peeling benannas

Time Passages

2006-01-28T07:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not saying that there hasn't been anything down here to inspire me to write, but I have been loathe to appraoach the keyboard. The topical daze, I guess. You would think that I should have been able to process the whirlwind of experiences that was our trip to Italy, but I haven't really done that either. Somehow I knew that time would slip away down here, that days would be long and weeks short. Routines would set in and suddenly we would be at the end of our stay. In Ialy the near constant moving and the barrage of ites and sounds and dazzling evidence of high human achievement made the trip seem to go on forever. We will have stayed in each place for one month and perhaps as we look back on this trip the durations of stay will seem to balance out, for now though, the Italian journey seems to have been months and Bequia days.

Tonight we are leaving this little Island to go to the bigger St. Vincent to see a conert by the Jamaican reggae star, Beanie Man. We take a big steel ferry across the seven mile channel. Four or five go back and forth aday. The last time we went across, the wind was kicking out of the north east and the waves were huge and the boat was rocking upand down and rolling side to side. We went with Mom and doug to have lunch with her friend and landlord Dr. Vivian Child, a British woman who has lived nealy fifty years in St. Vincent. she hosted us in her cozy, ramshackle 30's West Indian gingerbread house. Her eyes are as blue and bright as the sun and the sea you can see from her porch but she showing beginning signs of Alzhiemer's. But she is lovely company, a kind a bouyant person. I hate to say however that I was absorbed by Doug's constant banter with her, which used to be funny when she enjoyed fencing with words, but now that she is defenceless the play seemed just rude. Anna and I escaped as soon as lunch was over and took a dollar van back to Kingstown, the main city on the Island. We walked our way through the arcaded, Georgian streets, this time less cacophonous and threatening than when we first arrived fresh from transatlantic transeasonal travel. Through the streets and up the hill to the oldest botanical gardens in the new world, where they have breadfruit trees from the originals Capitan Bligh carried from Tahiti on his second try, after the mutineed first. A man named Elroy, who we met on the way up, showed us through the gardens he has helped care for since he was a boy. He showed us bushes whose leaves you could use for nail files and flowers Vincentians put together in chains like the Hawaiians as well as cinnamon trees, almond trees, mahogany and all sorts of palms from all over the English Empire. It Began to rain and we took shelter with other groups under a well placed gazebo. Elroy and one of the other guides began to sing obscure Ray Charles songs and "Summertime" which the other guide called a Michael Bolton song ( he even told us the track number on the cd and told us he always listened to it twice and then sang it again). After the rain we went to see the aviary where they were keeping the Vincy parrots (native to this and only this Island) in a program to repopulate the inner rain forests. the birds were happy about the rain and squaking like mad hatters. They are a stange purple-green in color with a pale yellow to whitish head. Tomorrow we will go to the nature trails there to see if we can see the parrots in the wild.

On Bequia the scale is smaller and slower. There are lots of yachtees and retired people. And many fine yellow sand beaches nearly all deserted. You could walk to all of them from the main harbor withn an hour. Mom has rented Vivian's house for the past six or seven winters and it is right on the harbor. Their new house is on the windy side of the Island, up high over looking a small coconut grove and shallow bay protected by a reef called Spring. ON that beach there is lots of drifted junk, seagrass, coconuts, plastic jugs, and of course great wood for the bed and mirror I am making for the new place. The next beach up is my favorite. We ride the scooter there for afternoon swims sometimes. It is calle Industry but there is nothing industrial about it. At the far end of it's three hundred yard length there is a three room hotel with a slow restaurant and cats and dogs that lay on the beach, but that is it. You look out on to two uninhabited islands with the dreamlike names Battowia and Baliceaux. I keep a photo of this view from this beach under my sunvisor.

The next beach up is alittle wilder. The trees on shore begin to give out and Bequia really does seem like a desert island. An ex-fisherman, Orton King, has set up a homemade sea turtle refuge and keeps hundreds or hawksbill turtles from infancy to three year olds and then releases them. BEyond that beach there is no development. We have not yet hiked that area.

The two most popular beaches are on the harbor and they are each so calm and lovely and shady and yet still almost never crowded. They are Princess Margaret and Lower bay. I will tell more of them another time.

Anna's top 10 in Italy

2006-01-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

Alright, finally I remembered to post the top ten adventures in Italy. So without futher a do here they are. I'm sure that you're really excited, hey?

1. The freedom of the Scooter. Exploring rome with Ben on Zippy.

2. Picking olives in Tuscany with Settimo and going to the frantoia (the olive press). Wathing the process and having lunch there with Ben and Lorenzo.

