Rude and Crude

Once again... Long Islanders behaving badly....

Tiger Woods taunted at 10th hole; Fred Funk's name becomes obscenity -- Newsday.com

Beer-sodden fans and rain combined for an ugly finish to a long day of golf yesterday, with Tiger Woods and other golfers subjected to drunken heckling as the action at Bethpage Black came to a close.

At 6:42 p.m., dozens of drunken spectators at Hole 10 taunted Woods as he prepared to start his third round in the rain.

"We're on Long Island, baby, where men are men!" one fan yelled. "Put that umbrella down!"

The taunts were mixed with cheers from the majority of the crowd.

Woods did not respond to the people who were heckling him but tried to quiet the crowd with a "sshh" hand gesture, putting his finger to his lips, as golfers prepared to tee off on the adjacent 12th tee.

"Suck it up, you've got your own video game!" someone shouted at Woods.

Some fans, apparently disgusted by the hecklers' behavior, walked away from the hole. Others told the vocal contingent to quiet down, which had no effect on the verbal abuse.

Minutes later, a group of fans greeted Fred Funk at the 10th hole by shouting his last name as an obscenity.

A little earlier, drunken fans at the seventh hole shouted at golfers, "This Bud's for you!" On the ninth fairway, drunks called out "you suck" to players while spectators on the other side booed the hecklers.

Concession stands scattered across the course - including the one near the 10th hole - don't start selling beer until 11 a.m., yet a line already had formed in front of the taps between the 16th and 17th holes well before that. But the late- morning scene was peaceful, giving little indication of what would happen later elsewhere on the course.

Many beer-drinkers Saturday at Bethpage Black were there simply to enjoy the scene.

John O'Shea, John McQue and Cronan Ryan sat on a hillside overlooking Hole 17, leaning back on their elbows and taking slow sips of Budweiser.

"We just had to rest a while to get some beer in us," said O'Shea, 22, of Manhattan.

"We just needed to relax," added McQue, 28, of Sunnyside.

Ever wonder why I left?

And I married Sam?

Watch this and it explains it all....

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Long Island Wants to Secede
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

"Better on the road than in the broth" 

Synchronicity... is the experience of two or more events are causally unrelated occurring together in a supposedly meaningful manner. These events should be unlikely to occur together by chance...

Work with me people, I am going somewhere with this thought.

Ok...

A week or so ago Anna, hysterically laughing, comes into the home office with a new notebook. On the cover was a chicken wearing sneakers walking on the road with a English / Italian joke. See above. The notebook remains unused. Anna, didn't need it, she just had to have it and couldn't leave it for some kid to buy who wouldn't understand the joke. I scanned the notebook and thought, this would make a great image for a post one day....

Today, I am sitting down drinking my morning cappuccino on the passagiata with Sam, Silvia and Ian. I snap open the local paper and read this headline:

Rapallo, gallina e pulcini sulla A12

Chioccia travolta, salvati i piccoli

(Rapallo, hen and her chicks on the A12, hen run over - chicks saved! Nothing to do with J. Travolta!)

Vigili del fuoco e polizia stradale mobilitati questo pomeriggio sull’A12 per recuperare una gallina ed i suoi pulcini che si erano avventurati sull’autostrada. Il singolare episodio è avvenuta tra Rapallo e Chiavari, in direzione Levante. La gallina, purtroppo, non è riuscita a sfuggire alle auto che sfrecciavano sull’autostrada ed è stata investita. Miglior sorte per i pulcini che si sono rifugiati vicino ad un tombino ai lati della strada e sono stati recuperati dai vigili del fuoco.

Translation... The autostrade was shut down because a hen was on the road with her baby chicks. Unforturnatey, the hen became road kill.... but the firemen were able to save the chicks because they were in a storm drain. 

After my delicious coffee and brioche, I came home and logged onto to facebook. There on my newsfeed was my friend Susan, who lives in Annapolis, MD - see link to her blog "Whelan Kids" in the side bar, announcing that she had just delivered 7 baby ducks whose mom bit the dust on the I -95 to a wildlife sanctuary! 

Could this be sychronicity? Or has post partum blues gone fowl?

A connecting principle Linked to the invisible Almost imperceptible Something inexpressible Science insusceptible Logic so inflexible Causally connectable Yet nothing is invincible

 

.

