My feet are killing me!

Is it possible that I actually forgot to pack something...yes, an odometer! I would have loved to see how many miles I am clocking in each day. Maybe not in Sicily, but Ascoli, Rome and now Bologna. It's so easy to just keep going.... I feel like Forest Gump when he started to run and could not stop. It's really the best way to get your bearings, see the sites, people watch, stop for lunch and one's daily gelato hit (still obsessed with pistacchio) and then to find some vacant marble step in the shade where one can lean against a wall that is probably 4-500 years old.

Well, I've learned that I am most happy in these big northern cities. Rome is very grounding for me, easy to get about and Bologna has a sophistication that I really am drawn to.

I've been stuck on the issue of weather which is why I chose Ascoli to begin with. Thought further south would be more enjoyable and in the end, the south is getting the worst weather right now. Bottom line, Italy does not have great weather; Santa Fe does! So, now that I've put weather aside, I can admit to myself that I feel most comfortable in large, Northern, cosmopolitan cities.

When last in Italy (2005), Cremona was the ideal place and maybe still is. I'm almost tempted to take a day trip back there; we'll see. I love the sense of style here, it's certainly more progressive and you can see it in how the people socialize and there are more woman out with their friends and not attached to family or partner. I don't feel like such an oddity.

Anyway, I got here around 1:30pm, found my hotel, cheched in, changed (it was warmer here than in Rome...go figure?) and headed out the door. I just got back at 7:45pm having had lunch, gelato and a bottle of Pelligrino at a nice cafe in the piaza where I could happily people watch.

My new friends, Shastro and Maria will show up here on Wednesday and it will be really nice to see them and to be with buddies. We're to go to a Tango event that night; not sure what to expect! Obviously, will write about it.

Tomorrow I plan to head out to the Modern Art Museum as there is a retrospective on Fillini's 40 year career as one of the most celebrated film-maker who is also considered by many to be a genius. The exhibition has photographs, audio and video presentations. Later in the day, I plan to go to a highly recommended restaurant, Trattoria da Gianni, which is noted for it's home-made pasta (by hand not machine) with some vino. This will be good, I'll keep you posted.

Ciao for now!

Sicilia catchup!

Today I left "la familia" in Sicily and I had a proper farewell. Cugini Vito and Dino along with wives Anna and Patricia and Vito's daughter Laura came together at the Baglio and we all shared our last coffee together and bid me farewell. It was so touching and the language simply is not there to express my gratitude for their generosity of spirit and more.

With no WiFi I was unable to maintain the blog and so I did send a few emails which I'll copy below and attempt to compress this experience into a sensible, entertaining post....not easy.

To quote myself from one of the emails, "this experience in Sicily was not about site-seeing or photographs but more about a soulful awakening". Pardon my choice of words as they are a bit lofty but my point is that relationship is pretty amazing stuff and, I also have to say, Sicilians are a pretty amazing people.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to exit the shuttle at the Baglio Calia and have two strangers approach me and instantaneously we are family?! The familiarity of these people was simply astounding. Is it possible that it's about blood -- I really don't know but we all obviously chose to make that the common bond. In fact, the more time that went by, the more we found other commonalities. With little English among the group, all did have an easy time saying, "it's in the blood!" each time we found another silly point in common.

Vito was my primary relationship, I think this was due to his decent command of English, our similar comedic characters and his ego which loved the attention. He is the owner, builder, designer, of the Baglio Calia which dates back to the XVIII century. It was his grandfather's horse ranch which over time and war was pretty much destroyed. Vito's father was a sailor (actually lived in San Diego for a while) and his passion was water and not "the land" and so he had no interest in preserving the property. In fact, Vito's father, Frank Calia (aka "chooch") brought the 1st fishing spear to Mazzaro del Vallo. Chooch was passionate about the sea and spent a lot of time in it! Vito, on the other hand, had no passion for the sea and so he promise his grandfather that he would reconstruct the Baglio and he did. It took him 15 years but it's quite a property. There is an olive grove and in October they will press and produce olive oil and fruit trees as well.

Vito's two daughters, Laura and Marina are going to take the Baglio through to another phase of constructing a spa, health club, swimming pool, massage, etc. This is all quite exciting for the family.