3. New Years. Fireworks in the snow.

4. Hiking through the Cinque Terra with Ben.

5. The day spent with Beppi, Monica and their 2 little girls in Martina Franca.

6. Going to the Burri Institute in Citte de Castle.

7. Spending a quite Christmas day with my husband in Rome.

8. Seeing all of Ben's friends so excited to see him and hear the stories of the past.

9. Dinner with Lorenzo, Armanda and Raoul in Florence.

10. last but not least seeing my dear friend Blake in Milan.

11. I just have to add enjoying my first of many cappuccinos in Italy, damn they are so good!

10.

Sweet Bequia

2006-01-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

hi all. well we are begining to get settled in to the island. we flew with doug, my father in law, from DC to miami, miami to barbados, a little plane to st. vincent where we had to stay the night because we had missed the last ferry to bequia. all of the travels began at about 3 am so i was happy to stay in our comfortable bed for the night. we woke and went to check out the streets of st.vincent. which were full of life. reggae music playing, vans rolling by giving people rides, a very cool market filled with new things to check out and at the center of it all sweet voices coming from the women singing by their friuts and vegetables for sale. we caught the 1pm ferry a great big vessel whch has 3 levels. the bottom for all the vechicles and luggage and such. the middle with seats and a little cafe with a tv and then the open air top which is where w erode most of the trip. the guys down on the deck got a big fish on the way, maybe about 5 ft. it was pretty exciting to watch them pull in it. as we got closer to bequia and then close to the docks we could see ms. julie lea waiting for us on the dock, a great welcoming to the island. i'll fill in the details of the past few days but right now i am being eaten by mosquitos. late afternoon seems like feasting time! love yall, a

Ben's top 10

2006-01-10T16:28:00.001-08:00

My top ten memories of Italy (as of Jan. 10 2006):

1. Riding around Rome on the scooter!

2. New Year's in Verona.

3. Dancing with Anna, Beppi and his daughter Matilda in Puglia.

4. Walking the lover's path in the Cinque Terre.

5. Carolina's smile when I came down to Florence for the day.

6. Watching Anna so excited about picking olives.

7. Seeing Anna be so inspired by the art in the Burri Foundation.

8. Dinner with Anna and Lorenzo in his apartment.

9. Having our own apartment in Rome.

10. Maurizio's face when I knocked on his door unexpectedly in the jacket he designed.

Top five meals during our trip.

1. Dinner with the Doni's. Liver bruschetta, pasta with tomato sauce and sausage, boiled meats including tongue,
and gelato.

2. Lunch in Lecce. Cavatelli with cream of pepper sauce, salad.

2. Lunch in Genova. Ravioli stuffed with pesto.

3. Dinner in Verona with Lawren and Steve. Prosciutto antipasta, black ravioli stuffed with cheese followed by roasted rabbit.

4. New Year's dinner in Lawren and Steve's apartment. Roast beef and roasted vegatbles.

4. Lunch with Lorenzo at the olive oil mill. Olives, bread, raw sausage, raw pancetta, white beans and fresh olive oil.

5. Anna's pasta with zucchini Christmas day in Rome.

All the places we went to, in roughly chronological order.

Milan
Genova
Riomaggiore
Corniglia
Vernazza
Florence
Pietra Santa
Lucca
Perugia
Assisi
Rome
Lecce
Gallipoli
Ostuni
Martina Franca
Citta di Castello
Verona
Venice
Vigevano
Milano

Welcome to the USA

2006-01-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well here we are back where in all began. We got off the plane in DC yesterday after a long day of traveling from Milano. We had been there for a few days with Lawern and Steve. The four of us and their dog Mary rented a car and drove out from Verona. We had a good couple of daYS exploring the city, going to the flea market, shopping at all the trendy shops, eating, drinking and riding the trolleys. We attempted to go and see the last supper but all of thew showings were booked for days. I'm not the type of traveler to plan ahead much which usually works out great it just that somjetimes you just gotta let some things go. My friend Blake happened to be in Milan for a day so we were able to hang out with her as well. When we were planning our honeymoon we had joked about Blake coming aslong so it was incredibly fitting that we got to see her there if only for a day. I met Blake out of the country and I'm sure that we will meet in many more.

So since New years we stayed in Verona with the exception of going to Venice for 2 days. I don't know why, but I wasn't all that excited to vist Venice. I guess that I was just fighting going to to the place where everyone goes. Of course it was beautiful and full of wonder. I wasn't feeling very well the first day that we were there so it was difficult to appreciate it. We did go and see a great Vivaldi concerto. The next morning we got up early to beat the crowds as I promised Julie Lea I would. We walked the canals and got to see St Marks void of people. We took the boat over to Murano which is famous for all the Vencian glass. I really wanted to see some of the work done but IO guess with the holidays all the "furnaces" were shut down. After Murano we took another boat ove rto Burano there their cliam to fame in hand made lace. The little island is so sweet filled with bright colored houses and little canals throughout.

