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Ciao Italia, you’ve been good to us. #lakemaggiore #italy #ghiffa (at Ghiffa)
I'm a Chilean-American, born in Japan, living in Switzerland. I drink too much coffee, am addicted to Young Adult Literature, speed Scrabble, creative cooking, and my Polaroid Land Camera. I'm learning what it means to live as an Expat and using my darling dog to make friends (cause Lord knows the French isn't coming as fast as it should). I regard my five-pound toy fox-rat terrier, named Sophie, as my child; I've been known to think she is cuter than other "children" (canine or human). [misgirlandpup@gmail.com]
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Really missing that water today.
This picture is unedited. Seriously un.edit.ed. Ugh. Get me back there!
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mamma mia
A white-haired man, skin the color of cognac stained leather, wears a full-sized Italian flag as a make-shift scarf. The energy is contagious, the chairs buzzing, reverberating the chanting and eventually the cheers at the shot on goal.
I can’t make out the complete phrases, but one doesn’t need to understand the grammatical functions of the language tonight. Tonight we speak one language—and it involves embraces and high-fives; jubilant cheers and boisterous boos.
Balotelli breaks away from the defender, he cuts toward the goal and his teammate kicks a beautiful pass to the center—its arc clean and precise. Balotelli hits the ball with the force of his forehead, his face laden with anguish and desperate hope—as if he could will the ball in if he prayed hard enough. A man sitting behind us calls out ‘Mamma mia!’ Wait…they actually say that here? The ball spins off his head and curves perfectly in the goal.Nothing but net. And we exhale, and realize we’ve been holding our breath this entire time. The crowd erupts. And it feels good to be a part of the commotion for once.
Observations during the Italy vs. Germany EuroCup Game. We watched it in Santa Theresa in the public plaza with hundreds of spectators.
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We watched the EuroCup England vs. Italy game in the hills of Torre delle Stelle, at a pizzeria owned by a family from Naples. The sunset was competing with the TV screen, often winning the attention from the audience. The pizza was to.die.for, the service was familiar, the energy was infectious.
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We started in the South
where the temperature on our SmartCar (OMG they are so small, but kind of adorable) rental’s dashboard read 36 degrees celsius. We soon found ourselves making our way along the coastal road from Cagliari airport to a small town called Torre delle Stelle in the Maracalagonis region. After several wrong turns (damn GPS), a couple of ‘salty-long-day-of-travel-but-not-really-we-just-hate-easyjet’ moments, and a few conversations with our airbnb host, we made it to the oasis known as Stefano’s
homevilla.Guys, we were spoiled. Outdoor verandas overlooking the Mediterranean, private sea-front swimming area (complete with deck chairs), aperitif with fresh-mint mojitos, local pecorino and prosciutto, and rosemary sea-salted bread.
We went down to ‘mix with the masses’ as Nathan called it, and checked out the local beach. We stumbled upon a sea-side shack, its roof covered in palm leaves and bamboo, where a leathery-skinned shirtless man greeted us with a mouthful of salami sandwich; cigarette in one hand and Ichnusa (THE Sardinian beer) in the other. His name was Andreas and he was the proud owner. Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ bellowed from the shack’s speakers, and we ordered pizzas and picked fresh basil from the several potted plants that lined the cash register. He told us all about his ‘lady friend’ in San Francisco, how he loved America, and made a tsk-tsk sound when I told him we’d only be in town for the weekend. He exhaled and said, ‘Ay, Tanya’, and Nathan smiled, finding it amusing that I had seemed to charm this little Italian man in such a short amount of time.
We were afraid that our vacation peaked too early; the gorgeous landscape, the incredible B&B, the genuine and kind people…but it really was only the beginning.
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um, we leave tomorrow
for this:
It has been a long time since the husband and I have taken an extended (meaning more than a weekend) vacation just for us. Don’t get me wrong, we love visiting friends and family, as well as exploring bustling and energetic cities, but oh.my.goodness am I excited to go south…deep south. We’re headed to the island of Sardinia! Off the coast of Italy where the pace is slow, the water turquoise, the fish fresh, and where your hand gestures communicate more than your words. We’re flying into the south of the island, renting a car, and heading up the east coast.
So, at the husband’s request, our itinerary is completely flexible and up in the air (enter panic)…is anyone familiar with the island? Any suggestions for what to do/see?
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