PICTURES: First, Passion Flowers, they have 12 petals (as in the 12 apostals) the stamen creates a cross, there is more but i cannot remember it. Second, The estate Del Casa Rosa, which means the red house in Italian. Third, Fresh Cheese at a local market, it was delicious! The view from Del Casa Rosa, Philipa and John's estate. The view of the sun and the mountain range which goes through the middle of Italy. Razzie the kitten that i fell in love with walking on a stairway at the estate. IF YOU WANT TO SEE A LARGER IMAGE, CLICK ON THE PICTURE!
Today i was trying to catch up with myself after my great weekend in Italy. I did laundry, a few dishes, grocery shopping, organizing, catching up with emails, facebook and loading images on to facebook and getting my mail taken care of. I got a great package from Aunt Sandy, THANK YOU IT WAS GREAT!
OKay so now the moment I am assuming you have all been waiting for (whomever you are). Following this paragraph are going to be sumarries and quotes from my handwritten journal I kept while in Italy. This is going to be a very long entry, sorry! So, Please enjoy, because I know I did! October 8th to the 11th, 2009:
DAY ONE:
I woke up at 5:00 so we could get to the airport where we had breakfast and took off for Italy. I slept for most of the trip, but woke up about 30 minutes from landing to see the mountain range which runs down the center of Italy. Right there i knew it was going to be a great trip. We landed in Anconna Airport and stopped at a little resturant on the way to Philipa and John Italian home. My first taste of Italy; I am going to blame the plane and the winding roads of Italy, but I did not really enjoy the pasta. It was much to rich for my stomach.
"The drive from there (the resturant) was beautiful. Deep, tan, rolling hills with shrubs as fences. Mountains in the distance, and town a top hills. It was great, fall in Italy."
"I am so comfortable here, though I don't speak a work of Italian. I am back in the country. There is fresh air, cows mooing, a breeze, plants, trees, it's like being home. Even right now there are people working in the garde and the sound of their shovels hitting the dirt sounds like home."
I went exploring with Allie and Philipa and while she was showing us her fig, olive and peach trees we heard a desperate mowing. This is the moment we found Razzie, my kitten. I helped him squeeze through a hole and from that moment he was my outside companion. In Italy I fell in love with a cat, and i dislike cats. I dont think anyone could have resisted him. I have learned some Italian at this point, the words for cat, nice meeting you, thank you and chow. For dinner we went out for pizza very late in the evening. The pizza was delicious, my stomach right now wants it. They do very large individual pizzas, but i was so hungry and it was so good i ate the whole thing. This began the large amount of food i consumed in Italy, i am still full from the food i ate while there.
DAY TWO:
I have discovered i am excited to wake up here in Italy. They are an hour ahead of the UK, so when I woke up at 9:30, it was actually 8:30 and i was excited for it. Today we went to a market in a local town, this was an adventure. There was a passionate cheese and meat seller, a delicious and a proposal. Allie talked to the passionate meat man for a very long time in italian, and even though i could not understand a word they said they were both very excited. Also, he talked about Obama, because i heard his name mentioned. I got a hot coca which was so good, it was basically the consistancy of instant pudding but still hot. It tasted like they melted a chocolate bar and put it in a cup. In a little shop where Philipa bought a pan, apperntly the old lady kept saying i was very beautiful and her and Philipa arranged for me to marry her nephew. Meanwhile, i was nodding and saying si (yes) and chow. The old woman had no idea i couldnt speak Italian. Philipa said we could not go back or the nephew would be waiting for me, haha. Also, Philipa helped me get two braclets for a very good price, they are beautiful.
"I am living my own Tuscan Sun. As I sit on a grassy hill and write, my little Razzie (the kitten) is sitting just under the shelter of my leg. My shadow is blocking him from the sun as it beats on my back."
Across the valley you can see a little town ontop of a hill. We went there and took a look at the churches. Both of them were very very beautiful but i did not take any pictures out of respece. In one of the churches they had the body of an actualy saint. The cover her face and hands in a mask, but she was there and she was very very tiny. We went to a bar there and for 8 euros we had a beer, two white wines and i had a coke, plus crispes (chips), four different kinds of bread, beans and olives. It was like a whole mean and i was still full when we went to the sea for dinner. It was a fish resturant and it was very good. They gave us whole fish though, so i avoided those. I had calamarie, clams, mussels, and praws (which is what they call jumbo shrimp) and some fish which Philipa cut off the bone for me. So nice to have her around, haha. For dessert i got a creme brule and it was so delicious, i did not want to eat it because i did not want it to end. Speaking the little italian i knew came easier today and i was able to pick out even more key words in conversation and writing.
"Night, I will sleep forever tomorrow, or not I am in Italy!"
DAY THREE:
All day i lied in the sun, it was very relaxing. I worked on school work and played with Razzie. I watched the rain go across the other side of the valley, which was sad. Philipa's neighbor needs the rain on his olives so they grow more plump, it is his livelyhood. Razzie was adorable and I played with him late into the evening, italian's eat very late and we were waiting for guests. Razzie would go stalking, while constantly looking back to see that i was still there and then he would sprint at me and jump onto my lap. He jumped onto my back, and would rub his face on my cheek. At one point when Razzie calmed down he curled up on my thigh and looked out at the great view from the backyard. It was the cutest thing ever. Razzie is very affectionate, and stole everyone's hearts. Philipa and John had friends over for dinner, a little family. It was funny for me, because i do not speak any italian and only one daughter can only speak very little english. I just sat there for dinner, speaking my little italian. The highlight of the evening was when i said Un Gatto (which means cat) to the younger daughter and she followed me outside to play with Razzie. It is strange being on this side of the language barrier.
"I already feel more like myself in the country. If i close my eyes it sounds like the crispy wave of the fall leaves at home and smells like a warm summer day on the cusp of autum. The country is where i belong. My hair has left its failed attempt at order and has taken a brushing from the wind. When i look in the mirror it is more me than when i look at the mirror in Kingston. There is no make up clogging my eyelashes and my feet are bare."
"It is an odd experience being surrounded in another language. You begin to hear you're own words as someone who does not speak your language would hear them. Words like "Thanks" and "Hi" sound unusual. It is a mind opening experience that i hope i do not loose."
DAY FOUR:
We woke up and closed up the estate. It was said saying goodbye to Razzie, i took him to his new home with the neighbors. I did not really say goodbye because it would have been to sad for me and i dont like to be sad in front of people. I am sure he will be okay, but no one will feed him tuna from a can as i did. We had a quick meal of pasta before we boarded the plane. It was a beautiful sight as we took off and went into the clouds and i stayed awake long enough to see the alps before i slept the rest of the way to England. It is a short flight across Europe than it is to drive to RIT from Cooperstown. The clouds in England we dark and the grass was very green as we landed. The drive home was full of traffic, it took two and a half hours to get back, as long as the flight.
AND THAT WAS MY TRIP TO ITALY, I HOPE I WAS ABLE TO SHARE ENOUGH OF MY ADVENTURE FOR YOU AND THAT I COULD SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I ENJOYED MY TRIP TO THE ITALIAN COUNTRYSIDE!
No comments:
Post a Comment