Musical Interlude

What I’m listening to on this sunny Saturday of Indian Summer:

Teenage Fanclub’s “Ain’t That Enough” (from their album Songs from Northern Britain).

3 minutes and 42 seconds of pure melody and lush harmonies combining to create a pop poem that never leaves me indifferent (dare I say it makes my heart soar?).
For me, a sunrise is quite often enough.

Is British music so good because their food is so bad? Consider their cross-channel rivals, the French, who have taken cuisine to the highest heights, yet their popular music is, to put it politely, unpalatable… obviously no country can be strong in every artistic domain, but could there be some sort of inverse relationship between the ear and the stomach? I welcome your thoughts on this.

Meanwhile, I’ll share the delicious TF lyrics with you, although without the music it’s bit like having a mouth-watering meal put before a man with no nose… although if you click on the title of this post, it will take you to the album on Amazon where you can scroll down and hear a sample.

If you can I wish you would

Only if you feel you should

Bring your loving over

All adds up with circumstance

All stood up with taking stands

Bring your loving over

Highlights glisten

Silence listens

Days that found you

Embrace that found you

Here is a sunrise Ain’t that enough?

True as a clear sky, ain't that enough?

Toy town feelings here to remind you

Summers in the city do what you gotta do

Time can only make demands

Fill it up with grains of sand

Bring your loving over

Highlights glisten

Silence listens

Days that found you

Embrace that found you

Here is a sunrise Ain’t that enough?

True as a clear sky, ain't that enough?

Toy town feelings here to remind you

Summers in the city do what you gotta do

Toy town feelings whose gonna argue

Summers in the city Summers in the city

Tribute to La Nonna

My grandmother is a real inspiration. How many ninety-two and a half year-olds do you know that would be willing to hop on a plane and fly from Southern California all the way to Italy to spend two weeks touring Tuscany? She is simply amazing.
Not only does she keep up with the rest of us almost effortlessly, but she does it with grace, elegance and aplomb. She never complains, never seems tired, and is always game for what’s next.
We’re already talking about our next globe-trotting adventure for the spring of 2007 (when she’ll be a cool 93½!)
Bravo la nonna!

Perfect end to perfect holiday

Although admittedly I am a teensy bit nervous about the fact that the ladies are flying back to the US (via London) on September 11, I'm trying to persuade myself that the new security measures mean that they are perfectly safe (and the fairy card answers to Judy's question Saturday at the Pisa airport prove it! long story/inside joke).
Our Tuscan dream wrapped up with 2 days in Paris, and the balmy weather followed us back here (see the gals in front of the Eiffel Tower, where we walked after stuffing ourselves on croissants and pain au chocolat).
We ended this perfect vacation with an impeccable meal at my new favorite restaurant (conveniently located just around the corner from chez moi!!) La Potence (78, rue de la Croix Nivert and tell them Catherine the American sent you). Their fixed price menu at €24.90 is the bargain of the century. I thought that Mom might actually pick up her plate and lick it she loved her foie-gras coated steak so much.
We were lucky enough to have Emmanuelle join us and spend some precious time with her before she takes off to Singapore.

Scenes from an Italian holiday

On the Arno

















Judy at the spa



















Kiss the cook!





















Mom in Montecatini

O the posh, posh travelling life...

the travelling life for me...!! (if you're scratching your head wondering what that's in reference to, I invite you to screen the children's classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to refresh your memory.)

I know it seems overly decadent to be thinking about my next big vacation while I'm still on one, but I'm so excited that I just have to share the news!! Check out Alila's hotels in Bali and know that Emmanuelle and I will be lounging around them over 9 sumptuous nights in February after I visit her in Singapore... www.alilahotels.com

What a way to ring in the Chinese New Year!!!!

Putting the Terme in Montecatini Terme

Today is our day for treatments at the spa (see photo). We all need a good day of RnR, but no one more than Mom, who deserves great congratulations and deep bows for the extremely difficult job of chauffeuring us around Italy in our ridiculously oversized car. The lanes here are unsettlingly narrow, and all of the freeways we were on suffered from congestion, especially from gigantic trucks and 18-wheelers. Neighboring vehicles like that already make me nervous even in Texas, the land of extra-wide highways and endless visibility, so Mom’s sang-froid and constancy (and velocity!) were impressive in a country that never felt the need to make high-speed thoroughfares in straight lines and where I would only feel comfortable in one of those silly little Fiats that looks like it belongs to a clown troupe so that I could potentially put my arm out the window and not touch the car in the lane next to me…
Hats off to Mamma mia!! (from driving here so much she’s becoming rather Italian by osmosis, boosted by her purchase of beautiful hand-made sandals in Assisi and the massive quantities of pasta we down every day).
Another post to follow our steams, scrubs, massages and facials, meanwhile a few more pics to give you insight into our life under the Tuscan sun…

Pics to go with previous post

I'm taking advantage of the Chocohotel's fabulous WiFi connection to give you some glimpses into our recent visits. (aside: the Italians pronounce WiFi like in the US "why fie" which seems odd since it should be Wee Fee like the other Latin countries and even Switzerland...)

Here we have lovely Lucca & Serravalle Pistoiese, the beach where we dipped our toes in the water, and St Françis' Basilica in Assisi.

More soon, stay tuned!!

Italian road trip(s)

After several days of horrid frustration, suddenly I am able to upload photos to the blog again, so there’s some catching up to do!!