"Mille e una storia"

 

A Thousand and one stories... 

With  roles on that ranged from a wise Signora, a Principe from Denmark and la Signorina Natalia Vladimrovna a star was born last night... Anna's career as a budding actress is on its way. 

Keeping with tradition, the last night's annual production began in the unsual chaotic way and very late. Most of the parents wouldn't stay seated or civil, and one unruly child stamped his feet on the floorboards as he and walked up and down between the aisles creating a sound similar to a stampede of elephants distracting Anna and her friends on stage during one serious act. The girls didn't miss a beat. The only professionals in the theater - were the young adults on the stage. Maybe the parents need a workshop on audience participation....

Through all the commotion, the show went on, and, I know I am her mom, but, Anna was brilliant. Unbelievable to see our shy little girl grow up to be a serious young actress.  Anna tells us all the time, it all so much fun to pretend to be someone else. And, really, isn't it?  Anna is already looking forward to next year's production and scoring a promised starring role. She even has a first fan. Some little boy ran up and give her a hug as she walking out of the theater.... Thankfully, Sam didn't see it.

Next stop... the great white way!

Flags

One of Sarah's artistic moments...

In one brilliant shot she captured the story of her life.... The Italian flag, the Union Jack - yes, Sam is a British subject and so are the girls, and the European Union flag. Missing, the Stars and Stripes. 

The rainbow flag... no, Sarah is not gay. That flag, is the flag of "Peace" - Pace. Don't believe me... check out Wikipedia.  Rainbow flag  To my delight these last few years -  the anti - war / anti - Bush / anti - globalization crowd - while demonstrating, protesting or striking in the Italian streets have carried this symbol of "peace" . It is often flown on the same pole as the symbol of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle. Ironic, isn't it? Symbol of peace flying with the symbol of communism? How many millions lost their life in the pursuit of the worker's paradise? Wonder if they thought about world peace?

Which got me thinking....

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too. 

W. Somerset Maugham

Concerti!

In June our lives become a blur. As the days get longer and schools winds down, the weekends are a constant stream of "events" building up to the day when take our seats on the jet that flies us to JFK....  

This weekend was no exception, and, it was a weekend of firsts for Sarah....

Friday...  Sarah debuted her new violin with the Orchestra Giovanile del Conservatorio Nicolò Paganini at the Monastero di Santa Chiara in Genoa. 

This was only second performance since being invited to join the young orchestra this winter. Normally, the practices start in the fall, but this year thanks to strikes and how things go in Italy, the young musicians got a late start. Even though, they sounded terrific and were extremely professional. The program ranged from Haydn to Vivaldi to Bach and the kids never seemed to miss a note. The audience? Many of us still don't know when to clap and when to not clap. Classical music is funny that way. One should never clap between movements, only at the end of a piece. But, the conductor, who is great with the kids is also great with the audience. First time we clapped when weren't supposed to, he reprimanded us with a no - no wave with his baton! I get the feeling he is teaching us along with his students.
Saturday night saw Sarah giving a repeat performance, only this time, she was in Moneglia (not far from the Cinque Terre) at the Oratorio dei Disciplinanti. And... this time, we had to PAY to see Sarah perform! Our first time ever paying to hear our daughter play her violin. The audience was made up of mostly family and friends of the young musicians, but, a local hotel bought a few rows of tickets for their guests. Just think, right now, some German tourist might be blogging about the fabulous young orchestra from the conservatory in Genoa he saw this weekend. 

This weekend while listening to my daughter play her violin with the other talented young musicians in the orchestra who are from not only Genoa, but from many other parts of the world - Russia, Armenia, even another young American. I started to think that maybe living here is not so bad after all. That even though I struggle living in this country and feel the life I have built is temporary. Maybe I haven't done so bad after all. And all that we might have given up by living here, may be overshadowed by what we have gained. Look at Sarah, would she have had the opportunity to be exposed to and study with such high calibre musicians if we had stayed in San Diego? I will never know. 

Like the language, which no matter how much a try to be fluent in, eludes me. Life here at times does too.  The chaos, which seems to have no end. The bureaucracy that ties your life in knots. Feeling like a foreigner each time you step out of the door. And then you look at your kids and it hits you. They don't feel any of this. They know of no other life. They are in some little way, becoming Italian.

