Without I-pads and
Google Lost Forever
Following an Incredible Years mentor meeting in Terracina,
Italy with colleagues from places such as Norway, Denmark, Holland, New
Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Russia, Canada and US, I leave this astonishing
and amazing group of people to meet up with college girl friends and their
partners in a village 15-20 minutes outside of Lucca.
 |
| Incredible Years Mentors in Terracina, Italy |
Following John’s I-pad Google map that we find is superior to his Garmin GPS we are proud of making good time until we miss a turnoff outside of Florence and end up in a Seattle-like traffic jam. An hour later we are back on track and happy with Google until we enter a maze of small, narrow roads amongst the hills above Lucca. The Google map sent us to the address we had entered which is not the house we have rented but rather an Agritourismo. We curse Google Maps as being less than perfect and scurry like mice back and forth in a maze following some email directions sent to us that asked us to drive by a cemetery and turn left at a white house. We continue to make wrong turns, running into dead ends and not finding the white house. Perhaps I thought these directions were meant as a treasure hunt and I hope there will be a prize at the end. Or, perhaps on the other hand we are beginning the dementia stage of life. Eventually, by a stroke of luck we find a small poorly marked sign, Casa Tonio, that is impossible to see from the north direction of the road
Nonetheless, magical
forces lead us to a wonderful, stone house enfolded in dozens of ancient olive
trees. We are met by Luciano who gives
us detailed instructions in Italian only on the house. These fall on deaf ears. A little later our friends Joan and Andrew
from Vancouver arrive also in a distressed state having experienced a similar
maze-like frustrating experience. They
had entered the Agritourismo place and had been given further directions. We can’t imagine how Julie and Ted who are
flying in to Pisa around 10 pm and taking a taxi will find this obscure place
in the dark. We text them messages hoping they will open their I-phones.
The four of us go out to dinner finding that most
restaurants in the immediate vicinity are closed and compromise with Joan on
what she thought was a trailer-Mafia-like place called Pizzeria Regina ~ hardly Joan’s vision of an elegant Italian
meal. However, the pasta was excellent,
the Don head of the Mafia family was friendly and we ended our meal with
tiramisu-like profiteroles drowned in dark chocolate. On the way home we are lucky enough to come
across a candlelight parade of people dressed in white robes carrying a bed
with the Virgin Mary on it. We don’t understand the meaning of this clearly
religious event but the church bells ringing create a rather mystical, eerie
feeling of a tradition that probably has been going on for centuries. Back at our house Joan and Andrew wait on the
roadside hoping to direct our friends to our place. When Andrew’s I-pad battery dies they retreat
home feeling defeated. About midnight our
bedraggled Canadian friends led by a very anxious taxi cab driver arrives
having stopped at several places to ask directions. We had all made it… the beginning of a long
awaited trip together of good friends. Later we repair our relationship with
Google maps when we discover the address we had been given was wrong and the
email instructions were about 4 years old and misleading~ the white house
having been painted beige.
Casa Tonio
 |
| Our laundry out for drying |
Sunday morning we are greeted with a bright sunny day from our
bed, which has an arched window overlooking a view of olive trees, a church and
a beautiful pool. We all head for the
nearby village and find a wonderful patisserie with all varieties of croissants
with varying fillings such as marmalade and chocolate or is it Nutella? There are line-ups for espressos and cappuccinos
sprinkled with chocolate ~ and we are pleased with our double and
single espressos
and treats and look like delighted youngsters in a candy store.
Across from
this patisserie we notice a market set up to sell clothing and shoes. I am encouraged by Julie and Joan to buy a
wool and cashmere shawl and am reassured it will be cheaper to buy here (because
it is non touristy!) than in Lucca. At
the end of this market we find Andrew, Ted and John enjoying an antique car
show. John heads back for another double espresso while Julie and Ted are
delighted to find an antique Austin Healey, a car once owned by Ted and still
owned by Julie and housed in her garage for possible use by her sons.
Next our band of six finds a Super Mercado and each one of
us searches for his or her favorite foods such as local fresh olives, fresh cantaloupe
(melone) and tomatoes (pomodori), granola, beer, Italian wine, cheese,
prosciutto, bread, yogurt and digestive cookies. On the way back John wants to stop at what is
now his favorite, local Pizzeria Regina
for a funghi pizza and I keep him company when he visits his Mafia friend, the
Don, who shakes hands with us. Afterwards back at the Casa the rest of us enjoy
a lunch of cheese, prosciutto, melon, bread, fresh fruit and arugula
salad. We are visited by the owner of the
Casa and the caretaker, an Albanian man. We try to explain to these two men who
speak no English that we have a problem with the entrance gate closing and
opening, need another key as well as a hair dryer amongst other things. John
tries using his I pad for translations while Andrew speaks to them using a
combination of Spanish and French.
Hands
are pointing and gesturing wildly and I am not entirely sure what is accurately
understood but we do manage to get a key (which we later learn doesn’t work) and
a hair dryer (which does work).
Our first dinner
together in Lucca
After siesta time and a swim, we set out eagerly for dinner
in Lucca. John has researched the Lucca restaurants in 3 guidebooks and has
found what looks to be a great restaurant; however, unfortunately when we get
there is it closed. As we are all hungry for Italian food we take a chance on
another place that we have not researched called Locanda Buca de Bacco. I
comment to John that it is okay to be spontaneous and it is not necessary to
research or check Trip Advisor for everything but rather to enjoy the process
of self-discovery. This restaurant has a pleasant Italian atmosphere but
unfortunately while it may be called the God of Wine it is not heavenly, has
bad food, terrible chaotic service and is not food to die for. We are not served at the same time, and
several of us wait an hour while others have finished their meal before their
meal is served. Our meal takes more than 2 hours and is highly disorganized,
including the waitress being unable to add up the bill correctly. Later John
checks out the reviews on Trip Advisor and finds numerous reviews saying this
is the worst restaurant in Italy ever ~ I begin to value John’s data-based
approach more highly.
Girl Friends
 |
| Joan, Julie and Carolyn |
Julie, Joan and I have known each other for 46 years. Julie
and I went to school in Switzerland for a year when we were 18 years old and at
that time traveled for several weeks in Italy. The three of us went to the
University of Toronto together ~ and while I hate to admit it, we were sisters
in the Pi Phi fraternity together.
Walking in the market that morning I was reminded of my market shopping
times with Julie in 1965 and surprised to find we had not changed very
much. Julie is still decisive and a great
bargainer, always getting the best price while I still am indecisive, never
bargain and need peer support to buy anything.
Julie and Joan had moved to Vancouver from Toronto around the same time
I moved to Seattle in the 70’s so we have had the fortunate experience of being
able to share many important life events together such as producing babies around
the same times, supporting each other’s parenting difficulties and joys, and
being there with love for times when one partner died, one got divorced and one
of us had a serious injury. We have always enjoyed holidays together on Vashon,
Hornby Island and Mexico as well as skiing together at Whistler and celebrating
key landmarks such as birthdays, anniversaries and retirement events. It is a special privilege to have such long-term
supportive friends who have weathered life events together and make you feel
like you are 18 again.
No comments:
Post a Comment