And now we are at Doug and Julie's new little apartment in Waterford. We are packing our bags right now for the Carribean. What a whirlwind, it still hasn't sunk in that we'll be hitting the beach in just another day now. boy o boy. I'm off to finish packing. Flip flops, shorts and a swim suit, we'll be traveling a bit lighter this time, hoooraaay

CHECK OUT THIS LINK

2006-01-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

NEW YEARS NIGHT IN VERONA

BUON ANNO

2006-01-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

NEW YEARS IN VERONA
HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Oh, god I wrote a long entry the other night but we were at a place where you have to let them know how long you-ll be on then they but you on a timer. Anyway, before I could save it I got kicked off- so frustrating! So I-m not as inspired to write about Rome any longer since we have had so many wonderful expierences since then. I have to tell about our New Years first since it is all still so fresh.

We traveled almost the whole length of Italy yesterday. From the bottom of the boot heel to Verona up near Milan. Wathching the countryside rolling by from the train. tRAVELING ALONG THE SEA just about the whole trip. We changed trains a few times and as we were getting on our last train walking through the cars we hear someone shouting HEY BEN! It was a friend of Bens,Giancarlo. He was the guy responsible for getting Ben-s furniture out here in Italy. Crazy how things like that happen while you are traveling, it makes you so happy and you realize that the world isn-t really that big at all. It also gives you faith that you are doing the right thing, in the right spot.

We grabbed a taxi, our first of the trip, and got a ride to Lawren and Steve-s place. After a nice roast that Lawren made, we went out to walk through the town. It was snowing on Romeo and Juliette's town. Ben started a snowball fight with some kids in a piazza. Then we headed to the roman coliseum that is in the center. It is more intact than the one in Rome. We got there right as the fire works were starting. they shot them from inside the arena in the most beautful and elegant way. I've never seen fireworks in the snow before. It felt like the glittery light was fizzling on our faces. The band played George Harrison, my sweet lord, and we all jumped up and down together. It was the most memorable New year's we've had in forever.

The next day it was sort of rainey and closed but we walked through the town and Steve made us an American breakfast with eggs and everything. And then we headed out for a walk through the town which is covered in roman ruins.That night we had dinner with Lawren and Steve and their "land lord" Peter Devins a Charlottesville guy whose lived in Verona for 20 years and his old Italian girlfriend, Rosanna. Lawren cooked again this amazing veal marsala and risotto meal which we didn't finish until after midnight.

It rained again the next day, but we went to the castello vecchio which houses the Verona art museum with sculptures and paintings from Verona from medieval times until after the renaissance. But the restoration of the castle is the thing there. It was done in the 60's by an italian, Carlo Scarpa, and Lawren is just crazy for it. It is modern, but done is such a tasty way that it's just in harmony with the old building and he seems to tell the story of the building and the art and his architecture as he leads you from room to room.

We woke up this morning with the sun shining and a plan to go to Venice for a couple days, but Anna had really bad cramps and an upset stomach, from all the rich food we've been eating so she spent the whole day in bed and even now at midnight she is suffering. We hope they will go away tonight and we will make our way to the floating city tomorrow.