Please check out the revised San Miniato post to see a few shots of this magical place. When the trip is over, I’ll be doing a Kodak Gallery photo album so if you’re not already on that mailing list, let me know if you want to be added.

Here’s a brief rundown of what we’ve been up to lately:
Saturday we visited Lucca, which lived up to the guidebooks’ promise as a charmingly beautiful yet sleepy Tuscan town with strangely few tourists given its architectural, cultural and natural splendor.

Sunday was a day of rest, with a brief excursion up the hill from our villa to see a truly undiscovered jewel, Serravalle Pistoiese, a tiny towered village so picturesque as to seem unreal, within less than 10 minutes of our Tuscan home, and not a tourist to be found. We wandered about in awe, taking in the gorgeous sunset, and were treated to a private tour by a delightful 70-year old man (who chattered away in Italian enthusiastically even though I made it clear that I only speak and understand “un po”) of the Oratorio with frescoes from the Giotto school. We managed to communicate the essential though, and it was the perfect way to end the weekend.

Monday was our first “setback” in that we decided to get an early start to head to the coast (I had to work that evening so we needed to be back at a decent hour). For all our previous excursions, we have been preferring the small country roads, which provide breathtaking Tuscan views framed by cypress and lime trees and a glimpse into “real” life as we pass through the smaller towns. Since we had less time Monday, we took the “autostrada” which despite being a modern, toll highway, only has 2 lanes, which were backed up for over an hour due to a horrendous 18-wheeler accident (the only vehicle involved, but burned to a crisp and the driver was helicoptered out…) To top it off, the snail pace was through a horribly polluted industrial area that marred the views of the Apennines in the distance and the Versilia coast to our left. When we finally escaped the mind-numbing traffic jam, it was time for lunch. We had some quick but tasty pasta by the sea, took a short walk to the water, dipped our toes in, then made our way back to the villa, exhausted from the strain.

Tuesday, our bad luck was almost repeated, in that once again we needed to take the autostrada since we were off on a pilgrimage to Assisi to see St Francis. After patting ourselves on the back for making an earlier-than-expected start, we quickly realized the error of our ways as we got stuck in rush-hour traffic heading into Florence (again, only TWO lanes on the major highway!!??!?)
St Frank was apparently with us in spirit though, as we were only delayed about 20 minutes this time and then were able to whisk through the spectacular Chianti countryside into scenic Umbria. We had lunch in Perugia, a town we wish we had more time to visit as it offers so many delights, but we were on a mission!! After we FINALLY made it to Assisi (getting out of Perugia back to the highway proved a more difficult task than our free map from the tourist office could handle) we couldn’t visit anything!! It turns out we just happened to be there the same day as Italian president Giorgio Napolitano was visiting the world conference on religion for peace.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060904.wrelig0904/BNStory/International/home
For security reasons, only the monks, nuns and lucky holders of press passes and conference attendees could enter the Basilica and other famous sites.
We consoled ourselves with chocolate: I am writing to you now from the Etruscan Chocohotel in Perugia. The entire hotel is decked out in a chocolate theme, they give you a bar of chocolate when you check in, every room is a different chocolate brand (Mom and I are appropriately enough in the Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar!) and in the outstanding restaurant, there is an entire dinner menu based on chocolate… all washed down with a superb local wine.

We’ll be making another go at St Frank today.
Stay tuned for more news from the road and more pictures to be added soon!

San Miniato al Monte

Yesterday we had a perfect day from start to finish.
After taking the train from Montecatini Terme to Florence, we stopped by Francesco da Firenze on the Via Santo Spirito to pick up my custom fit, hand-sewn sandals (ordered on our previous visit to Florence Tuesday). They are wonderful! Grazie mamma mia!
(photo complete with mosquito bites that have increased in number and ferocity of itching)
Then we wandered over to the Palazzo Vecchio to meet up with Curt, the organist from Judy’s wedding (and formerly of St Barnabas, the church Judy & Mom attend in Scottsdale). Curt has been staying at the Benedictine monastery at San Miniato al Monte, an exquisite example of Romanesque architecture and style. We had a delicious lunch* in Curt’s company before hiking all the way up to the uppermost heights of Florence (bravo Gramma!) for our private guided tour provided by the charming and knowledgeable Curt. I literally took 112 pictures. San Miniato is the jewel in Florence’s crown if you ask me.




Next, we attended the monks’ traditional vespers at 5:30 pm with a brief mass. Although we weren’t always sure when to stand or sit, we did manage to follow the service in Latin pretty well (Curt had provided us with written copies). As always, I was amazed by the similarities between the Episcopal church service and Catholic mass.

The monk leading the vespers (in town for the Gregorian chant conference this weekend) had a heavenly voice (pun intended).
Then we were in for a real treat: a brief concert by Curt on the freshly tuned organ. DIVINE.





















A taxi whisked us back down the hillside to Santa Maria Novella, where we only had to wait 2 minutes for our train back to the villa.
Exhausted but satisfied, we skipped a formal sit-down dinner in favor of yoghurts, fruit and grissini (my favorite breadsticks, with my preferred brand being the lightly salted Dal Cesto di Alice, Fagolosi Croccanti e Stuzzicanti).
We are truly fortunate and blessed.


*I started with a carpaccio of swordfish topped with lightly sautéed crunchy carrots and zucchini, followed by pick-up-your-plate-and-lick-it-when-you’re-done-it’s-so-scrumptious maccheroni (which are actually big fat tubes of pasta) in a saffron sauce with fresh asparagus tips. All washed down with a very fine house red.