A Little More Rain

After sleeping a bit late (with grey skies, and the bedroom shutters closed, we lose some sense of time), we are out to run a few errands. First stop, a little shopping in the Piazza Anfiteatro, which is still sporting it's large "starburst" decoration from the holidays. Some of the stores in this piazza, a big tourist destination during the fair-weather seasons, are closed for the winter. Nancy visits a store which is only keeping hours during Saturday afternoons: the Dutch woman who owns the place has apparently hired a local girl to stand in for her these days.




Nancy also braves a local salumeria to jostle for service at the counter (that's part of her face at the far right among the customers). Apart for some confusion over procedure, she is again successful in having an all-Italian transaction.




Here's our new place. The entrance is a couple of doors past the intersection, and our corner flat is one flight up.

This afternoon I've telephoned my mother's first cousin Franchesca who lives nearby, to see if we can meet sometime this week. She is a very sweet lady who radiates warmth and sympathy -- but she always gives to0 much credit to my Italian-language skills, which makes the first phone call a real test! This time it goes well, and we make loose plans to meet tomorrow for coffee.

Tonight we go to Gabriella's house in Guamo (a little south of Lucca) for dinner.

New Digs in Lucca.

We have been on the move, so I'm posting late. We've transfered to Lucca itself, to a private apartment inside the walls. Nancy found this place through an internet friend who recommended us to the owner. There was just a little snafu as we arrived outside the building and waited outside for the landlady, not realizing that she was already inside (the building has 6 or so door buzzers, and we didn't know which to try -- we had never gotten a surname). There were apologies all around for the unnecessary waiting.

It's a pretty place, not large but big enough for us, and sporting all the modern kitchen and bath appliances, having been contructed just a few years ago. The building itself is a very old palazzo, but like many such structures in Lucca, the exterior retains its historical look while the interior has been restructured for modern habitation.

We have swapped vehicles also, taking cousin Roland's larger BMW in preparation for picking up Vivienne and Giacomo and all their luggage from the Pisa airport. We have just now returned from that mission. Although V. and G. arrived in good health (though somewhat fatigued), their luggage has been delayed. We delivered them to their house and after some coffee and conversation we left them to sort out their lives and their jet-lag. They expect their luggage later today.

Returning from Lido by way of Camaiore we stopped for a late pranzo; now we can settle down to our own housekeeping and routine here in town.

Shopping and Websites.

A day spent around Lido: Nancy went with our neighbor Marina to check out a local street market in Forte dei Marmi; I stayed in and hashed out a primitive website for Marco and Anna.
It was a bit of a struggle, with my limited webmaster skills and the language obstacles, by in the end we seem to have resolved most issues. It remains to find an Italian-based server on which to put them.

Opera.

We went into Lucca to do some errands in preparation for our stay there, which begins towards the end of this week. We'll be moving to a private apartment inside the city walls, which promises to be a new experience. Staying in Lido has been great. It does allow us to retreat from Italian life a bit, though: here we have a broadband connection, cable television with British and American news networks, and a library of books written in English. We will expect none of these cultural buffers in Lucca.

During the pausa we met an American couple day-tripping to Lucca (their son is the U.S. military, based in Livorno). We were able to spend a little time with them, and it was a bit of an ego boost to realize how we now take for granted knowing our way (generally) within Lucca and dealing easily with many everyday matters.

Not that we can't sometimes use some help... we went to Tourist information to get leads on car rental agencies within walking distance of our apartment (we'll need to return Vivienne's car to her, and at the very least need to drive ourselves to Rome from our out-going flight). While speaking with the (German) lady at Tourist Info we learned that there would be a full performance of La Boheme at the opera house that very evening.

We waited around town for the ticket office to open, got one of the few remaining seats and went back to the house for a nap and a early meal. The performance was very good, although the sets were a bit odd: the "garret" scenes were set on a slanted rooftop with opening skylights from which actors could pop in and out. I found that fearing for their safety was a bit distracting.

The theater itself was fairly small and designed on the traditional rounds of tiered boxes with a gallery in back (our seats). An old building with a more recent (1817) updating, the Teatro del Giglio is looking a just a little threadbare inside but the old wood and plastic contribute to its good acoustics. The main price for the intimate setting seemed to be the accumulated heat, towards evening's end, of a full house of 950 patrons. But see the what is arguably the world's most popular opera, in the hometown of it's composer...

Epifana.

It's January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, and the last day of the Christmas/New Year festivities in Italy. Outside, the sky is a blank light grey and it's raining periodically; we are content to putter around the house.
Children around the country will have awoken to discover that stockings hung over the fireplace last night have been filled with small gifts (or black "coal" -- colored lump sugar). These occurrences will be attributed to the "Bufana," an ugly old woman variously described as a relative of Santa Claus or as a tangential character in the Nativity saga.