From Heel to Thigh

2006-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

We traveled by train from Rome to the heel of the boot, Puglia, a couple days after Christmas. The Washignton Post calls it the new Tuscany. You can stay in a beautiful palace (palazzo Astore, Hans) in the middle of the baroque town of Lecce for about $40, but they were all booked up amazingly enough. We stayed near the train station outside of the old walled part of town and walked in. The weather was much warmer but you still needed a jacket. Anna absolutely loved the town. The vive was much more relaxed than up north. We walked through the night streets, very bright because of the whole town is made of this soft yellow stone. The churches are covered with outrageous carvings of angels, sheep, garlands of leaves and fruits and all kinds of curves and such. In the middle of the biggest piazza in the thirties they uncovered a forgotten Roman amphitheatre and you can look down into it from today s street level. Inside they had mad the most beautiful nativity we have seen, with lots of live olive trees and agave plants.
The next day we spent walking around the town going in to the many galleries where local artists display works in the same easy to carve stone. At lunch we ate in a sweet white table cloth place where they served handmade pasta covered in the most delicious sauces we've had. Mine was a roasted pepper cream sauce. It tasted and smelled like the essence of a roasted pepper, but it was a light yellow in color. Anna had a sauce made from turnip greens which is another sauce typical of Puglia. We sat next to an older French couple who were equally bowled over.
That next day, I think it was Thursday, we took a short train trip to the sea. There were many places we could have gone as Lecce is in the middle of the heel and close to the beach on all sides. We settled on Gallipolli because there is an old medieval fishing town there. We got there as the fishermen were bringing in their catch and mending their nets and others were opening the small market. They had all kinds of fish and things, like three types of squid, octopus, sea urchins, some crazy long thin toothy fish. The sun was coming up and we snapped photos all over the place. You can walk around the whole town in about a half hour. There is one sandy beach, so we combed it for sea glass. The sand was strange, like stepping on a sponge. WE ate lunch at an ok place and then went back to Lecce in order to get a train to a small town farther north, Ostuni. By the time we got there it was raining cats and dogs and we ended up walking through it to get to the hotel, but the next morning it was bright and clear and with had an amazing walk through the whitewashed streets of the old town. It was as you might imagine a town in Greece. In the piazza in the sun we had a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and watch the old men in berets sit and talk. My old friend, Beppi, came to pick us up to take us to his house in the next village over for lunch. The valley between is probably the most magic in all of Italy. the land rolls in gentle green waves and the fields are fenced in stone walls. 1,000 year old olive trees twist and spin inside the fences. The most amazing element of this tableau however are the stone houses. They are called Trulli andthey have conical stone roofs finished at the top with little white-washed balls or Greek crosses or some other finial. You cannot believe you are in Italy. You can't believe you are anywhere that is not fictional, Narnia, maybe or Middle Earth. Beppi drive us along these winding roads. He and I are catching up on the seven years that have gone by since I last saw him there. Meanwhile I hear these little gasps of amazement from Anna in the back seat.
We arrive at his town, Martina Franca, another whitewashed stronghold on a hill and park the car on the outside and walk the maze of streets to his house. He opens the door and we go up the stairs to a huge dining room with a crystal chandelier and his sweet, new daughters and wife run to us with smiles and and greetings. We sit together in the kitchin for lunch of pasta with broccoli and at the end spoonfuls of fresh, fresh ricotta cheese, as light and airey as whipped cream. We then go to roof to look out on the town and then they lead us on a walk to the old palace which happens to be open. It feels so god to be together with his family that we end up staying for dinner and dancing with his daughters and a late night theological discussion. It is late when we get back to Ostuni and we have to leave early for the train rides all the way up the entire country to Verona where we wnat to celebrate New Year's with our Virginia friends, Steve and Lawren, just moved into their new apartment there.

A true roman experience

2005-12-28T05:33:00.000-08:00

So, you know what they say...When in Rome ride a vespa! Jeez, I guess I'll have to do a lot of back tracking to fill in my part of the story.. First off we arrived in the train station and were working on figuring out what train to take to get to Trastevere, the area of Rome where our studio apartment is. For me arriving in a new place is always a bit stressful. At first, as I try to get my bearings I'm sure that I am difficult to deal with at this time. Luckily, Ben acknowledges this and in a patient person. Ben finds the bus while I am away buying an overpriced huge fold out map of the metro and bus routes of the city, what a waste! We find our little studio which is super sweet and we have a kitchen to cook in. The bed is stored under the tiny kitchen and you roll it out when your ready to hit the hay. Everything is very compact and has its place.

We go out walking around our neighborhood which is very cool and I appreciate it even more after we see the more touristy parts of town. Trastevere is across the river and is pretty much the blue collar part of town, but is getting very trendy. We have a delicious bakery, a chocolate shop and little cafes all within a block or two.

We got up so what early the following day to go check out the Roman Forum. The ruins are very impressive, but so as those that we pass on our walk there. It's incredible to witness a very modern society living around this ancient backdrop. I noticed a whole family of little kittens living in some of the oldest ruins of the city, they have it as their own private playground. I went into the coliseum to have a walk around and take a few pictures. I was surprised at the the amount of tourism, I mean I know that it is probally one of the most visited places of the wolrd, buy what I did't expect to see were the guys dressed a gladiators wearing big plastic muscles with red capes on and berkinstocks! If you pay to get your photo taken with them you can hold your own plastic sword!

We decided that to really see Rome we needed to rent a motor scooter. When I went into the coliseum Ben went to see if he could find a rental place. When we met he told me that the guy was there but the place was closed, it was Christmas eve and we started to worry that they would all be closed. On our was to check out another place we happened upon one that was open, hurrraaaayyyy! Within 15 min we had our zippy blue scooter and we were weaving our way through the traffic. My husband was very impressive on the scooter let me tell ya, fearless to squeeze right in between all the cars. It is the greatest thing, it is almost like the scooter rules the road becaust you can manage to pass all the cars and trucks so up at the lights you look around and it's as you have become part of this scooter gang! It's you and 7 or 8 other bikes and everyone just goes for it once the light turns, ahhh what fun!!

