Meals out including vino 'locale'cost between $50-60.00 We rented our car in France for $640 for 3 weeks. Eating at the local trattorias is the best way to go. You can laught at the English translations on the menus: La Tuffs (where we ate several times) has a wonderful series of Primi al Forno. Pagotti al funghi is small bungles with boletus mushrooms, rosette dell amore is rosette of love, tasgolini in grabbia is thin roodles in a cage. With Chris and Carole we did eat at a couple of more upscale places. Tre Vassale, where Dan and Sharon generously hosted us for a feast and la Fauconiere (spelling?) near Cortona. That was expensive at $65CA per person. Gary felt that he did not get enought to eat and was worried about the pretentiousness (if there is such a word) but the rest of us thought the menu imaginative and excellently cooked. It would have been good if there had been other than Americans eating there. Thats what happens when you get in recommended in the 'Wine Spectator' The results of being in Bon Appetit can be seen in Cinque Terre (that comes later). We didnt do too much in Cortona except walk lots, eat and drink lots and read lots. Looking back, we should have gone on more expeditions, learned more, visited the Etruscans... but there will be another time. Gary has just writen about Florence which I loved. I put together my impressions/likes in my diary as:
Next opus from India. Love Mary
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