I should say upfront that there will most likely be a day or two between blog updates. Its hard to write when there is not much happening, or more precisely, just more normal, daily activities or non-activities. But I will do my best to provide some form of entertainment although that has always been a difficult mountain to climb for me.
The reason for this uncertainty is that Chiara has been suffering from exhaustion for a few months. There was concern she would have to cancel the trip, but we managed to drag her along, kicking an screaming, and if you really know her then you understand that kicking part all too well. But I digress again.
The last two days have been long on hanging around and short on most everything else. But I promised mind numbing chatter in my blogs so we push onward. I should also note that my function here is basically to be the chauffeur for the group, try to keep Chiara up on her appointments (meetings with friends, family, Post Office Bank, etc., etc.). I am not here to schedule local trips, sightseeing or meals. I am just her man "Friday" and that is good enough for me. I eat well, even if severely late at night, and way too much for a man of my inabilities.
Yesterday was pretty much hanging around for the first half. I was up and out by 7:30 for my daily walk around the lake in Bacoli. Since I am not able to hit the gym, my normal routine, I use this walk as my exercise to start the day. The lake is about a mile and half around and many older locals are out there with me. The apartment is about 1,000 yards from the trail so it is pretty close. I return to the apartment about an hour later. No one up or even stirring. There was no sign of life until after 9:30 and that consisted of just a peak as to who else was awake. That was pretty much it for the time. My lunch time was coming and still there were minimal sightings. Even her sister Angela and Pietro stopped by around 10:30 to see if we wanted to take a walk around the lake, but the crew quickly shot that idea down as too strenuous and they were not yet awake. Yes, I am surrounded by a bunch of woosies.
It took until after noon before we finally saw some activity and left the house, and that was to go grocery shopping. This was the highlight of the day. I was able to pick up iced tea, some English breakfast Tea, chips for snacks and a watermelon. They have an earlier growing season here than in the states. Once we returned back to the apartment, we went back into energy conserving mode (not doing very much). Chiara did have a social gathering planned around 5:30 with some old friends, and after that we were invited out for dinner with friends of Angela and Pietro. That tuned into a very late night as dinner started around 9 PM. I just cant win. I was up until after 2 AM trying to sleep as I was too full to feel comfortable lying down to sleep. I think this could be the main theme for the rest of our time here.
Today was a pretty close mirror of yesterday, except there were no local family siteings. I arose from my great night's sleep of maybe 4 hours around 8 AM. I got up, got dressed and headed out for that morning walk again. The excitement this time was that I went the opposite way around the lake. They don't call me daredevil for nothing. I arrived back at the apartment around 9 and after a few minutes cool down, I headed into the kitchen to make my morning cup of tea. I ended up having 2 cups of my tea and a piece of bread. I can barely contain the excitement. We hung around the apartment until early afternoon. Then we decided to head to Genaro's restaurant to pick up some fresh seafood he was holding for us. We were going to visit for a while, however, his restaurant was booked for a couple of weddings that were just about ready to start, so we said our hello's and goodbyes and got back in the car. We dropped the fish back at our place in the fridge and then headed out. No one was sure where to go, so I name dropped the Gelato shop and off we went. This suggestion was universally accepted. We parked the car in one of the lots downtown and walked over to that spectacular local business and indulged in their wares. After we had consumed our heavenly delights, we walked around a bit. Then we found a small amusement shop open with kiddie rides and on them went baby Chiara. She appeared to enjoy every moment of it, except for the leaving part. Well, that's understandable.
We headed back to our humble abode and settled in for the time being. Dinner was discussed and what accoutrements were still required, such as garlic and other spices. Where we are located is along a street with the usual many little businesses. Surprisingly many are fruit, vegetable and other sundry item shops that probably make a subsistence living. There could be a dozen similar shops within yards of each other. Anyway, we walked up the street and found one such place. They are just mom and pop businesses and you get very good pricing for freshly picked items. Many of this shops also carry a small gathering of wines. No great selection, but the stuff the local families drink with their meals. Yes, wine consumption is the norm here, but you rarely see someone drunk. That's just how it is. And another point to always remember when in these towns in Italy. They close down almost all shops in the afternoon here, any time between 1 and 5 when they go home, have lunch and then rest until they head back and open up their shops again until about 8 PM. Just that way it is.
Dinner this night was fish and Octopus with a little pasta. The fish was leftover from our visit the night before. We heated it up in the oven. The Octopus was provide by Genaro. It was fresh from earlier in the day and he cooked it for us. Chiara made an octopus salad out of it. Sounds good to me and I had my fill of it. We also finished some left over chicken from the other night. They do rotisserie chicken in a number of restaurants here. There are two or three within a very short walk from us. They are rather tasty and you get it right out of the oven. I think we will be having this again in the coming weeks. After dinner, we basically stayed in for the night, although 2 in our party decided to head down to the local bar/restaurant to check out the action! Well that is the cover story, but they actually went to get some desserts and get out of our cramped surroundings. They were back just before midnight but noted that the place was just starting to fill up as it was a weekend evening and the younger crowd loves to party.
So that is about it for this dissertation. Time to close up and put the laptop away until next time.
Tune is one of these days for the next chapter of "As Bacoli Turns" I know the suspense has you on the edge of your seat. You will just have to be patient.
Buona Sera!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment