I flew back to Bologna last night from Copenhagen and David met me there. Today I showed him the part of town I remembered best from our visit this summer. I think he liked it… We also stopped by MAMbo’s Vertigo exhibition.
Must put this on my calendar
I tried to get an ethernet dsl modem, but mistakenly got the stupid usb one again (and again, no mac driver, wtf — it’s even a D-Link!?) Well, I was a bit distracted trying to plan my upcoming work trip to sweden and so forth while shopping in the superstore… so i didn’t read as carefully as i should have. And then was feeling a bit out of sorts… until i saw this beautiful copper pan… and remembered we had bought chestnuts at the market in CG yesterday…
leslie and i had a lot of fun playing on this super smooth marble slab in florence…. I definitely want this in my garden…
Our first dinner at home this week:
I made stuffed zucchini flowers with garfagnana goat cheese, garlic and fresh basil (from my plant this summer, which Giuliana had planted in the courtyard for me); Leslie made local pasta with artichokes and vegetables, with carrivali nero’davola from Sicilia (2005).
2.4 Mbps baby! With a new digicom Michelangelo USB ADSL modem. Cute little portable thing and easy peasy to configure (just choose PPoE). But what a goose chase to find someone who would sell it to me. Finally found an intelligent WOMAN at Centro Computer in Castelnuovo Garfagnana. I saw they are a Cisco reseller, so I was hopeful, after failing at a department store in Gallicano (the Borgo computer store was closed as was the Diecimo store — as usual). They had a real ethernet adsl modem, but he wouldn’t sell it to me or call Telecom Italia to figure out what I needed to do. He said go to Castelnuovo, there’s a Telecom Italia store there. But they don’t open until 3pm. So we went to Bagni di Lucca and swam for a bit, then to our favorite summer cafe for risotto and lasagna. Then I made the drive to CG while Leslie slept. Got there and had no idea where to go. Asked at the Olivetti store and got them to write down the address and store name for me. Then we headed to Centro Storico… which it turns out is a zona pedonale. Not surprising, as CG is one of those touristy towns. Found the Telecom Italia store… but they are really a cell phone store and of no use at all. Told me I had to mail the modem back to Milan and wait for them to exchange it… Nooooooo…. i need it working TODAY!!!!! The woman at Centro Computer was very smart, immediately called Telecom Italia and they told all I had to do was configure it myself. I said no problem, I’m sure I can do that. And off we went, new modem in bag, and proceeded to check out the cuteness of CG, buying food, halloween costumes and new boots.
We’re making dinner now, and I thought I had the fireplace under control with this beautiful fire… but now it’s smoking again! What to do?????
Well, it turns out there are two levers that can be opened — i had the top one on the mantle open, and the interior one closed (I think). I alternated them, added more wood, opened all the windows, then returned everything back to how it was before, and now it’s all good. Strange.
We arrived at Pieve di Cerreto Saturday evening to find the dsl modem dead … so tomorrow I’ll work on getting that replaced. Today I showed Leslie the lovely Lucca where there were lots of Americans who all seemed to be from the Bay Area, but no antique market… instead they are preparing for the comic and games festival that starts on 1 November. We had brunch at the favorite coffee and candy shop, Caffe di Simo, and dinner at Buralli, the restaurant that had the truffle menu last year… although that doesn’t start until November.
Driving back to Borgo a Mozzano we saw that halloween festivities had begun, so we ran home to drop off our stuff and back down the hill to experience the village’s version of a Haunted House! It was more fun than scary, but really well done. The chainsaws were particularly exciting… Then we walked around town and stopped at Mi Bar for a big shot of whiskey. Talked to one of owners there who told me again about his brother who is chef at Caffe Citti near Santa Rosa. Must check that out some time!
I have been to the Frankfurt Airport probably 20 times and never to the city of Frankfurt. But today we had a 6 hour layover so we decided we’d check it out, even though the passport control guy (who was impressed with my german, ha!) advised against it. The Hauptbahnhof had a snake exhibit, and the town was really kind of cool. Lots of big sex shops on the street by the station, and beautiful churches in the old town. Found a great coffee shop and practiced more german. Got nice pashminas for 2.50 euro… then headed back on the train where we were bombarded with a horde of Franfurter Football Fans! Ack. The station stop was the one just before the airport, so thankfully we didn’t have to plow through them to get out. Made it to the airport with plenty of time but had to go through passport control again to get to the Lufthansa lounge. This time the agent complemented me on my name… on the way back though, through passport control and security scanning again for the third time we got the full body feel down treatment… Give us a cigarette!
Well first I am going to florence and then to Cinqueterre. So my impression of borgo a mozzano will have to await until I arrive. But I can tell you what I think of italy!
Italy is so many things to me
It is fine and equally funky.
I used to work in Italian Suisse and right when you crossed the border into italy
Garbage was everywhere and hookers were on side streets.
Italy is shoes,
Italy is exquisite wine and food
Italy is old an historically rich
Italy is trains
Italy is finnochio and arrivaderce.
Italy is art.
Italy I am coming to you soon!
Okay, that’s it for now as I am still in the bay area.