I may never fully immerse myself in Italy and I will never feel Italian, yet, I am changed. I know that I am not the same person I was when I arrived in here 9 years ago. And, you know, that is not so bad. 

The thought hit me while listening to Sarah and her friends. Maybe what I am longing for is really what I mourn. A way of life. My way of life. Simply being an American and living amongst familiar surroundings. And the sadness that I feel, that no matter how many turkeys I roast for Thanksgiving will never cure, is quite normal. Really, when do we never miss something in our lives? Are we ever complete?

Sarah and Anna are merging two worlds and many ways, that might make them different. You know what? That ain't so bad. Isn't "different" quite like being extraordinary, novel, individual, original or special? 

Orchestra Giovanile del Conservatorio Nicolò Paganini

Oratorio

A Weekend Wedding

 

Sandwiched between Sarah's concerts, there was a wedding. As things go here. There is this couple, Odille and Rosella, who come to the monthly antique market in Chiavari to sell their fabulous furniture  Antique Piemonte. Click over to their site and you may see my home! Sam and I over the years have bought many of our amazing pieces of furniture from them and have quickly become their friends. About 5  years ago, they started telling us about this other "Inglese" couple who was also a client. This couple had sold everything they owned, moved to Italy with 2 daughters, bought a villa in Piemonte and were renovating it into a hotel - to hear Odille tell it, you would think they did the renovations themselves. As it goes, one thing led to another, and we are now friendly with the English couple who these days are proprietors of  a swank hotel in Piemonte -  LaVilla Hotel.

Back to the wedding....

Odille and Rosella's youngest son was married this weekend and where else to have the wedding than at a friend's house which is also a charming hotel.

Saturday was a day that threatened rain and storms. All around you could see ominous black clouds, but never over us. The clouds passed over a few times but, over all we were in a bowl of sunshine. The wind blew, and it blew so strong that it lifted a few skirts... Other than the excitement of my exposed knickers, there was the cake. Look at that cake! Have you ever seen anything like it? Believe me, it tasted even better than it looked. Sponge cake with pastry cream topped with fresh fruit! So good, I went back for seconds!

 

 

A Cat's Life

 

Time switch gears here and to talk about the other child in my life.... Gucci, cat who thinks she is human. A misanthropic one at that. If you have ever tried to pet her, you know what I mean. Reach for her and she will scratch you. Call her and she will give you ol' one eye and slink away. Search for her and she will hiding, either, sleeping in my spare bed, safely tucked under the covers or deep in a closet beneath all of the clean clothes. Other than when she is begging for food, Gucci is invisible and unlovable. House guests? Company for dinner? The cat simply is nowhere to be found. If you do stumble upon her, she will hiss and spit if you try try to make nice. I sometimes wonder why I have a cat. Warm and friendly she is not.

But, this spring has brought Gucci (and me) some new entertainment and reason to come out of the closet. 

Pigeons!  

                                       

My usual aloof cat has become a fearless stalker of prey!

 

These flying rats swoop down every morning and try to nest on the office terrace. Actually, they might be sleeping in they empty flower boxes all night... Who knows? This morning, I finally was able to take some photos of the pigeons and Gucci in action before the birds flew away.

 
We, that is Gucci and I, have been fighting a losing war to rid my terraces of these vermin. Problem is, the pigeons are not afraid! They have figured us out and know how far they need to walk/fly to stay out of the Gucci's reach and return when I am not looking! And, now that the things are so bold, they are nesting in the empty flower boxes. Well, after today, they won't find those anymore...  I am off to the nursery to buy new geraniums. That should take care of that. My new war? That will be with Sam and getting him to remember to water the plants while I am in New York. I know, who am I kidding? I am going to return in August to dead plants and baby pigeons nesting in the boxes! 

The annual June count down has begun. 

One week left of school, two weeks final exams.... 

Drumroll please -  only 21 days until our departure for New York! 

Ready or not Dad, here we come!

