Arrivederci Italia!

First, Cinque Terre, the series of five villages built into cliffs along the Mediterranean coast.  Our plan was to hike the trails between the villages. Well, you know what they say happens when God knows your plan...she turns up the thermostat! We thought we would escape the torturous heat of the city by fleeing to the coast. Not so much. It was far too hot for hiking, so we somewhat begrudgingly took the ferry between the lovely little towns. If I never see another souvenir shop I will be a-okay with that.  They are ubiquitous eyesores that mar the unique beauty of these quaint, centuries-old towns. I understand the local economies rely on the sales of tee shirts baseball caps, keychains, and other paraphernalia, but sheesh!  I did manage to take some tchotchke-free photos.

My husband of 41 years still amuses me. He could simply not get the names of the villages straight.  Riomaggiore became Roger Maris and Rosey O'Grady. Montorosso was consistently called Montessori School. I guess you had to be there.

Our last ferry ride was a blast. It was late in the day. We were among the first to board, and grabbed seats on the stern of the boat so we were able to watch all the people board. Everyone looked like shit...like they had just had it from the heat and the crowds and the long wait in the sun for the boat. They were sweating through their clothes and the communal BO was putrid. Of course Harold and I smelled like we had just emerged from a rose petal bath.  The sea must have been a little rocky that day, because I've never seen so many people vomit over the side of a boat. The young kids, in particular, couldn't hold their lunches down. I happened to be sitting next to one of the poor tykes. People were as white as the ocean foam.  Get the picture? I'll stop now.

We are back in Florence. It is our last day in Italy and it is bittersweet.

We have walked a million miles. I have worn out two pairs of shoes and one pair of sneakers.  We have traveled by plane, train, bus, taxi, tuk-tuk, speedboat, hydrofoil, ferry, rental car and private car. We have eaten at cafes, enotecas, trattorias, osterias, and ristorantes, and we still don't know the difference between them. Except for cafes where you can only get coffee and sweets. We've eaten all the essential "P" foods...pasta, panini, pizza, pesto, pane, prosciutto, pecorino, parmigiana,  pomodoro and prosecco.  We celebrated St. John the Baptist Day on the Arno, we joined a contrada and watched the Palio horserace, and we strolled through the largest exhibit of contemporary art in the world. We swam in the ocean, traipsed through a lava tube, climbed a mountain, row-boated through a grotto, and most important, we became part of a neighborhood.  Despite the long list of adventures listed above, we actually spent more time at home in Florence than we did traveling.

Today we made the goodbye rounds.  The people in our neighborhood, the people we meet each day, seemed truly sad to see us go. There was much kissing.  There was much pleading with us to come back. I think we have visited Italy for the last time, but it will remain in our hearts forever.

Five things we love about Italy other than the food, the wine, the history and the landscape:

1.The language is musical.  No other language has the cadence of Italian. They actually sing the word, allora. it has become our favorite word. It means everything and nothing.

2. The hand motions.  People talk on their cellphones and gesticulate with their free arms all the time. They walk down the street looking like they are arguing with themselves. Hand motions are as critical to the Italian language as the spoken word.

3. We walked around Florence at all hours of the day and night feeling perfectly safe. Strict gun control.

4. I cannot rave enough about the Italian people. Everyone we met went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We abused their language and they laughed.  They simply could not have been more open and more kind.

5. Staying long enough that we could leave our cameras at home. We could walk through Florence looking only through our eyes instead of through a lens.

Five things that annoyed us:

1. Dogs in grocery stores.

2. Smoking in restaurants.

3. All the young people we saw smoking.

4. The last three weeks of triple digit heat.

5. The taxi strikes.

This was among the best ideas my husband ever had. Obviously, marrying me was the best one;).  We understand we are still outsiders, but for a short time we felt we belonged here, not as tourists, but as neighbors. It was a completely different experience from the usual ten day trips we've previously taken. This was an experiment...a very successful one. Our mission was accomplished.  The guy at the cafe gives us "the usual."  Will we do this again someplace else?  Time will tell.

Ciao! 

E grazie mille a tutte le persone che abbiamo incontrato in Italia. Sei magnifico!