Vito's other passion besides the land is music. He plays 8 instruments (piano, guitar, bass, flute, trombone, accordion.... and some others???) and sings. For over 40 years he toured Europe with his group Il Dioscuri. He said he used the money from touring to reconstruct the Baglio. Today, there is a full on stage with all the band and sound equipment at the Baglio and on my first day of arrival, in typical "Vito" style, he encouraged Laura and I to join him on the stage and we all began to sing Beatle songs together. He played piano but had some kind of sophisticated sing-a-long gadget that accompanied his piano playing and, like karaoke, had all the words to the songs. Laura has a beautiful voice and I didn't sound so bad myself.

Singing and dancing is a major theme in the family. Everyone does it and it's natural at any point in time to break out into song!




I think I learned from my first trip to Italy in the 70s was that when you visit family, everything is out of your control. You really need to be ready to go with the flow. They have such a sense of responsibility to you that there is no reasoning with them and so it was a good exercise for someone like me to simply accept these days and how they played out. I figured I was not in danger, I had a beautiful bed to sleep in, I was well (well) fed and so what more does a human need.

Each day some plan would present itself and since it was discussed amongst all in Italian, I never really knew what the plan was and so on the 2nd day when I met my cousin Dino (Vito's brother) and was asked if I had my bathing costume, that was how I found out I was being taken with Vito and his family to the hot springs....okay! Now, I had just met Dino and from all accounts felt comfortable (but never quite as comfortable as I was with Vito). He drives up to the Baglio and there in his car is his curious wife and curious daughter....I hop in and sure enough Patricia turned out to be one of my favorite people! and she giggled the entire time as she attempted to speak English. Her 15 year old was a bit shy and so not much went on between us, but Patricia and I became buddies.

So, there I was among hundreds of Italians in a "Ojo Caliente meets Water World" environ. How funny is that....certainly not a place I would voluntarily spend my time at but I was fascinated by this experience.

Oh yeah, Vito is also the Police Captain of the town and so he walks around with a gun in a holster....and so anytime he and I went anywhere together (like on his "rounds"), everyone knew him and he proudly displayed his Cugina de America....

Another spontaneous day was when I was placed in Dino's car with Patricia and was told I was going to Salemi. Okay, this was good, this is where the Calia's originated. Challenge is Dino never gets off the telephone, he literally was taking on two phones while driving the car. Often, we would have to pull over while he finished his conversation. There was a point when Patricia was on one phone and Dino was on two and I was in the back seat with my eyes shut tight hoping this was not the day to die. Italian have a 6th sense when it comes to driving. I have witnessed the pure beauty and skill they posses and it simply can not be as successful as it is with only the sense of sight. no way. the drivers are communicating with each other telepathically, I'm sure of it!

So, hours later we pull up to what looks to me like a kitchen -- cabinet -- modern -- furniture store. Oh, that's what we're doing. We went to the place where Dino and Patricia have ordered their new cabinets for their kitchen renovation. It was in the coastal town of Trapani, which did look lovely. Again, after receiving and taking many telephone calls while the sales person was talking/working with Patricia, we wrap up business there and I'm so thirsty I can hardly handle it.

We go to a cafe in town, I have sworn off any food for the rest of the day and so just want water and lots of it.

Get back in the car and start driving somewhere when I realize it's like 9pm! I met them at 4:30pm....and we've yet to go to Salemi! Dino wants to go for Pizza at 9pm in Salemi....this I simply can not do! So, the two phrases that I've learned quite well as they have come in very handy are: Sonno fame (I am hungry) and Sonno stanca (I am tired)....guess which one I used! Yes, sonna stanca! We were on our way home at last!

Earlier that day, Vito, Laura and I walked through the old town of Mazzaro del vallo which still has a heavy Arab influence. We three had a great day, walking, talking getting some feel for this port city. It's the closest Italian city to Africa (Tunisia to be specific). This is a beautiful port town with so much history and so many conquerors. Talk about blood line....who knows???? What really constitutes Sicilian blood? We three walked for hours, took loads of photos all with the mission of getting to Vito's home by 1:30 where Anna was making lunch. My first home cooked meal, also first time at the private home.