We went to check out St Peters church since we had a feeling that we wouldn't be able to see it at night. Boy they really did build that place for the gods, cheese & rice, I mean Jesus Christ! It was over the top! Beautiful, every detail. And going up to the top of the doom wasn't nearly as nauseating as the one in Milan. There are definitely a few people in my family who would not be able to check out the tops of these domes, as much as they would love to! Mom, Gram , Aunt Deb lloyd that's you.After we went to Piazza Navona, a beautiful square with a Christmas festival going on. There were all the games that you play to win prizes and out of this wold candy stands. What I couldn't figure out was what was up with all the witches on broom sticks for sale, a tradition that we definitely do not have.

Finally after a big pasta dinner at home it is time to go to the midnight mass at St Peters church. We pulled right up near the church on our incredible scooter, come on does it get better then that, going to see the Pope on a scooter!! There were a lot of people there, but not as many as you would imagine. I thought that there would be pilgrimages being made there, people staking out their spots for days, but it seemed to be all under control no mob scenes. We figured out that you had to have a ticket to gey inside so we walked around waiting and then hung out by one of the big screens TVs set up. It all started with the bells up in the tower of the church. I wish that we would have had a recorder because it was so beautiful.

shit I just realized that I only have a few dollars I better get off. I'll go get some more $ and finish this evening!

Romes

2005-12-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Well, what cna we say. First of all the best way to see Rome is on a motor scooter. We rented one for the time we are here and even with the rain it has been the greatest. We zip along the streets with 4 lanes of traffic, the rush and pulse of the city is never more apparent than that. Monuments that are an hour apart by foot or bus are just minutes of excitement away. It was about 10:00 on Christmas eve, we had made our pasta dinner and were comfy relaxing in the studio apartment and not very motivated to go to St. Peter's for the mass, but zip, zip we flew up the empty sycamore lined streets up the river, came around the corner and there shining like a golden palace was the immense domed cathedral. There were a lot of people, but not a mob. Those with tickets ordered a few days before were lined up around the outside circle of the square and were moving in at a rapid pace. We easily moved moved forward to the closest barricade and watched the incredible multilingual crowd. At eleven thirty the bells started ringing and they rang for 25 minutes as though to ring throughout the world. Then on the screen we could see the mitred heads of cardinals and the gold mitre of the Pope proceed down the aisle, those closest to the procession were smiling and some burst into tears. If you watched you probably saw the same thing but, to be there even in the square was amazing.

Otherwise we have seen many of the monuments and sights, the ruins, the colosseum, Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, a fair in Piazza Navona. Borghese park is probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. Anna got her first scooter lesson there. The views over the city are incredible, timeless. The light in winter is misty soft and glittering in gold. The best view is at the top of the dome in ST. Peter's but, there is a good one from Piazza Garibaldi on the Janiculum hill and also at the end of the park. The weather is wet, but not too cold. Last night we had dinner for a couple from Australia that we met back in the cinque terre and have seeen over various spots along the way. Justin is a cabinet maker and remarkably they are on their honeymoon too. Today we are leaving the popular Rome for the more remote heel of the boot of Italy. We are riding one of those bullet trains which should be a plush experience.

Merry Christmas from Rome!

2005-12-24T02:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you. We wish that everyone was here together with us. We send all of our love, hopes and wishes. Ben and Anna.

Cruisin' in Perugia

2005-12-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

We are in Perugia, Umbria for four days. It's a great, quiet, young people's town. During the days we venture out to the surrounding towns. If you come here and you are a modern art lover, you should not miss the Burri Foundation in Citta di Castello ( www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/burri_alberto.html ). Housed in an old palace and also in a huge structure where they used to dry tobacco, his work is inspiring; abstract of course, but special for the way it reveals the mind of an artist out to explore the possibilities of unusual art materials. Anyway we had a great day there. Tomorrow we'll take a bus to Asissi to see Giotto's famous frescoes in the church. I wanted to tell everyone that we have a phone and you can call us if you want! the number is 39-338-629-1574 you'll have to dial whatever to get out of the US. I think it's 011 but you can look in the front of the phone book. We go to Rome on Friday and we've rented an apartment there for Christmas and a few days after. Try to catch us at the midnight mass we'll be the ones in black.

a lovely car ride

2005-12-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

17 december, still in Florence

We woke up to get an early start as we have big plans today. Maurizio who is a friend of Lorenzo's picks us up and we fill the back of his van with olive oil. They will deliver it to a restuarant later today. We all pile in and stop for a delicios cappuccino and brioshe. We drop off Carolina onto the street so she can pick up her ride fro work and head out of town on the autostrada. We drive for about a hour or so and the sky is getting darker with each mile and it is beginning to rain a little bit. we get off the autostrada and head down some smaller back roads to this yard filled with old military stuff. I mean anything that you could imagine this guy had it and not just one, hundreds and hunderds. He had huge barrack type shelters filled with computer parts or old coolers. Wires, phones, canvas bags, boots it went on and on and we literally got lost in it. We resisted any temptations to buy junk and after looking through it all left a bit baffled.

