Lucca/Monday 1/8:
Well, we did it! We made it through the first day of school. Lou said, “my brain is fried!” Our first class started at 8:50 am with a short conversational test to determine our placement in a class! OMG, EVERYTHING is spoken in Italian! Our class is small…only four students including Lou and I plus a woman from NC, Amanda and another from Russia, Aysa. Each day following lunch on your own, there is an optional activity which usually meets around 2:30 or 3 and lasts until 5 or so.
Monday’s excursion was a walking tour of Lucca within the walls or Il Mura as it is called. It was very informative (what I could understand!), then we stopped at a “bar” and chatted IN ENGLISH! with the other students – mostly around our age. We met a nice couple from Australia, Malcolm & Michelle who are in another class and staying in Lucca for one year! Their daughter lives in Denmark with her Danish boyfriend, Michelle was a former Flight Attendant and Malcolm loves to fish, what a small world!
A note on bars in Italy. A bar in Italy is not like a bar in the US, but rather a place for refreshments, where one can have a quick breakfast in the morning, usually consisting of a caffè [espresso] or cappuccino (strictly drunk in the morning) and a cornetto or some type of sweet. They generally serve Panini for lunch as well. Throughout the day, the bar serves coffees, juices and alcohol as well, but the point is to have a quick bite or drink, rather than hanging out for long periods of time. These is an exception to this unwritten rule, however. In many of the smaller villages you will see old men sitting inside or outside playing cards or chess drinking their caffe and having a good old time with their amici. In Italy you’ll find bars on nearly every corner and in all our trips to Italy we have only seen a few people drunk. Italians drink moderately, almost always with a meal or appertivo and the idea of binge drinking is unheard of.
Tuesday 1/9:
Today was our second day of language class and I guess some is sinking in since I had a dream last night in Italian of being on Sicily with a handsome detective named, Montalbano, oh but I digress! There is so much to know and I feel like the more I am exposed to it the less I know!
Tuesday’s Excursion was watching an Italian film, ‘Benvenuto Presidente’ – tutto era in Italiano, as usual. Lou did not go, but I did. The film lasted for 2 hours, but about 90 minutes into the film my mind shut down and I began to think about, what else, FOOD.
Wednesday 1/10
Our excursion today was to an immigration museum, The Paolo Cresci Museum for the History of Italian Emigration. This was about Italian immigration to the US and South America. It was very interesting with lots of photographs and documents. I was thrilled to see a copy of a document for a Volpe! Not sure if it was a deportation document or not, given our family’s history!
Thursday 1/11
Today we traveled to Pisa by train. I had never been there before, and I was completely blown away. Our instructor Eva, a bundle of energy, gave us a great overview of the area and history, ‘naturalmente tutto in italiano’ of course! After a walk in the shopping area of Pisa, we stopped at a bar for beverages. Lou and I had hot chocolate….not like what we think of in the US. The chocolate was dark and very thick almost like a pudding, topped with luscious cream, very yummy. Molto Buono!
Needless to say, most nights we are pretty tired after a busy day! Lou said he was conjugating Italian verbs in his dream! But it is all great… Of course, pasta, red wine or prosecco always help!
Friday 1/12
There was no activity after our class, however, Lou and I met up with one of our classmates, Amanda. She took us to a lovely wine bar, Bollicinedautore, where we had Prosecco and some lite appetizers. I think this can become a good habit to develop. I read once that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so that makes 20 more days to go and voilà!
Saturday 1/13
We walked outside the walls of Lucca to the Aqueduct of Nottolini.
It was a beautiful sunny day with very few clouds and perfect weather. When we returned to Lucca (within the walls) we bought pizza (by weight) at a local bread shop which is absolutely awesome, Forno a vapore AMEDEO GIUSTI We couldn’t wait to find a bench to sit down to eat; It was warm, and we could smell the wonderful aromas through the bag! Sorry there are no pictures since the pizza disappeared before we had time to take a picture…next time, maybe!
Later we did some laundry. We have a machine in the apartment, but we had quite a bit, so thought we’d try the local lavanderia, or laundry mat. We put the laundry in for the wash, and the walked to the local bar to work on my new ‘habit’ and sampled some prosecco! Not a bad way to get Lou to go along!!!
Sunday 1/14
We had a lazy morning then took a walk on the wall, il Mura. We had a late lunch at a cozy local restaurant, Osteria San Giorgio. [note, this link is a test, if you have been following along you no doubt must have learned enough Italian by now to be able to translate the text about questo ristorante]. None of the restaurants are large and this was no exception. It was packed with locals and we were lucky to get a table as the waiter asked if we had reservations, which we did not! After our lunch even though the place was still packed, and the owner/server was very busy, he brought Lou and I two small glasses of his homemade Aranciello Recipe or orange liquor. It was ‘molto buono’. Um, I find I am using that phrase a lot!
Afterwards we strolled thru the town and up on the walls. The walled area of Lucca is so charming. At any given time people, are out walking, jogging, riding bikes. It is such a great place to get your exercise, no matter how young or old you are. The circumference of the walls is about 4.2 km (about 2.6 miles). The walking/biking area is quite broad and an excellent surface. In the evening the path is lit and very safe. From the outer side in the evening the walls are lit up from the ground making a very dramatic view of the “Walled City”.
Tutti Giorno 