Once on our way, we stopped for bread, I picked up a bunch of strawberries and a bouquet of flowers for Anna. She's trying to quit smoking (day 7) and is having a hard time and so I wanted to do "something" for her. By the way, let me mention right here that under no condition have I been allowed to place my hand in my pursue with the intention of pulling out money to make any kind of financial contribution. This is simply unheard of and not allowed and so I am trying to be really creative about how to show my appreciation and I'm hoping strawberries and flowers will do it, when really a cigarette would do the trick!

The lunch was simple yet so incredibly delicious...what is it over there with the food? We had spaghetti with a light tomato sauce, a fritatta of potato and onions, incredible bread, then came the sausage and peppers. See that belly in the photo of us singing, I was "molto contento" oh yeah! After that, little ice cream cones of various colors and flavors and a nice strong cup of espresso. This is why I could not eat a pizza at 9pm with Dino and Patricia. I was maxed out!

Well, this is a pretty long blog and so I both apologize and congratulate anyone who has stuck with me through these lengthy writings.

I'm in Rome now, just had a lovely meal of mixed green salad and a plate of proscuitto. Planning an early evening as I will re-pack in the morning for my next adventure to Bologna! Stay tuned....

Roma

Last night, when I blew the fuse with my American hair dryer I did hear a bit of complaining, "Oh Dio Mio" (multiple times with the clapping of the hands and looking upwards to heaven) for a while as the woman at the desk had to find the person who had the keys, who knew where the fuse box was, who could communicate with me, follow me to my room so I could "show" him the damage, and confirm that I had blown the switch and, who could then reset it..... I do think the front desk lady (owner I suspect) was mad at me for a little bit, but this morning I earned her graces back when she took my hand and said I was hot and I replied, "sonno ragazza Italiana" and she really cracked up over this (translates to, "I am an Italian girl", that's why I'm hot!! get it???) So, the fuse switch was reset and I was back to a light filled room with no harm to the hotel, or the block, or the city!

Since I am on a time schedule tomorrow (Tuesday) with my flight to Sicily, I thought it wise to visit the Termini Stazione and today purchase my rail ticket to the airport as well as determine a direct walking route from my hotel to the stazione with my new, pretty, small, travel bag! It doesn't take much to realize that in some ways, rolling bags are worthless in Italy. Too many cobble-stones and not enough side walk, the need to j-walk... When I walk around without a piece of luggage, I'm completely unaware of how many times I'm on and off a sidewalk, walking on cobble-stones, dodging traffic, etc. So, finding my most direct route will save me time and energy.

When one has all the time in the world, the crowds at the Stazione are entertaining but when one is on a time schedule things turn more chaotic.

Time was spent today instead of tomorrow morning finding the right vendor for the train ticket to the airport which took about 35 minutes; then I needed to change money preferably at a bank rather than a change shop as the rate is so much better. This seems to be a new challenge and I think it's due to the advent of the ATM machine. Most travelers do not take money with them and simply use their debit card to obtain euros. I, of course, am different. With multiple stops and various directions, I finally came upon a bank that would change my dollars and sure enough the rate was superior to the change shops. Although, they "refused" one of my $100 bills because it was not a "new one"....I suspect if it did not stand out amongst the others and I gave all "old" bills at the same time, there would be no notice. Bottom line, I got my money changed and then proceeded to find the platform that I will go to tomorrow to catch the train to the airport....and it's the furthest one at the stazione. So, it will be necessary to leave enough time to walk from the hotel to the stazione and then walk to the platform but I have my ticket and I will be ready to go!

Nap or gelato....si, gelato!

It is my sincerest hope that I am walking enough to burn off the calories I am eating with my daily (almost) hit of gelato. My favorite combination to date is dark chocolate and pistachio. Mmmmm good. I've been known to declare that "I don't do sweets" -- I am forever never able to declare that again.

Now a nap! Ciao...

Bitter sweet departure from Ascoli and a familiar return to Roma

This morning (Sunday) I left Ascoli saying arrivedeci to good friends Daniela and Diane (my house-mates) and Guiliano, the proprietor of my morning cafe. It was bitter sweet; these people became quick friends in such a short time. Yet, I was ready to move on.