We are now headed for Pietra Santa. The guys are going to drop off Ben and I and then go to deliver the oil. AS we drive through the hills the weather breaks and it begins to get warmer. Ben and I walk the Streets of Pierta Santa. It is a very welcominbg town and has a great feel to it. The towm is known for marble and for that reason there are alot of artist living there. The colors of the building lining the streets are bright and fresh. There are kids playing soccar in the middle of the piazza and folks walking their dogs, it seems as though everyone is enjoying the beautiful day that it turned out to be.

We decided to go a vist a friend of Carolina's who is a sculptor. We give him a call then walk across town to go and vist his studio. He, Emanuelle, (emanueledereggi.it) invites us in. His courtyard is filled with his pieces made from both marble and bronze. In the sudio he is working on a series on fish carved out of marble with bronze women riding their backs. They will be sent to NY when they are done to live in a restuarant. Anyway, Emanuelle is very nice to us and we sit and have tea with him and chat awhile. A very interesting conversation about his career as an artist. We left to go and meet the guys back in town for lunch at the gato nero (the black cat) I had a deliciuos soup made of chick peas and barley and then a went with the recomendation of the guys and had the fish, yummy like you wouldn't believe!

We are now baCK ON THE ROAD HEADING TOWARDS THE TOWN OF lUCCA. wE ARE NERA THE SEA AND THE HILLS ARE GENTLE WITH BEAUTIFUL VILLAS. wE go past Lucca to first vist a woman who owns a knife making buisness. It has been in her family for 3 generations and she now is trying to sell it. We all check out the knives and then she took us into the forge/work shop. Oh my god, there were the most beautiful tools and anvils!We asked her about the anvils, if she would serll one but she said that she is going to have them put in a meusem. I swear I would have carried it all over the country if I could have taken one! The work shop was filled with big grinders run on huge motors with the belts run all across the ceiling and down to the machines. Very old style, very very cool.

On the way back to lucca we stopped at the Devil's Bridge. An extremely steep old stone bridge that you can no longer drive over but Ben and I walked up to thwe top to spit into the river.

The town of Lucca is surrounded by a 30 foot stone wall. It is wild even in the center of town you can really feel the presence of the wall. The guys head back to Florence and Ben and decided to stay and explore Lucca for a while and then take the train back. We walked along the wall a bit and then dipped down into town. Most of the towns have all the streets lit up with beautifully strung lights for the holidays and Lucca is no exceptiopn. We walk into the piazza and the energy is high, music playing, an ice skating rink, girls boxing up on a stage and people out even in the cold enjoying it all. We on.ly had to walk a short distance down a side street to be back into the quiet walled city. We walked the windy streets allowing ourselves to get lost losing any oreintation we had of the town. We managed to find the old ampitheater which was incredible to imagine it filled with folks hundreds of years ago. The history here can get to be a bit overwhelminmg at times!

So in the end we caught our bus and rode back to Florence, back into our sweet little room to think all about out special day.

a.

Finally the dream!

2005-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ok. Well we've been in Florence with my friends, the Doni family, for the past few days and though Lorenzo has a computer, it just wasn't easy to take up all the time typing on the internet. Anyway, the last blog left us heading into Riomaggiore late at night with no place to stay. The street was empty except one restaurant, they told us theirr rooms were not ready for guests and to try up the street so with everything closed we just called a number we found on a door of a place that advertised rooms for rent. A lady came on the line and I stumbled through an explanation and she said, "Arrivo subito!" which means I coming right now! So she showed us an apartment that we could rent for the night which had several rooms and a view to the street several stories down. We went back to the restaurant to have an incredible fire cooked pizza and then crashed like weary travelers.

