A couple of days ago, I needed some things from the grocery store, and had gotten out of work relatively early. As I was walking back with my bag filled with wine, cheese, chips, and m&ms (a 10€ shopping trip) I looked around me and noticed a few things. First: the mountains. They are completely sprawling on the horizon: huge, majestic, and impossible to miss. Next were all of the people...there were a lot of them. Just walking around. Not seeming to be headed anywhere, not rushing, just taking a walk. People do that here...it's kind of cool. Cars seem almost unnecessary sometimes. I guess it's really just that the atmosphere - surrounded by beautiful mountains, the lake, and this amazing little town - give you a sense to just slow down your pace and look around a bit. Why not? I'm only here for two more months after all.
After my fun little shopping trip came time for the weekend...and I have to say, it was the most Italian-culture-intensive weekend I've had yet. Although I had to work on Saturday, I got off in time to meet up with my friends and, for the first time, really get dolled up for Lido. We all did our makeup together, curled each other's hair, and were sharing each other's shoes.
Ok, so that part was a little American. Moving on....
We went up to the sporting club, had a few drinks, and listened to the whole crowd of people at Sporting sing, passionately, along with songs that were the Italian equivalent to when "Don't Stop Believing" comes on in an American bar, and finally headed to Lido, where we arrived VIP again. :-) I stayed until four, and was still, for some reason, awake at five to see the sunrise. What a treat!
I learned the next day that our friend Claire, who works at the DuLac, had a little moment herself after the club...our friend Mickey gave her a ride in his Vespa to the beach bar Armando's, and unfortunately Claire got off the bike on the wrong side slipped on the pavement, and went tumbling about five feet straight down into "the wilderness" as she described it. It took a few minutes, Mickey jumping down to help her, and three more strangers to pull her up, but despite a few bear-like scratches (giving a new meaning to the nickname Claire-Bear) she was fine, and had a great story to tell later.
The next day I was off work, so I woke up around noon-ish to go back to the sporting a sunbathe for a few hours. The rest of the group showed up around three, when we went in the pool for a bit, then decided it would be fun to check out the lake. Although they don't have a lot of actual "beaches" here, there is a great place called San Giovanni that is basically a huge pier that people like to hang out on. When we arrived, everyone was sitting up on the walls, but we were hot and decided to take the 10 foot jump into the cold, choppy lake. And how much fun we had! I only jumped in a few times, because there was a long swim back to where you could get out of the water, but it was fantastic. I think it must have looked like a lot of fun because right after we went in most of the other people hanging out there decided to join us.
This is what summer is supposed to feel like.
And, in Italy, this is what summer looks like:
Anyway...we left the lake, went back for a shower, and then met up with Dani and drove 20 minutes up the mountain to this tiny, locals-only restaurant that served real Italian food. We ordered two liters of (very strong) red wine, and everything family style to share. Included in the feast were things like pickled (or something like that) onions, various cheeses, salami, some type of pasta I'd never heard of before, donkey (yes, donkey and yes, I ate it and yes, I loved it), polenta with garlic and cheese, and for dessert chestnuts with chocolate and whipped cream. We stayed for about two and a half hours, and laughed so hard I was crying. We all re-lived Claire's fall into the wilderness, made even more hysterical after several glasses of wine, and finished the night off with a small glass of limoncello. After heading back we stopped at sporting, but by that time we were all so exhausted from the food, the sun, and swimming that we left shortly for bed.
Today I woke up, got a quick lunch, and came back to sporting where I've been all day. My sun tan is coming along wonderfully, and the heat is intense, but I'm surrounded so much beauty all the time I could hardly care.
I love it here, and I love this way of life.
I could hardly ask for more...except perhaps another glass of wine.
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