I Missed A Few

I missed a few blog sessions this past year.

We spent time here in the fall (2024) and again this spring (on the heels of our Morocco trip), but I didn't blog. No reason. Just didn't.

Then Rachele came to Minnesota for the month of July and a week of August, enough time to attend tennis camp, and for friends, family, neighbors, and tennis partners to fall in love with her -- and it was mutual!

Now, rounding off the year and escaping tRump's America (barely... there were delays and snags, thanks to his ridiculous government shutdown), we are back in the Motherland. A special thank you to the Rome info desk woman who did in two minutes what a hundred phone calls to Delta couldn't. Our luggage arrived shortly after her intervention.

Starting with some days in Rome, we visited the wildly intelligent and always interesting Maria Grazia. I met a lovely couple, Candy and Scott, from San Francisco, as we meandered home from dinner and nightcaps. Joe sat, then supined, upon a sidewalk stair, while I conversed with them about the world. We began with fashion discussion, then waded through the mutually observed mire of US politics, touched on being parents and step parents of adult children, and threw in a few references to Let's Make A Deal. I hollered for Joe as my rapidly devouring data told me the way to our hotel, but he kept walking the other way, so to me the gauntlet was thrown -- who'd get there first? Short answer: Me. He called, looking for me, as I got to the hotel; Candy and Scott ran into him and explained what happened!

Our friends Stefano and Cara gave us great dining suggestions, although we could take only a couple. We ate one night with Maria Grazia, and found ourselves in other parts of Rome than the recommended venues for others. All in all, as always in Rome, we ate well!






















Then on to Napoli. We've stayed around Napoli, and have visited Napoli, but never spent a few days there. It was time.

Both Phillip Morris and the Track Suit are alive and well in Napoli. The city makes Manhattan look like a bougie day care center. Chaos, cacophony, color, calcio, caffè... and FOOD... are Napoli. As is beauty. A pulse of its own. A living, breathing, enormous stage of contradictions and utter splendor. I don't think I could live there, but I do think I'll return. Again and again.

And my heart is so happy. As a car pulled up, I heard a female voice from its window "Kahhh-rennn!" And I knew before looking that it was Elda Ferro, riding with Davide, who was coming to meet us. She brought her dog, Bimba, and we all went to Afragola for pizza, Elda insisting I sit in front with Davide. It was as if no time had passed. We were laughing and joking and talking about so many things all at once. We were all so genuinely delighted to be together. Davide and I will always have our special and unique bond. I truly believe we knew each other in a past life.

The food was explosively wonderful; the company even better. We need to see each other more often.























































Reggia di Caserta 

Just some pics from one of the important sites of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, just outside of Naples. Giuseppe Rapisarda's wife, Mary, is from Caserta, which kind of ties it all together for me. 

Stupendous site. I'll leave it to the photos, which do it little justice, but I need to sleep and have no time for more words.
















































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riparo Cassataro

Image
Fields Off the menu pasta Harvester's fire Recycling collection stops traffic I think this is Riparo Cassataro; we may never know. Goats Goat on a fence Another goat I never tire of this volcano I began some wash this morning, after having trouble yet again using the door key, and also with starting the washing machine (it turns out it simply was unplugged). I had fumbled, hitting all the buttons before figuring that out, so once it started, it appeared I put it on the “takes forever “ cycle.  So, we set out this morning to visit a mysterious place, Riparo Cassataro, only 15 minutes away by car, according to GPS. In fact, it was so mysterious, we never found it—or at least didn’t get close to it. This journey (and perhaps the end result) was reminiscent of dragging Laura and Megan through thick and thin to find the mysterious tracks at Clapham Junction in Malta. As Megan says, “pretty snails tho”. We got to an area which looked like a small bastion (oxymoron?) of jutting rock upon...
Read more

Buon viaggio party

Image
Today started slowly, with some tidying up the house and finishing yesterday's blog.  Outside the monestary, Piazza di San Francesco got some Christmas-ing. We decided to have lunch out, trying Red Fish without ordering the pranzo completo , but ordering a tomato and baby shrimp antipasto and a grilled orato (to split) to order. Joe got a glass of house white to wash it down; I had a lovely mineral water. Orata  It was a good lunch, but I think they charged us incorrectly, as it came to twice as much as usual. It was a tough day regarding money things; I had to go for a long walk to clear my head.  The town was hushed. Although that's somewhat normal for the ora del pranzo , It was incredibly quiet today, as if everything was set on velvet. Even my footsteps seemed muffled. It was peaceful. White Castle??! I stopped in one last time at Decò, wanting to get chocolate covered orange peel for Mariella. People we're buying up poinsetta alla   misura del albero -- the s...
Read more

Tennis, Houses, Paternò & Morricone

Image
Elena came up to greet us, after being in Dusseldorf for three days. We got her caught up on what we're doing and what needs to be done over the next few days, then she grabbed more Christmas things from the attic and went back to her apartment to decorate. I cleaned the lower bathroom, always a chore, and got out for a walk to take another look at houses. I will do my homework before we return the next time, although Rosalba's place is making the most sense. This house is on the road behind Bistrot, which I discovered overlooks the belvedere  The grotto is setting up for tomorrow, Feast of the Immaculate Conception  Poinsettias everywhere right now Even the vehicle colors are Christmasing Usually there are cylinders of gas on  display upon the steps, and a man and this woman take breaks and smoke there.  I'm always a little afraid to walk by when that's happening  A pic of my entrance onto v.V. Emmanuele to hold me over until my return You can buy produce after...
Read more