In the morning we couldn't have cooked up a better day. It was sunny and warm and almost completely empty of people other than the villagers. The cinque terre is a coastal area with five little towns and the land between them and in total it is a living cultural park, recognised by the United Nations. Footpaths and trains connect the towns. I has become quite popular with foreign tourists, but none of my Italian friends had ever been there. We had gone to the southern most town and planned to walk up the paths to the others then take the train back, pick up our bags and head to Florence. The first path was like a stone sidewalk along the cliffs above the ocean. I really understood why they call California Mediterranean. It seemed like California: the sun, the sea, the air and the flowering aromatic plants and cactus. But there were no billion dollar houses to ruin everything and in fact in just the right place along the way there was like a five table little restaurant on the cliff and the sidewalk and that was the only developement. The trail must have been two miles long or so and we made it in no time. The next little town was Manarola. We bought postcards and found a place on the path to sit at a picnic table to write to our loved ones in the old style. These towns are as quaint as you can imagine. Stuccoed townhouses, very old, sort of step up these very steep hills staring at the small cove that comprises the beach. Twenty plus wooden, colorful, motor skiffs line the streets in the first hundred yards of the street. The town and the street switches back up the hill and usually ends with a church or a chapel. Above that on the hill you'll find gardens of the townspeople with vines, vegatbles, lemon trees and such and further up there are olive groves, and proper vineyards. There are all sorts of paths that connect the towns to their fields and to very small outlaying towns above. We stuck to the paths between the towns, but the next one went quite high up and was much rougher, through the olive groves and such. It was peaceful and the views as you can imagine were spectacular. We rode the train back as planned and caught several other trains and finally ended up in Florence about 9:00 where Lorenzo picked us up at the station.

I lived with Lorenzo and his family in 1997 and they have always been the most hospitable people in the world to me. They live on a large olive grove just over the hill from the main city. They used to live in a big villa that looked over the whole 15 acres but now live in apartments they converted from an old barn at the bottom of the hill. Lorenzo and his father, Raul, both love Tuscan farming life. Lorenzo has a zest that is infectious. He speaks perfect english with kind of an English accent as his teachers were from England and he also went to business college in London. He used to drive in a tiny Fiat 500 or a VW bug, because of his love for classic things. Now he drives an old, rugged Land Rover. Anyway, Raul aand Lorenzo's mother, Armanda were waitng for Anna and I to arrive to give us a fantastic Tuscan winter feast. Lorenzo's sister (my Italian sister, Carolina) sadly couldn't join us. The meal we started with an appetiser typical of the season, crostini with liver patè. Armanda then quicly brought out a huge bowl of pasta, I didn't catch the name of it but it was sort of like a longer curlier macaroni. It had a delicious tomato based sausage sauce. I couldn't stop eating it, but when I did they brought out the main dishes. Armanda carried a large plate with three big piles of boiled meats and Raul had a wooden cutting board with a boiled cow toungue with several slices cut off. They explained the dishes in Italian and Lorenzo translated for us. All of them were tender as could be and were covered with a green sauce made of garlic, olive oil, parsley and some other herbs. Later that night Anna joked that this was the first time she had to use a toothpick to get the tongue out of her teeth. WE then had two flavors of the famous handmade Italian gelati. When they showed us to our own apartment, completely decked out in antiques and a huge fluffy when knew we were the luckiest couple in Florence that night.

The best news of the evening however was that the next day was the very last day of olive picking. When we planned to come to Italy for our honeymoon, Anna told me that she wanted to be sure to do two things, one, to ride a vespa in the countryside and the other, to pick olives. Normally thtey are finished before now but the main picker, a spry 80 year old named Settimo, had been sick a little since the mid November starting time. The Doni's have about 500 trees and Settimo, his wife, another coulple and Lorenzo pick them all by hand with out letting them touch the ground, over 5000 pounds in all. They then take it to a press and have it made into some of the most sought after oil in all of Tuscany.

Anna got up and in no time Lorenzo gave her a wicker basket with a sling for over the shoulder and a ladder and away she went. It was sunny and crisp and she told me she would be happy doing it all week. We were so lucky to get to have this experience.

As it was the last of the olives, the truck from the press or frontoia came to pick them up and we followed behind with a picnic of navy beans to sample the oil, pecorino cheese, raw sausage, raw bacon and prosciutto and country bread. We watched the process of the olives being transformed into bright green, peppery oil as the sun slid across the cold blue sky and cast long shadows of the rows of silver olive trees dotting the rolling hills.

Anna's Dream come true!

2005-12-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, Ok. It has been harder than I thought to keep this up to date and I've been wanting to everyday. It's like a potted plant that you know needs water but you can't get home to it; at little times during the day I feel a pang of guilt. Anyway...

It has felt like a vacation since the day we went to Washington to see the Smithsonian. We stood on the Mall at dusk, between the new native american museum and the national gallery and could feel the pulse of dark wintry Europe heading our way.

Did not sleep on the flight out. Watched three horrible movies and felt so embarrassed for Hollywood. And then an orange bruise across the sky. We moved through customs so easily and then began the first of many waits at a train station. As the sky brightend into day we could see the Alps that ring Milan glowing powdery orange.

I'll skip through Milan as Anna's already updated you.