Yesterday (Saturday), Diane, Daniela and I spent the whole day & night together. There were special events in town as it was "Family Week" and so we had a few activities on our agenda. First, of course, was to visit my local cafe and have coffee and a chocolate croissant. Once Diane and Daniela joined me we were off to the Saturday weekly Mercado where we could mosey among the booths of the farmers and then saunter onward to shoes, clothing, etc.

Diane bought zucchini blossoms to fry up for dinner and Daniela bought her ration of peas for the week (some fresh eggs as well). Diane also knew of a cart that sold really good roasted port and so we found it and purchased some for lunch with our blossoms....is your mouth watering yet?

Oh, yes, we were also on a mission to find me an inexpensive black strapless bra! Yes, this was my new need. Remember in my last post I mentioned I bought two tops made in India, well they are both off-the-shoulder. Quite flattering, I might add. I did not intend to purchase the strapless bra in Italy but, here we were at a retail market and why not.

This mission was a bit comical because the booths that wold the bras were manned by men. So, Daniela was going around the market asking these men if they had any strapless bra's for me! All said NO, until we finally found one who said yes. He never did ask me my size, he just looked at my boobs, proceeded to look at his stock of sizes, found the size that he believed to be mine and handed me a black strapless bra. Now the trick was, how to try it on (there are no dressing rooms in these markets), so I did what any American tourist woman would do, I tried it on "over" my shirt (which was fitted enough so I could really tell if it fit or not). Well this man had a well-trained eye and was spot on. Bravo! and it was only $9.00!

With more walking and browsing around, we all made out way back to the flat where we prepared our lunch. Sooooo, good. This pork was heavenly (sorry for those vegetarians reading this blog), and Diane whipped up a egg batter and deep fried the blossom, I made a mixed salad and one could not want for more. We had some red wine as well.

Nap time!

Before heading out again later, it was my big day to pack the gorilla. I was dreading it. I first started by laying everything on the bed. At one point Daniela came in thinking she was still back at the Mercato! Slowly and gently I placed all my belongings back in the suitcase so I was completely packed by the time we went back out again.

***Getting to the bus station to catch my bus to Rome was a preoccupation for a while until I worked out all the details. Diane was going on a hike at 8:45am, I had a taxi come at 9:00am and so Diane, Daniela and I carried all my belongs down 4 fights of stairs around 8:30am and then went to our cafe to wait for the taxi. Had I not had the gorilla, walking to the bus station would have been the option as it is literally 5 minutes away. But, I just couldn't do it so I contribute to the Ascoli economy by paying a taxi driver to drive me 5 minutes down the street.***

Around 5pm, we made our way to Piaza Popula as my language teacher, MariLena was partaking in a childrens play in the courtyard and I wanted to be there to support her. The weather began to get pretty dreary but we stood outside while MariLena and her troupe of actor friends put on an outdoor performance for the children in the community. She was so happy to see me there and I got to meet her fiance. We left after about 20 minutes as it started to rain (again) and headed for a cafe. We all wanted ice cream now.

So after walking around a bit and "bumping" into Georgio (Daniela's kinda boyfriend) and dodging the drops, we all went into a cafe and indulged in ice cream and pastries. Delicious. I had profiteroles.

Our next activity would not be until later so once the rain let up we strolled more and then made our way back to the flat but first had to purchase a bag of the meat-stuffed fried olives which is a trademark of Ascoli...mmmmmm. The plan was to bring them home for a snack later before heading back out at 9pm. My appetite was strange yesterday and so my olives could not wait as I ate them on our walk home..oh well.

Daniela went out with some friends while Diane and I hang out. At 9pm, we went back out to one of the beautiful churches where a German youth orchestra was performing. Great acoustics, smiling Germans and generally a lovely evening. Diane knew some people in the audience and it reminded me again how I wish our time had overlapped more. She is so in tuned with this community, I would have enjoyed my time more I think. Oh well, this is the way my experience was to be.

By the time we left the Church around 11:00pm, it was clear sky, warm and balmy and a beautiful evening in Ascoli.

So upon waking up this morning I was grateful to leave my friends on a sunny, warm day.

My bus arrived on time and made it's 3 hour drive through the hills and valleys between Ascoli and Rome. I had already booked my hotel which was only 2 blocks from the bus station and just few more from the train station. I'm using Rome as my headquarters for planning....