 

Birthday Girl, Wildflowers and a new Baby

Since I sprained my ankle last month hiking on the trails above Portovenere I have been limited to strolls on the passagiata of Chiavari. Not today. Wednesdays - the Ladies Walk and Lunch (see the side bar link to the confusing Dutch/English blog in my roll). This week in honor of Joanne's "mmm hmm" birthday, the ladies were ready to hike, and, hike my favorite trail. How dare I refuse? But, I did convince Sam to give us a head start and spare us (and  my sore ankle) a two hour slog uphill from Lavagna by dropping us off at the trial head on top of San Giacomo - 500 + meters above sea. Thank you Sam!
We might have had a head start, but we walked! The idea was a nice 2-3 hour hike from San Giacamo across to Capenardo then down into Sestri for lunch at Luna Blu. Ok. Easy enough.
All started out fine, after all, Sam got us started on the right trail and is was just as lovely as the last time I saw it a year ago. See my profile photo to your right? That shot was taken in June last year just after a heavy thunderstorm.  And, as you can see in the photo above, the wild flowers are just as beautiful this year as they were last year. A little rain and lots of sun and the hills around here bloom alive. Thankfully, today, though we were in the clouds and it was threatening to do so, it didn't rain.

We were doing fine, until, we reached the point where we started our descent. Me, the only one who has walked this trail, and I will admit, I have walked this trail many times in both directions, made a bit of a mistake. I was having a hard time with my sore ankle and walking downhill was not proving easy, therefore I took the nice road to the left when, I really should have taken the narrow trail to the right. We ended up on the right road, but, in the the wrong place. Story of my life and, actually, how I ended up in Italy. A move to Monaco in France somehow took us to Genoa in Italy... but I am going off topic, again.

We now found ourselves on a road that I had no recollection of -  and was twisting and turning in every direction but the way we wanted - downhill towards the sea.  I was just hoping that my walking guru skills weren't failing me, because I hated to admit it but, it seemed we were walking into the entroterra (wrong way) and not down to the mare (right way).  I stopped to scratch my head, get my bearings and read the trail map - with out my glasses I may add. Hopeless aren't I? Fast thinking Nicole came to my rescue. She whipped out her fancy cell phone, complete with GPS, downloaded our coordinates, and, in seconds reassured us we were going in the right direction on the correct road! Soon enough we found the red triangle marking the trail on a wall. 30 minutes later we were sitting on the beach in Sestri taking off our hiking shoes and slipping on our sandals..... Ahh.... Who needs a man, or a compass for that matter, when you have NOKIA with Global Positioning! Kiitos Finlandia... 

Four hours after we started out, we were more than ready for lunch, me, I was ready for a nice glass of white wine. Hey, this walking guru thing is STRESSFUL! 

Was the day over for the intrepid walking ladies of Liguria? Nah. They hopped on the bus that took them back to Chiavari and in their own directions. One went home to take care of her family, the other to a flute lesson. Me? No sooner I was in my apartment, I was out the door. Today was a very important day, OK,  it was Joanne's Birthday, but, it was also a special day for another reason.

 Today, Sarah's new violin was BORN!

After 6 months of waiting and a fitting midway. Sarah's new violin emerged from the liutaio's workshop this afternoon! 

This is Sarah's very first Italian, custom made violin. It has never been played by any other violinists. Why did I use born? Well other than a bad translation from Italian, Sarah has to "raise" this violin. Give it a "life". And to do that - she has to play it, and play it so much as to give this instrument its "anima" or soul. Perfect. Sarah HAS to play, this is music to my ears. Sarah HAS to play her violin. Did  say that again? Oops. 

Now, my baby, has, her delicate baby in her hands. If Sarah loves her violin and cares for it tenderly, hopefully, her baby, will make Sarah as proud as she, my baby, makes me. 

Krista

Personal Projects

 

Here is Sarah Friday afternoon presenting her "personal statement" at school. She played her violin, gave a lecture on Paganini and his violin the "cannone" which now lives in a vault located in the "Municipo di Genoa" or City Hall. Her violin teacher is one of only a few who has privilege to play it, so once a year Sarah gets to gaze upon the priceless violin. I digress...

Getting back to Friday evening and prom night and my little personal project, Sarah. 

Povera Sarah, Friday, she just couldn't get a break. 

• In the morning she went to the station - all the trains were late...We drove in, and she was still late for school. 
  
• After school, she had to present her personal project first so she could leave for Orchestra practice. Her teachers were late... She was an hour late for orchestrata.... 
  
• To add insult, traffic was snarled on the streets surrouonding the tiny church where the young orchestra was practicing, she had to take a bus to meet me when she was done... 
  