We decided to go to the cinque terre for two days before meeting my old friend Lorenzo Doni in Florence. Loaded up our stuff a hike to the Metro and a ride to the central station. We bought the tickets from these new machines, but had to wait an hour. Pretty soon I began to notice that although there were plenty of people to and fro, no trains were coming or going. I asked a porter what was happening "a strike. finshed at 5:00." Amazingly,though when we looked around our train was going to leave, maybe because it was headed for France. We road to Genova and read about a classic place to have lunch in the old center and on our way to eat we were amazed by the city. A port surrounded by hills crammed with ancient and fanciful buildings dark alleyways opening to piazza with fountains and crenallated palaces. We could only spend an hour there but then we forgot about the strike and end up waiting five hours in the sort of boring station.

It meant that we got to the town in the cinque terre at night with no place to stay.

I'll continue this tomorrow and tell how Anna's dream came true...

First day in Milano

2005-12-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

Well, we arrived in Milano bright and early yesterday around 7am. I was too excited to get any sleep on the plane so we basically went all night with out sleep flying directly into the sunrise. We rode the train into the city. The train took us past little lots of farm land with houses and apartment buildings in between not so differnt from back home, but it all just looks a bit more worn in. We can barly see a ring of snow capped mountains off into the distance. It is difficult to get a good view out of the winow, we have our noses glued to the glass waiting for antthing we can get. The walls in the underpasses are covered with bright graffitti and it begins to feel like the city the more the train rolls along. After the train we hop onto the Metro to ride closer to our hotel. How lucky I am to have Ben as the tour guide, he really knows his way around this city. I would still be down it the Merto station trying to buy my ticket then getting off on the wrong stop.
After dumping off our packs in our room we walked around a bit and then found our friend Cinzia's house. What a place! She lives in the most incredible loft I've ever seen. Super cool, very milano. We all went for coffee what a treat my first cappaccino in Italy. After more walking around with Cinzia Ben and I went on our own to on open flea market and I tried to take it all in with out getting too overwhelmed. I was beginning to reach the end, I couln't take anymore on no sleep so we went back to the hotel and feel into bed not to get up for at least a few hours- thank god!
We got up to go back out for dinner at a great little vegetarian restaurant and then of couse for gelato. Bena and walked through the streets looking into windows. The style here is incredeible with beautiful things to look at everywhere, very inspiring and thrilling to be in the middle of it all!

Undaunted

2005-12-05T03:13:00.000-08:00

The horseback ride had an unintended consequence for Anna. I know she is horribly allergic to horses, but I didn't know just how badly allergic. On the way to the Chelsea Christmas light parade sandwhiched between her dad and I, she must have picked up some horse hairs from our jackets or something. Her breathing shallowed over the course of the night until at 3:00 in the morning whe needed to go to the hospital. Her mom drove the back roads through the quiet snow. No one else was at the emergency room where she had excellent attention from a doctor whose specialty is asthma. He advised us how to handle the condition in the most updated manner. We will proceed undaunted.

Michigander!

2005-12-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

Halleluha! Just finished a horseback ride throughout the Michigan woods: light snow on the ground, brisk, creeks just starting to ice over. Anna's parents live in the middle of a 70,000 acre state park and reserve with 70 miles of horse trails and it is glorious. I've never really ridden before. Sometimes, Tom's gentle follower, Rhythm, took off on trots up and over the moraines and scared me a little, but for the most part we walked through the quiet trees, the dogs winding their way ahead. Bodhi is staying here with his grandparents for the winter. He'll certainly have a pastoral place to roam.

Our trip out, basically eventless. I loved the sail across the plains of New Mexico and Texas. I got all fired up once again by the space and the great dome of sky and the sweeping land. I was planning out our vacation house in Roy. Anna smiled and patiently considered such an odd and lonely place to vacation. We got out in Texas to let Bodhi run around and were surprised by the warmth of the wind. We stopped in Oklahoma City that night for dinner and went by the memorial for the victims of the bombing there. It was quiet, beautiful and well attended for a winter Wednesday night. It's definitely best to see at night because of the way it's lit. On the way to the memorial we passed the art museum which had a six story Dale Chihuly glass sculpture in the atrium. It called our attention like a golden tree of fire. There must be 10,000 pieces of phenomenal blown glass in that thing. It just boggles the mind how it could be put together, not to mention just its sheer beauty.

We made it from OKC to Joplin, Missouri that night and stayed at the Capri hotel (maybe we'll stay on the real Capri in Italy). The next day was a hard drive through St. Louis on to Illinois, Indiana and finally Michigan through light snow. It's great we can start here in the loving arms of all of Anna's family. It's like a vacation and a grounding at the same time.

2005-11-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2005

Kevin just left and we are going to bed. We wanted to leave this morning but there was too much to do. Anna's still running around snorting and putting things away. My head is done. It's all I can do to type these few lines.