I ride a taxi with Anna to the train station where she catches a train to Milan to work for the day, and I set off on foot with a homemade map. I window shop for a bit because everything is on sale in July. I try to justify buying some shoes, but the argument has not worked yet...so back away from the window before the store opens up. I walk to the the Mayor's office where there is a pretty garden and I wander and sit.
I buy a little snack pizza at 12 noon because my Swiss breakfast cereal with freshly picked blueberries has worn off. I sit and listen to
A Year of Wonders a story about the plague. I keep listening as I walk through the streets to the next good looking view with a bench. All the stores begin closing at 12:30 for two hours.
There is nothing for me to do but find a good outdoor cafe - Bar Orchidea. I get salad Olympia with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, fennel, and brie . I thought it would have lettuce being called a salad, but it was just the shredded veggies. Nice! I need to eat better.
Let me define better...
Elizabeth Gilbert, the woman who wrote
Eat, Pray, Love said something about eating her body weight in pasta when she was in Italy. Let's just say I had my moment trying on jeans in the store today and not being too successful.
Trying to eat better guidelines:
- only eat pasta once a day, and have a small serving
- try to get as many veggies as possible
- have a piece or two of fruit
- hold back on the bread
- cheese is ok
- one gelatto a day
- don't stop in at a pastry shop too often
- throw out all the rules and enjoy if something looks good. (You knew that was coming didn't you).
The generous gelatto server gave me pistachio and creme with Nutella. I had to get a cup it was so big (2 Euros). It is soft and runny just how I like it, the nutella is perfection as it mixes with creamy and nutty. To finish or not to finish... Gelatto is part of the diet of Italians, everyone eats it. Finish it!!
Should I be worried that I have not peed since I left and now it is 3:00? Just recording as it comes.
Still waiting for the stores to open, I take a series of undercover pictures.
Now it is time for shopping. "Coin" sheltered me from the rain, gave me a toilette and added a linen blouse, and an oil/vinegar holder for me to pack. The 99 cent store had a toothbrush for me since I forgot to pack mine and I found a present for my dear host Carola, she has been so good to me. I catch the 6 o'clock "H" bus to the Scola Europa stop and walked back home. Which was an old farm house during WWII. Now it is split into apartments, the whole top floor owned by the family I am staying with. I get to skype with Meg, which was wonderful. Dinner served at 8:00 pm. Small serving of pasta with some pesto sauce, spinach salad, roast, a baby piece of bread and white peach. The windows of my room are automatically closing because it is raining.
It is hard not to romanticize a vacation like this. It has been wonderful, and there are also some challenges and difficulties as well. All opportunities for growth and learning.
Memories have the power to roll over you and give you the full bodied experience. I think about the stash I have from this trip. Riding a train from Venice to Milan (the same route that I took when I arrived in Italy, Venice was just a mystery then). Listening to "let the good times roll" by B.B. King, glancing at the scenes on either side of me- fields of corn and grapevine, hill cities in the distance, green, gold, blue, purple. Me on a train in Italy, where I have been for 3 months!
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