• I took her to the hairdresser to fix her up for the prom. They made her wait an hour...

And so the day went...

At the end of the evening - which rewarded her day's struggles by being perfectly magical - she got out of the taxi, took a step to the door - and the contents of her tiny clutch spilled out into the road, including, my nearly new digital camera. 

Sunday morning, all excited to see the photos, we plugged the camera to my laptop and tried to download the files. On the camera screen there was no menu to select from, only a white fuzz with jagged black lines. The screen was cracked! Thankfully, the photos moved from the camera to the laptop, but, the camera was rendered useless. Sarah apoligized over and over again. I felt bad and what can you say? Lending children your precious things always comes with a risk.

What did my plucky little girl do? She went out for a walk that afternoon - in the rain - and bought me a new camera with her OWN money. Money she earned doing translations and diligently saved with the intention that Sarah would buy herself a new digital SLR camera this summer. When presented with my "gift" I could have cried.  The broken camera was already written off and any disappointment no longer lingered - I mean, things happen. I was standing there in the hall stuck in an awkward moment. As a parent, I looked at her little face, so full of pride that she had made a wrong - right. I had to pause to collect my thoughts and respond as to not hurt her, but I knew in my heart, there was no way that I could accept that camera. Then it hit me, I knew exactly why my dad, every time I buy him a gift, says, "ah you don't have go and do that, I don't need anything". I get it now. I understand why parents never feel comfortable with "bought" gifts from their kids.  

Will I keep the camera? Yes. How could I not? Making Sarah take it back would only break her heart. Am I going to give Sarah back her money? You betcha!  

Prom, Italian Style

Sarah went off to her first prom Friday night. Sigh.

Thoughts?

My, little miss I cannot be bothered to dress neatly to go to school showed up looking like a glamourous flapper straight from the roaring 20s complete with feathers in her hair. I bet she turned a few heads. Sarah - Sarah who? I think, from listening to the playback, our comfortable little world that did not include boys has been put up on the shelf for us to long wistfully over and the time has come for Sam to brush up on his shotgun skills.

That sums it up quite nicely. Atta girls Sarah. You were the Bee's knees and it is none of our beeswax if any boy cashed in.....


Cheers!

Update

Finally, after over of week of radio silence - yes, my lack of blogging was because we were off the information super highway thanks to Telecom Italia updating the "centro linea" and throwing us off the grid. For an unbelievable 5 days we had no dial tone! Then, when we finally got back on  "the centro linea" our internet provider's inability to sort out the mess was, well, enough for me to dream of the efficiency of AT&T and the love of ol' Mabell. But, mysteriously, amazingly, after Sam threatened to cancel our contract with our internet service provider - Tiscali - our adsl signal is back. Hmmm. Strange, no?

Lessons learned from our week of phone ping pong trying to sort this mess out:

• Always have a back up internet service if you have a home office and a blackberry is a mighty communication tool.

• We are all, Sarah, Anna,  and especially me - internet addicts. 10 days of no email, facebook, messenger, Drudge Report, and Perez Hilton! We were at each other's throats, withdrawal anyone?
• Threats work, really work.
  

Right, so what have we been up to for the last few weeks? Without internet, it is amazing, but life does go on!

The biggest "happening" was last Sunday. Anna celebrated her confirmation into the Catholic faith. The church was packed and Anna glowed. She wore heels for the first time and towered over us all. My baby, well, she is gone. 

After the ceremony Anna chose to have her party at the beach. On a perfect spring/summerlike day, 
we headed to Luna blu for lunch and a swim with friends. Perfect end to a perfect day!

Krista

Marcia di Chiavari

Ian, Jan and Sam after the Marci di Chiavari. 12 gruelling kilometers of jogging up and then down into Chiavari. Real sport for real men.

Feeling a bit peckish after that, Sam Sarah and I headed off into the hills of Santa Stefano d'Avento for a hearty lunch at one of those places that after you sit down, the food just appears... and never stops coming.Gotta love the senile old lady serving the food - sweet and complete with pink stockings! As she exited the kitchen, she just shouted the name of the dish and we pointed to where it belonged. Priceless. Then, after eating way too much pasta, polenta, scaloppina, fries - even dessert, for little money, we pushed ourselves from the table and hiked to a secluded "prato" with a stream and laid down a blanket. A little light reading then a little light napping...
and we were golden!

