Dreaming In Italian

Franco and I had seen each other at least three times since I came to Bologna despite his ever changing schedule. But he does sometimes have some days off during the week so he invited me to lunch at “the best restaurant that I know, the kitchen of my mother”. I’m not sure where it was but it was north of Bologna in the middle of nowhere. There were several houses together and Franco said that they pretty much all been there a long time and all supported each other.  I belatedly thought to take some pictures but mostly descriptions will have to do.

The beef carpaccio and potatos for antipasto

The carpaccio starts with beef cooked very rare and then dressed with olive oil, lemon and salt and pepper if I remember correctly. The potatoes were simple and tasty. The bread I suspect was not done at home. Franco brought a bottle of Chianti though he doesn’t drink but his mother and I were not shy about how we like taste of wine with food.

She followed this with homemade tagliatelle and ragu. She used much the same ragu recipe that I do so I’m glad to know that I’m doing it right. Then for desert there was a tasty cake and a chocolate salami, at least I think that she called it that, that was made from left over Easter chocolate. Waste not want not.

Franco’s mother Lucia

A very interesting part of the meal was about stories of WWII and just after the war. Italy really suffered, especially after the war because a lot of stuff got destroyed either by the Germans of by the Allies chasing the Germans. However she said that people in the country didn’t suffer too much because they were largely self sufficient. They had animals for meat, eggs, milk and cheese as well as crops that they grew and shared back and forth, including, of course, wine. She said one of the family homes was in fact occupied by Germans that they sometimes even took the risk of mocking them by speaking in dialect which they certainly didn’t understand.

There are a lot of cats around including Franco’s cat that continues to live in the country. They were all over the place so I’m sure that there is no mouse or rat problem there. Franco grew in the area and would like to get back to it. It seems boring to me but we all have our own lifestyle preferences.

Franco and his 14 year old cat

Certainly it was an enjoyable and interesting afternoon that was a wholly different perspective on Italian life than the one that I’m familiar with in Bologna. Thanks Franco and Lucia.

Also on Sunday the 18^th as I was headed into the center I saw a fellow with one of those yellow vests used to draw attention to themselves( and avoid being run over by someone) at the intersection of my street, via Orsoni, and Via Saragozza. I asked why he was there and he said that the Giro d’Italia was coming through in the afternoon sometime around 2:30. I also noted something at the bus stop that said the buses would be stopped in the afternoon starting at noon until about 4:00 so I guess when they made the bus schedule when they were substantially less certain about the arrival time. So since it was after 12:00 I had a lot of walking ahead of me before I would be likely to find a bus and after that a walk to the center since buses never go very close to the center on weekends. Ah well, a good day for a passeggiata (walk) . Likewise on the way back the buses, of course weren’t running along Saragozza so I walked through a nearby neighborhood and found some lovely parts of it. It’s very quiet there with little traffic and lots of trees. I stumbled upon a nice little park that’s probably not well known outside the neighborhood even to those that live in other parts of Bologna.

Sign for the hidden garden/park

Another elegant house from the same neighborhood

House in the quiet neighborhood. Looks like a fountain in front.

As I approached Saragozza I saw some police cars and then police motorcycles go past with the flashing blue lights that they use here rather than red so I knew that I lucked out and the cyclists were due to arrive soon. At first a fairly small group came through followed by what seemed to be one car per cyclist with a bunch of bicycles atop each car. “well, that was underwhelming I thought” but people kept hanging around so I knew that there must be more to it. Then a large number of cyclists came through, maybe 50 or 60 again followed by a like number of cars with 3 or 4 ambulances following “just in case”. Most wheeled vehicle races seem pretty boring to me and this one probably is too unless you’re REALLY into cycling but you must admire the stamina of these guys.

The leaders of the pack

And their support vehicles

The larger group coming through

More support vehicles

And should something bad happen

This post must have been written in early April and somehow I lost track of it. I didn’t want for Marco to get lost or the photos of the military club where he’s a member –  so here it is.

