After Rome, the last month has been in a mountain town outside of Bologna, just a quick scoot down the mountain on a train. We've gone into "town" three times this week for aimless wandering, and on my birthday for an amazing cooking school. Winter in Bologna is beyond compare.
Some photos of the Appennino Bolognese, Toscana, and Bologna
Vado
Il Doumo, Bologna
And what did I love the most?
Oh gawd, more lists.....
1. No crowds. Nessuno. We were able to see one of the largest churches in the world with zero crowds. The Duomo San Petrino was originally designed to be even bigger than St Peter's in Rome till the Vatican put the brakes on that by buying the surrounding land and throwing up buildings to block the expansion of the duomo. Size does matter, I guess. Impressive, with a functioning sundial inlaid into the floor precisely located to catch the sun through the high windows and show the passage of time. I've got no pictures of this church (though I did get photos of the Duomo in Siena) as admission was free and photo taking cost money and like a dolt, I thought, heck, I have zillions of Duomo photos who needs more. I should'a spent the 2 Euros on a photo pass.
Siena; Perhaps the most beautiful place on earth, again with zero crowds. It was like having paradise on loan for a few days with a private showing.
2. Food. Bologna is the culinary capital for good reason and to wander it's central district's side streets is to find centuries of foodie culture still vibrant and very proud. I finally found a Ferretto for rolling my own pasta, though I will hand make some variations on the advice of the woman at the pasta shop in Rome. The one I bought is perfect for penne but a bicycle spoke and/or the tines of an umbrella a will give me variety in size for making some of the southern pasta. The future of pasta fresca in Canyon is high.
2.A Cooking school was life-changing in my approach to flavors and to alter and amend my overall use of my spice rack. I feel like I now stand at the doorway of knowledge. I should have done this trip thirty years ago, I would be living a very different life, I think. I certainly wouldn't be making my living by staring at a laptop screen 12 hours a day.
3. Local history. The Appennino area is rife with history close by. From the Etruscan village remains (best value museum and archeological site ever) from 11,000 years ago outside of Marzabotto to the walking tour of the Marzabotto massacre of partisans and civilians in 1944 by the German SS - largest massacre in the European theater in WWII, to the medieval, 12th century untouched village we drove up to the top of the Apennine ridge to see, this area is a must-see.
The town of Vado itself was kind of a bore. Closeted, dull, streets devoid of people. basically a bedroom community for Bologna and Sasso-Marconi workers. Beautiful and quiet, but not really anything you need to walk through more than once or twice. There is decent pizza to be had when you can find the pizzeria open, though even the one grocery story has random hours known only to locals.
A great place for a quiet month of rest and excursions into the countryside, but I don't think I'd ever want to live here. Which leads me to my next thoughts.
Of all the places we'vee seen in our stays in the last year, what spoke to us the most strongly? If we ever decide to ditch the US permanently, where would we happily land?
But first, the answer to the question I posed to myself and Patty last night. What was the top, penultimate moment of the last three months? What made you feel the most Roman/Italian and is something you'll remember and carry going forward forever?
I'll go first as I gave both of us as long as we needed to answer the question and I'm up and awake first.
In Rome we went daily to a bar for caffe just steps away from our apartment and became friendly with the staff. Two things happened that I won't forget. #1 one night we stopped in for cocktails and I noticed Fabio the bouncer was glued to a small screen which I could tell from a distance was streaming a soccer match. I went over and watched for a bit. I asked who was the other team and he said Firenze. I said Roma A Morte!! and got a laugh from all the bar guys grouped around watching. I told them, Sono American e non so cascio. The next thing I know they've drawn me into their circle and with arms around my shoulders are explaining the match. Male bonding extraordinaire. At the end of the night as we were leaving. Fabio gave me the shirt off his back. Literally. A Bar Gianicolo shirt. I'll treasure it forever.My other unforgettable moment was standing on the Ponte Sisto and gazing at the placid Tiber and St Peter's cathedral in the dying sunlight. Pure magic. I fell deeply in love with Rome and in particular the Tiber in that moment.
So where would we choose to stay permanently should we decide to bug out of the US - or at least decide to do a, 6 months in the US, 6 months in Italy?
A great question and not an easy one.
Rome
We both fell deeply in love with Rome. Deeply. The culture, the food, the history, the people we met, the way it respects itself. Every restaurant and there are thousands, treats you like royalty, wants you to walk out happy and prides itself on what it produces. We literally did not have a single bad dining experience in Rome. The Romans live immersed in centuries of history, you can't avoid it, and they respect that past. There is no subway, no underground, as if you dig anywhere you're going to disturb history and unearth bones, The pace of life is fast, but still holds onto the Meditteranean/Italian feeling of Dolce Vita. It's not a myth. It exists. An afternoon coffee, wine with lunch, close the shop for a few hours to go home for pranzo or take a nap. the work will get done in its own time. This exists along with the vibrancy of maybe the greatest city in the world. Art galleries, museums, and priceless antiquity - right outside your door and around almost every corner.
Rome is a strong contender.
The South
We also fell in love with the south last Spring. we traveled from Rome to Napoli and Salerno, then to the far south and Puglia, all the way to Lecce.
The food is beyond compare, the people super warm and friendly and the beaches! It's a climate and a laid back lifestyle of water, beauty, sand, limoncello and homemade pasta that I could really embrace. It's also a strong contender in a retirement type mode. Buy a house, tend to the garden, make pasta, limoncello and press my own olive oil. Then sit on the terraza and sip prosecco while playing guitar every afternoon. I could live that lifestyle for a long time.
Salerno. I had the best meal of my life in Salerno and met the nicest people of all my trips to Italy. Also, it's proximity to the Costiere Amalfi is a strong reason to make our home in this region. I think ideally would be a home 10-20 kilometers south, on the coastline from Salerno. Driving into the city would be nothing and reaching the Amalfi coast for our visitors would be maybe an hour tops - though I recommend visiting Amalfi by boat on a sunny day from the piers of Salerno. A better day you will not find.
Napoli
For the same reasons. A culture that truly realizes La Dolce Vita, that is incomparable and has food to die for (best Gelato in Italy), history, art, and music. And a hub to travel anywhere in Italy or the Meditteranean simply by hopping on a train or boat.
The North
Toscana and Emilia-Romana have a lot to offer, but not sure I'd want to live in such a tourist hub. We were here in Nov-Feb when crowds are thin to non-existent and that was lovely. But fill those dreamlike Tuscan roads and villages with gazillions of tourists and I'd want to disappear as quickly as the Etruscans, I think the north will always be un posto che adoro visitare. Not to live.
Given a money bomb dropped on me and unlimited choices, in the best of all possible worlds, I'd live on the coast a few kilometers south of Salerno and also own an appartamento in Rome. Summers at the beach and Amalfi, Winters in Rome.
More research is clearly needed and I don't see any money bombs looming so I may have to improvise. In any case, home soon and one final picture that sums up the whole trip - if that's possible. The Tiber as seen from under the Ponte Garibaldi on a picture-perfect Autumn day
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