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We are now very close to leaving Italy after a stay of approximately six weeks and it is astonishing how quickly you slip into lifestyles and customs which become an expectation in a very short period of time. Many of these are so pleasant that they will be missed greatly once we have left but as I have said before there are a few that I will be happy to leave behind although, I think, the former greatly outweigh the latter.
The first thing you become aware of whilst travelling around Italy is the friendliness, family unity and community spirit although to a certain extent some issues can become unhealthy. I heard the other day that it is not unusual for sons to stay with their parents until well into their forties. The community spirit also has a worrying side as there are an enormous amount of elderly men sitting around in town squares doing absolutely nothing all day but chatting and playing cards. They also appear later in their favourite cheap bars for a little tipple but at least they socialise and don't hide away in their homes. This could be a case of the 'pot calling the kettle black' but there does seem to be an abundance of elderly guys on the street but no women. There is however a tremendous support for village and town functions and this support does come from mixed family groups. The other week we were at a Sweet Chestnut Festival in a hill town in Tuscany and there was a market and food stalls. All car parks were bursting, bars were full and families were just milling around having a great time. Also, the other evening we watched a group of guys playing boules, they were laughing and joking together but feircely competitive and the age range was probably 18-75! I am not saying that the predominance of elderly people is good but the respect and community spirit is to be admired.
As you travel through the Country the landscape changes immensely. It is Alpine in the North around the Lakes but this quickly changes as you travel southwards and the country become very flat with extensive arable farming and beautiful architectural cities and towns. Into Tuscany and Umbria you move to rolling green hills with ancient stone hilltop towns but further south than that and the country becomes very rugged with enormous mountains either side of you and roads designed to follow the valley floor so the driving becomes quite interesting. That also applies to the Autostrada if they can't find a way to bridge gorges or tunnel through the cliffs you suddenly run into a tight bend which is even more interesting at high speed. It is only when you ge to the very South that the flat arable land returns and it is extensive here and the only occupation appears to be farming and fishing.
Trees are a strong feature here, and the most dominant, I think, is the Stone Pine which has a very strong tall gnarled twisting trunk but with a vibrant green umbrella type canopy. The other, of course, is the tall thin Cypress tree that dominates all advertisements for Tuscany and last but not least the Olive tree. The Cypress trees are not restricted to Tuscany and appear everywhere in a decorative way. On a long fashionable driveway to a large house we recently saw them planted alternately with Stone Pine and it made a very impressive sight as the drive was a good 200M long. Olive trees are everywhere, of course, but in the North they appear to be more cultivated and are generally quite small and regulated but in the South they are totally dominant but more randomly planted and some trees have multiple trunks and the most enormous girth. We watched harvesting in a number of places where they carefully lay nets under a group of trees and agitate the branches with a claw which is electrically driven. We were told by farmers that a group of six people can strip more than 500 trees over a two week period. There are, of course, a wealth of deciduous trees all over, but because we are so used to them at home they do not jump out at you but they do make a great display at this time of year.
Now for my favourite subject, food, wine, coffee and and an extra, pastries this time. They do not usually feature on my list of likes, but here they do the most amazing range of tarts and cakes and a lot of them use a very light short pastry. They seem to dominate breakfast as we found when we stayed in an Agriturismo in Bologna some weeks ago and probably put on 3kgs just on breakfasts! Probably, because you are never far from the sea fish dominates menus and so it should. The pasta and grilled meats are also very good but the seafood has been amazing. One particular meal stands out in my mind on a fishermans quay near Naples where I had a mixture of squid ,octopus, anchovies and sardines all lightly fried in a very light oil with crusty bread and washed down with sharp white wine (heads and all). Fabulous coffee all over the country, hot and strong and even with an Americano they give you hot water separately in case you want to destroy it. But the king is the expresso which at around 80 cents is a great buy especially if you are desparate for the loo! Even Jackie now has a second expresso in her Cappucinno! The red wine or Rosso dominates here, and so it should , you can obviously pay a lot and drink nectar but save it for special occasions. All restaurants do Rosso della Casa and very good it is too, generally, and can cost as low as 7 euros a litre and thats the restaurant price. In both the North and the South watch the locals in the supermarket and you won't go far wrong. In Puglia we were drinking 13% Primitivo from plastic 3 litre bottles at just a smidge over 5 euros a bottle. Generally, most restaurants give a free liquer after a meal and the Limoncello and cantucci biscuits soaked in Vin Santo will stay on my taste buds for ever!!
To bring it all down to earth there are shortfalls as I have mentioned before and they include bad roads, impatient drivers, apparent short working days and the large elderly population that I think will cause problems not only in Europe but all over the World. However, these issues are far outweighed by the things that I have described earlier and our time here has just been exceptional.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading this and thanks for your continued interest. Our departure from Italy heralds the last phase of our journey in total and sadly we will be returning to the UK within the next month. But there are great things to look forward to both at home and on this trip. Even though our 'year out' is coming to a close. We still have France and a quick peep into Spain to come so watch out for further reports.
Hope that you are all well and look forward to seeing you all relatively soon. Thanks again and take care of yourselves!
- comments
Kate This must be the most time you have had in one country. Hope the car has survived the roads. Looking forward to seeing you soon. X
Steve Sounds like a good time again. Nothing wrong with old men sitting around all day or playing non energetic games !!!!!!!!!!