Tuesday the 8th was a busy day. I went to a gym (the same one that I went to a year and a half ago) to inquire about a short term membership. It’s not too far from where I live and is inside of the soccer stadium. I don’t have a bicycle this time so it’s a bit of a trek but what the heck. It’s not very expensive by Italian standards so I plan to start my membership there next Monday. After that I did some shopping at the nearby COOP (supermarket) and trekked back home. Then I went to have coffee with Marco, another person with home I had talked via Skype.

Marco – banker and yoga master

He’s an interesting guy. By day he’s an investment adviser for Banca UniCredit in Bologna and in his parallel life he’s a yoga and tai chi teacher. An interesting combination. He took me to a private club to which he belongs. It’s one of the oldest buildings in Bologna and now a club for ex-military. He was obliged to serve in the army for a period after college so is now a member. It’s quite a place. An interesting fact is that it was Nazi headquarters in Bologna during the war.

Official Army club (not sure about plural of “ufficiale”)

One of the extravagant rooms in the club

The card room

ceiling of the card room

Ceiling in another room

After that I met my friend Vittorio who I have known since my first trip to Bologna and then headed over to the Biblioteca Salaborsa. It’s right in the center of Bolgona just a few steps from the Fontana Nettuno. This is an amazing library and is worth an entire blog post by itself. There I am doing volunteer work on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00 until 6:45 having english conversations with whoever wants to improve their english and reserves one of the the three time slots.

Part of the library

I was not done yet. Marco had told me about a Meetup for English conversation at MAMBO (Museo di Arte Moderne a Bologna) and I thought that it would be interesting to go at least once. I know that at the meetups I attend in California it’s always nice to have a native speaker there. So I went there for aperitivo and left without paying for the beer – so embarrassing. I called the bar and they said not to worry, I could just pay the next time I was there. I want to go to the museum anyway so I told them I’d pay them on Thursday.

A full day. I’m writing this on Wednesay the 9^th and today is my first day for another volunteer gig. It’s an after school program where I will assist in an english class for middle school students. That should be interesting.

Another beautiful day and I went back into the center again. More meandering and taking photos. The night before the Mille Miglia had come to town. This is a recreation of a race that was run from 1927 to 1957. Only cars of the same models and year that ran in the actual races run in these recreations. A number of cars are the actual cars that participated. I didn’t go because I didn’t have anyone to go with, I had heard that there would be a huge crowd and in the final analysis was just too lazy to go there at 8:00 PM on Saturday night. Jay Leno, who is known for his collection of cars, and Jeremy Irons were two of the celebrity drivers. I snagged some photos from the web that may not be actually in Bologna but what the heck, you get the idea. I did take a photo of a big poster in Piazza Maggiore by one of the race sponsors.

MIlle Miglia poster – BIG

Cars for the Mille Miglia recreation. Perhaps not in Bologna but impressive, no?

Jay Lenno in his Jaguar

Again I wandered around taking photos of anything that I found interesting.

Lonely portico

Note the very old wooden beams

street art

Bumper sticker. You surely are familiar with “Hello Kitty”

I really liked this graffiti

In the evening I had been invited to Renata’s house for aperitivo. I met her husband and 3 other Americans with whom she had established relationships through Skype and in person after they came to Bologna. I don’t remember everyone’s name but one is a New Yorker here for several months on sabbatical and there was a couple from San Francisco. We tried to speak mostly Italian but lapsed into English sometimes since both Renata and her husband speak English well. Renata had some great food for us to eat which is always a joy and we had lambrusco, a sparkling red which goes well with the rich food of Bologna as well as prosecco. It was a wonderful evening. Grazie Renata!

Renata in blue, her husband on far left. The San Franciscans on either side and the New Yorker

Mmmm Prosciuto, bread to go with various tasty things and the wines

More yummy things to eat

Deserts – an apple torta (I think that’s the right term) and those great Italian strawberries