So, the Hotel Katty was easy to find and is clean and simple. Checked in and grabbed my map so I would get to know my bearings and began to walk. After some lunch of lasagna and veal parmesan, I decided a good destination would be the Spanish steps. And so I walked for about 4 hours while also searching for a street vendor where I might purchase an inexpensive smaller travel bag. My plan is to leave the gorilla stored at the hotel in Rome and use this smaller bag for Sicily and Bologna. Also, it will save me money when I return to the states as I won't get hit with that whopping $200.00 for an overweight bag....I'm still pissed off at that.

Sure enough, my walk brought me to where many street vendors were and I began to get a taste for what type of bags were available, size, cost, etc. The further I walked, the less expensive the same bag became. By the end of my 4 hour walk, I had decided on a style, size and cost and made my choice. Returned myself and my new small travel bag to Hotel Katty, picked up a few bottles of water and decided it was time to shower.

Plan to have a quiet night in Rome, will be easy as I blew a fuse with my American hair dryer and I'm presently in the dark....wonder if the entire hotel is?

Michael, didn't I do this last time we were in Rome????

Stay tuned....

Happily pensive in Ascoli (Friday)

My days are winding down in Ascoli and I do feel some sadness as this little troupe of people around me have all become valued friends. How sweet to witness the unfolding of stranger to comrade. At this writing, I have to say that Ascoli provided me with a safe haven to rest and surround myself with good-hearted souls. This is not something to take lightly. When back in Italy again, I could so see myself returning to Ascoli if only to visit Daniela, MariLena, Giorgio, Diane(when she's here). They each have contributed to making my time here memorable and heartfelt.

With that said, the place is a bit provincial for me. I can appreciate the old-fashioned way and find it curious but I can't relate. There is something sad about the woman here that I need to ponder more before I attempt to write as I think I have quite a strong opinion. Sorry to leave you hanging with this one, but my thoughts need more time to percolate.

MariLena and I had our last language class today and I was done being in a classroom and so we met and immediately walked to a cafe for our last 2 hours of lessons. Again, she and I walked arm and arm, chatting away in all kinds of language. She gave me an Italo Calvino book in Italian yesterday because surely after two weeks of Italian language, I can read this!!! (barely can understand Calvino in English, but what the heck) and so today I gave her some gifts as well. I gave her the book called "La Bella Lingua" as it is written by a woman who loves the Italian language and she's done much research with where words and expressions come from. It's really well written and fascinating. She brings to the reader's attention how many Italian words are pure metaphor which is so creative. It's really helpful when you're a student of the language. I am going to re-purchase it(as well as the English version of my Italo Calvino book....I'll need to cheat like in a crossword puzzle when I'm trying to translate). I also gave MariLena, "Eat, Pray, Love" and the DVD "Under the Tuscan Sun" and so she will have some fun English challenges. She intends to continue to send me practices via email as well as videos and links to Italian "tele-fiction" that are meant to help students of Italian. Once we wrapped up our lesson, Bouncy Ragazza and Dulce Ragazza made their way back to the school to part as teacher/student but not as friends. I believe we'll see each other tomorrow (Saturday) as she is part of a play performance that will take place. I'll keep you posted and, ideally, not forget my camera!

A celebratory Chinese food lunch today with Daniela, Giorgio and I. I was a bit nervous about this choice as I haven't always had good Chinese food in Italy, but what the heck! It was what they wanted. Georgio is a very enthusiastic man and enjoys speaking his Italian language (you might remember, he picked me up at the bus station and took me on a tour until I finally almost fell asleep in his car!). Therefore, it was a lively conversation in Italian about meditation, the Power of Now, the book about how water molecules change with positive and negative feelings. Georgio did most of the talking (he doesn't speak any English) but it was still fun!

Paralleling these gentle emotions is, of course, the excitement about the trip to Sicily. But, it is time to move from contentment to excitement, don't you think?

One way that I am moving in this direction is by purchasing a couple of really sexy tops. Don't ask me why, but this is the 2nd time that I've been in Italy and I have purchased clothing from India...what's with that? Yes, I bought two "off the shoulder" tops that I think are just lovely and so they will be packed in my Sicily bag!