Hey There Birthday Girl!

Quick post for my baby.....

I love you!

Happy Birthday my princess.

Mom

Easter, Italian Style

How is that for catching up....

Christopher Columbus Was...

and evil man... according to Hugo Chavez it seems, and well, he is taking down Mr. Columbus's statues one by one.  

It also seems to be the view  of a very  popular American History textbook, "The People's History of the United States". But, let's not go there tonight.

Ah... how times have changed.... When I was in school we learned this rhyme....

IN 1492

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.

A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.

Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.

Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.

Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.

October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!

"Indians!  Indians!"  Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.

But "India" the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.

The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.

Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he'd been told.

He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.

The first American?  No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.

Now it seems the Italians, especially the Genoese brood, are not so impressed with Mr. Chavez'.

'Invader' Columbus statue goes - Scotsman.com News

Published Date: 28 March 2009

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has praised a decision by a city mayor to take down a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus in Caracas.

Chavez said that when Columbus reached the Americas more than five centuries ago he led an invasion that produced a genocide for the indigenous people.

The Day the Music Died

Raising children is sure not easy.

Anna experienced the harsher side of life yesterday. Yes, she was robbed - of her beloved ipod touch.

So attached was Anna to her digital gizmo, she took it everywhere she went. Everywhere. Even when we told her to leave it at home, she just wouldn't, really what kid could? Yesterday she went to her theater group where, she left her coat, ipod inside a pocket, in the changing room. Upon returning home, she discovered, it was gone. The few euros she had were still inside her pockets and her phone too, but no ipod.

To say I was livid would be to put things mildly. More money down the drain spent on kids that don't value it. Story of my life.

As I am screaming at her, why did you even take it with you when you weren't even going to use it? Why do you show it to your friends? They don't have one, it only makes them jealous... don't you know kids steal!!!!! On and on...

Well, my hysterical drama fell on deaf teenage ears. Anna tore her room apart... bed apart... but, nothing. Her ipod was gone. Someone, obviously a kid from the theater group, which is made up from her classmates, wanted the ipod as badly as Anna did, and when she wasn't looking, helped themselves to it. 

This morning at breakfast, after a fitful night of sleep, for the both of us, I really don't like yelling at the kids, Anna was so sad. Truly disillusioned.  Lost with out her little gadget, but even worse, full of the knowledge that someone she believed was a friend, well, really wasn't. And she will never know who. That was the thought swimming in her head as she headed off to school this morning.

I know Anna didn't leave her ipod with the intention of having it stolen. She actually has taken good care of it. In her mind, I know, she felt she left her coat in a place she could trust. It was hung with the belongings of people she thinks are her friends. But, desire, greed and envy... no matter how good you are and how you know you would never steal from a friend. There is always someone lurking, coveting what you have and if given the opportunity, will take it. What a harsh lesson to learn at 13.

All that said.... 

If you look at the bright side... there has to be.... 

At least I don't need to worry about her damaging her hearing for the moment. 

Roam if you want to...

Roam around the world.... 

Lyrics to a B-52's song and a not such a bad philosophy to live by. If I sit and think about it, the idea that the best things in life are ones that happen, with out a plan, without expectations. Like when you wake up in the morning without any idea what to do and as you move through the day, something truly wonderful just happens. Is this it because of the low expectations or just karma?  I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that I have spent most of my life living by these rules. Some of you that know me well might be shaking your heads, but it is true, I might seem to "plan" other people's lives, but my own... I just wing it. Every single day! How else would I ever cope living in this chaotic country - or growing teenagers?

Sunday Sam and I dropped off Anna with her friends and teachers, they were going on bus for some school trip to god knows where, and we found ourselves suddenly alone - no kids! We crossed the street from where we dropped off Anna to the train station and hopped on the first passing train. Luckily for us, it was going in the direction of  le Cinque Terre and not Genoa! Upon arriving in Riomaggiore, it seemed that 1,000 people getting were getting off the train with the same intention to hike, so we thought it best to go in the opposite direction to wherever the crowd was heading. After a quick inquiry at the information office and a look at a trail map, we decided to head off to Telegrafo - 514 + meters above sea level. Why not? Neither of us had ever hiked up. We where warned by the ladies at the info office that the trail was "ripida", in other words, quite steep. Perfect. No one would be on it.

