Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Italy Day Four

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Day four here in Vorney, Italia, and still no luggage. We have no idea where the bags could be or whether we'll ever see their contents again. There are a few special items in my bag -- some jewelry and a scarf from a friend -- but unfortunately, there was also a lot of new clothing I had purchased for the trip. So far, I am making do with the t-shirts that Air France provided, along with some new underwear purchased at the supermarket. But, Alan was in worse shape, so yesterday we got him new sneakers and socks and today he found a sporting goods store to buy shorts and a shirt.

Sunday we headed into Lucca to have a look around and have lunch. Found our way easily enough and just squeaked in before a cafe closed at 3pm for some antipasto. I will say that it was almost too hot to eat, with temperatures hovering near 100. After lunch, we decided to take a driving tour of the town. It immediately became apparent that Lucca was a walking city, with narrow streets and abrupt turns, as well as cryptic signage. We twisted and turned and twisted and turned and then found ourselves on a narrow street where we were the only car and there were tons of pedestrians. I said to Alan, "I don't think you're supposed to be driving on this street." He said, "Fair enough, but how do I get off?!" Finally, we dead-ended into the middle of a street fair, and with no choice, Alan had to back up a block through the crowds of people. I didn't look and he did a great job. After that, we just wanted to get out of there and back to Casale Sodini.


Dinner Sunday night at Bimbotto was okay but very rich. At this point, we were all a little tired of restaurant fare.

Monday, we braved EsseLuongo, which turned out to be a nice supermarket, and an easy drive from the house. Bought fixings for lunch of prosciutto, dried beef, salami, salad, bread, and cheese. Very nice to be in control of what was ingested. Later that afternoon, Marianne's friend Sarah and her daughter Bess, were scheduled to arrive, so while Marianne waited for them, Alan and I headed back to Lucca to try to get some wine for dinner and some clothes. We were very successful in getting regional wines and Alan was successful in getting a shirt and some sneakers, which he wore out of the store. Lucca is a walker's paradise, with new sights around every corner, and we started to get the lay of the land.

Back at Casele Sodini, we had to shake off our Lucca sweat with a swim in the fabulous pool. It is truly the best thing about this place -- large, great temperature, and on top of a hill, so there are nice breezes. Lemon trees next to the pool provide excellent balls or grenades, depending on the application. Dinner Monday night was salmon on the grill plus salad and carrots. We ate on the back porch with views of the neighboring hills.

Tuesday morning dawned hot and hazier than the day before. We took an extended morning swim and read some by the pool before enjoying lunch on the back porch. Later today, we're headed back to Lucca and then Annie the chef is coming to fix dinner.

1 comment:

Steve said...

Bimbotto? Little bimbo? ;-)