Laura Calia emailed me today that they will pick me up at the Palermo airport and for me to not worry about anything.

Haven't made any other plans beyond this.

Also, happy to be in Rome for 1.5 days; I find this great city quite civilized and seem to relate more to it than smaller cities.


So, that's it for today..hope we have good weather tomorrow for my last day and for all the Fiesta's that seem to be promised...you never really know!

Under the Ascoli and Offida Sun!

Hey all, sorry but the previous day's blog did not post on time, so if you really want to be "on top" of it all, you need to read, "I've Arrived" before reading this one!

Today (Wednesday), in it’s entirety, was a lovely day. It started with an early rise and out the door by 9am (my lesson starts at 11:00am) as I was anxious to get to the market. Every Wednesday there is a farmer’s market and a retail market. Today, I had my sights set on a very blue leather purse that I had seen last week but hesitated to purchase. There was a little voice on my shoulder SHOUTING, “why do you need another purse!!!”....fortunately, during the week, that voice was replaced with a more tender voice suggesting, “you’re in Italy, buy the blue purse as you’ll regret it; I just know you will…you would never buy a blue purse at home!here's your chance”. So, today, in honor of the tender voice, my mission was to find the “purse stall” (among many, many stalls) with the hope that the blue purse was still findable amongst the thousands displayed. I knew I was in trouble when the saleswoman (who, by the way, was really beautiful) immediately recognized me from last week (see, it’s not hard to remember the only single, female, flat-wearing shoed American in this town). She reminded me of the “good price” and then gave me space to roam. I spotted the blue purse and immediately my passion was re-ignited. I had to own it. It was marked as 29 euros and I bought it for 20 euros. I’ll be curious at how often I have the balls to wear this purse as it is really, really, really, really blue!


Now that my mission was successful, I still had a good hour before my lesson and so I bounced off to a new café for a coffee. I chose one in the main piaza and settled in quite well, scanning the local newspaper as if I was actually reading and absorbing the news. Sometimes I could get the gist of the article but mostly not.


A little backtracking here – My buddy, Gina (HI!) sends me my horoscope each week and this week was a fun one. It was about pen names and how I should come up with my own alias. I liked this idea and so upon departing the market with my really, really, really, really blue bag in tote, I found that my walk had a new bounce to it and so I decided that today’s alias was Bouncy Ragazza!

Another sunny and warm day in Ascoli and MariLena and I had planned to go to the little hillside town of Offida after our lesson. I was excited about this excursion. As I’ve said many times (and will repeat myself so forgive me), MariLena is a delight and we are buddies. I have to say, she’s my favorite person in Ascoli right now.

We had our 2 hour lesson and then made our way to the bus station walking arm and arm like we had grown up together. I've decided Dulce is her alias. With tickets in hand and a crowd of teenagers waiting as well, we board a comfortable, air conditioned bus and relax while someone does the driving. MariLena has a car but she decided to not drive so she could also relax and enjoy the scenery (and be kind to the environment). We knew all along that we would be arriving in this small town during the “rest period” and so our expectations were to merely walk, site see, enjoy, chat and have lunch for a few hours in a new place.

The tour books do not lie when they exclaim how beautiful the hillside towns are in this region. They are picture perfect just as they are in Tuscany without the tourists and tour buses.

Upon arriving, we first confirmed the time of the return bus and where we should wait (she’s just like me), now we were free to roam. This hillside town probably has a population of about 5,000 inhabitants; it is lovely and immaculate. I just love the architecture of the residences. They are always built of either the white local stone or brick, always colored shutters and this area (including Ascoli) are displaying tons and tons of flowers and humongous palm trees. It’s surprisingly tropical here.

We walk and walk and talk and talk both Italian and English. After a while, we find a café and sit down to lunch. A delicious sandwich of prosciutto crudo, soft cheese and greens is so very satisfying with a nice green salad.