Full of beans we headed to the coffee bar near the train station, it was mobbed, so we wandered into Riomaggiore to find a less crowded one. Would you believe in a country where you trip over coffee bars, there wasn't one in sight! Sam and I stumbled upon the trail head and started our ascent. As we were climbing we were bombarded with runners coming down the narrow trail.... ah.... that was what all the marks in the pavement were for, there was a foot race going on. The "Marcia di 5 Terre".  So much for an isolated trail. As we neared the first summit, 300 or so meters above sea,  I mentioned to Sam that Sarah's former violin teacher participates in these mini marathons, and, just as I said that, I heard a familiar voice! There was Gabriela - the violin teacher - and her husband jogging towards us! How is that for a small world? We reached the first summit at the Santuario di Montenero, we stopped at the bar - complete with a singing barrista, as you do (doesn't every hiking trail have a coffee bar with a tenor) and finally had our long anticipated, albeit late, morning cappuccino. We soaked in the sun, lingered over the view and marvelled at the runners barrelling on by. Sam and I started to feel a bit hungry and with the faith that the sign on the trail map indicated a restaurant at the summit in Telegrafo, we marched on. 

As we climbed up the trail it divided and as anyone would do, we took the more scenic sea route completely ignorant of the fact that it was the more difficult of the two, but hey, at least we no longer had to move out of the way of the runners - they were on the other trail. As we continued to climb the views were even more incredible and that magical feeling that happens when you hike though the Liguria took over.  Around here the mountains seem to fall of into the sea, and the micro-climates you encounter as you climb up are not to be found anywhere else in Europe. In the 5 Terre, you find alpine wild flowers growing and terraced vineyards that fall off into the sea - and as we rose above 300 meters above sea level, we were now in a thick pine forest and the air was cool and fresh. If you looked to your left or east across the valley there were the snow capped Apennines, turn right or west and there was the endless sea. 

At this point we were almost completely free from other hikers - amazing - the 5 terre are normally on a sunny Sunday - overrun. Sam and I slogged on up the steep mountain and at about 12:30 we finally made it to the top! And yes, the restaurant was open and of course - FULLY BOOKED - yes you can drive there too proven by all the cars parked along the road! I gave the owner my best puppy dog eyes and he said to come back in an hour or so! Score! The aroma from kitchen was divine and the menu alluring so we set of to explore Telegrafo. Guess what... there was not much to see. Seems Telegrafo is just the halfway point between Portovenere and Riomaggiore, no village per say, but boasts a full on bar/cafe with picnic tables in one spot and the restaurant in an other. We walked on in the direction of Portovenere as far as time would allow and then headed back. We took our seats at our table, the worst one in the room, but who was going to complain? In the end, we had a fabulous meal of
tagliatelle with vongole alla zafferana followed up with fitto misto di mare all washed down with the famous white wine from the Cinque Terre.

      

For entertainment we had a large tour group of Australians who sat next to us. Watching them reaffirmed my reasoning to why I always avoid organized tours. For one, I really rather be by myself, quite difficult when you are with a large group, and, I want to choose what I eat. This group's meal was prearranged and everyone had the same to eat -  Spaghetti con pesto and fish alle ligure. Sounds good for sure, but compared to what we had and the other plates served to nearby tables, not anywhere near the best the place had to offer. And to serve 14 plates of the same food at the same time from a small kitchen... well it didn't happen. Anyway, I digress. Food is a religion for me, so I would have hated to sit there, looking at all the good things go by only to then be presented with the exact same thing as the person sitting next to me. Torture.

With full bellies and tired eyes Sam and I reluctantly pushed away from the table. For the walk down we chose the easier route, and along the way, we found a quiet spot to sit and rest - we even took a nap - a bottle of wine with lunch does make you weary. It was a struggle to pull ourselves up and hike back to the sactuario with the bar and the singing barrista - Sam had an expresso and I hit the toilet - and we were ready to march on.  

We made it back down to Riomaggiore just as the train that would take us back to Chiavari was pulling in. How was that for an end to a perfect day made without a plan and no reading of train schedules? An excellent example of how to just roll out your door and roam round the world!