We are about 15 minutes early for our return bus and find a park with a clear view of the bus stop so we can watch for it. From our vantage point, we actually see a bus parked and assumed it was ours. After just a few minutes, we decide to simply go and wait at the bus stop; we see a couple of policemen talking and as we are looking around for the bus driver, one of the policemen prompts MariLena and she is told by him that the bus to Ascoli had already come and gone. This was very distressing news as the next bus was not for another 4 hours and we would not get back to Ascoli until around 9pm…..MariLena seemed more distressed over the question of how could we have missed it, we were sitting and looking right at the bus stop the whole time. She kept repeating how we both have a set of eyes and we could not have missed seeing it! It was concluded that we were probably directed to the wrong bus stop. So, MariLena pulled out her cell phone and began to call everyone in her family: mother, father, brother, brother’s friend, boy friend and finally we get the good news that MariLena’s boyfriend’s father (who is retired) would come pick us up! As lovely as Offida is, there simply was not 4 more hours of anything to do there.

While waiting, a gentleman approached us who heard my American accent and proceeded to join us in conversation. He was a British writer whose girlfriend (who was a painter) was from this area and they came here often to visit family. A bit of trivia he shared – the tailor for Frank Sinatra lived in this town! Too bad we didn’t run into him!

The “future father-in-law” arrives (only waited about 20 minutes entertained by the British writer) and we proceed to have a lovely drive back to Ascoli which was only about another 25 minutes.

It was a lovely time.

Tonight, my housemates and I were having dinner together. Diane is now here in Ascoli for her annual 2 month annual visit. She is a Professor at a small college in Maine and her personal passion is Medieval History. She is working on a 5,000 line translation of an old Italian document. She’s been coming here for 6-7 years. We hit it off and it's a joy to have a new personality in my little circle.

I prepare a salad and Daniela has purchased some home-made thin pasta and she fries up prosciutto and season with just some lemon rind, parsley and parmesano cheese, creates such a simple yet outstanding dish. Wonderful meal.

Once dinner is over, dishes washed, table clean, it’s about 9pm and we’re all happy to be home tonight. I offer up a movie…set up my laptop, pull the couch close as we all find our comfort and start to view, “Under the Tuscan Sun”….Diane had never seen it and Daniela was happy to practice her English.

It was a lovely way to end such a lovely day!

I've arrived! -

Well, today made it official, I've arrived in Ascoli! The local crazy man saw me twice today and greeted me both times....I am now a local! It's that easy!

Meanwhile, the weather has finally turned warm and today is the first day I am not dressed in multi-layers and do not need a bath to warm my bones. Simple t-shirt covered in very dark chocolate ice cream which I drooled onto myself with great pride! I'm telling you, this stuff is dangerous. My two favorite flavors are "dark" chocolate (I mean really, really dark) and pistacio (like you've never had pistacio before!).

Not much to talk about today; it's a pretty relaxing day. After my lesson, I went for my usual pre-lunch walk and then decided to sit at an outdoor cafe and feast on grilled fish (shrimp and calamari) kabob and salad. Had a nice cup of coffee, soaked in the sun, reviewed some Italian and generally relaxed. It's a tough life!

Then I went for my after-lunch walk with no focus or mission except to eventually turn up at the bank.

Plans for my departure from Ascoli have changed just a bit. It turns out Rome was basically "booked" for this Saturday (at least at the places I could afford) and so I'm staying in Ascoli one more day (maybe head to Grottomare and rent an umbrella for the day--not a bad idea, ha?) and will depart for Rome on Sunday. Have secured a reasonably priced hotel (recommended by Dante (Daniela's brother) walking distance from the bus and train station. I'll stay in Rome Sunday and Monday searching for a small/medium sized suitcase that I can travel better with. This hotel will keep the "gorilla" in storage until I get back from Sicily. So, the plan right now is that I fly to Sicily on Tuesday and return to Rome on Saturday (or sooner or later).

I still have to book my flight. Interesting discovery today when I went to the Italian Al Italia site, my round trip flight was only 93 euros ($114); then for the heck of it, I went to the Al Italia US site and the same flight was $283.00! What a difference!

Meanwhile the dollar has really gained some strength since I first started pricing this trip. Originally, the 2 weeks of private Italian would have cost me $522.22; I just paid up and it was $496.00 - hey, that's a difference of at least 3-4 plates of spaghetti! So, this makes me happy.

Tomorrow, MariLena and I enjoy a day in the town of Offida! I'll take photos.

May write later, but this is all I have for now.