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Published: April 24th 2012
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I haven’t had internet access, so the Bergamo segment is a bit late. We caught the train,
Frecia Rossa—the fast train that stopped only in Bologna on its way to Firenze (Florence.)
We’ve spent the past two days with my friend, Rosamaria, who was born in Bergamo, studied law in Milano, and traveled to Seattle where we met in 1981 just after I’d come back from Rome. Either she or I put an ad in the paper for doing a language exchange. Anyway, we became close friends and talked about the problems of the world and our own lives in a mix of English Italian. She was in Seattle to be with a Seattle man she’d met in Bergamo where he was studying Montessori teaching methods. They eventually married, had a child, and moved back to Italy where he taught English and she pursued her career as a lawyer. I told Sally before we left that I was sure she and Rosamaria’s husband, Richard Stern, would find they had friends in common. They did,. Sally’s daughter, Meighan is a good friend of Richard’s brothers Dan and Mike. Small world!!
Richard and Rosamaria were a fountain of information, answering all our questions about Italian customs and history, as well as taking us all around Bergamo and preparing wonderful local dishes such as pizzocchieri, which Sally got the recipe for. So all you Seattle friends of Sally, expect to see lots of pizzocchieri coming from her kitchen
IF she can find the right cheese and special pasta that Rosamaria used.
Rosamaria and Richard’s daughter, Elessia, and her boyfriend, Paolo, came to visit and brought their greyhound, Elton, to play with Rosamaria’s dog, Ian, a Dashound. Very cute relationship! Elissa and Paolo rescued Elton from certain death after his two year, career as a not so successful race hound.
If I’m not saying much about the sights, it is because the family life was what was special about Bergamo.
I did include a photo of an ancient cloth drying facility in Gandino where we took a tour that moved quickly, so quickly that Rosamaria and I got separated from the main group when we stopped to look a f woman’s home next to one of the houses on the tour. When we came back out on the street, the whole group had disappeared around a corner. We ran in the direction we thought they went, only to find totally deserted streets. Understand, Sally was with the main group. Fortunately, she stayed with the group and we were eventually united near the end of the tour after the mayor of town guided us to the place where he was to join the group and give a welcoming speech. But sally might tell you something different.
This is Sally telling the real story. Julie told me to stay put if I got lost and she would find me. Well…what<span> <span> do you do when you are on a tour and the two people you went with have disappeared? I stayed with the group and tried to talk to Gino, a nice looking man that Rosa Maria had talked to earlier. Unfortunately, he didn’t speak English, so I tried to gesture that Rosa Maria was gone.<span> I had her name written out so he recognized it.<span> At the end of the tour he beckoned to me to follow him with a few other people from our tour, and so I did, and we went through part of the village again, down a hill where he tried to tell me there were textile mills, we got that <span> far, but on a hill top with goats???<span> We finally got to the end and there they were – Julie, Rosa Maria, and the Mayor of the town and the tour guide, who had left the group. Reunited. Since I didn’t know Rosa Maria’s last name, phone number, or address, I was VERY hopeful that this man was leading me to the right place and he did.<span> It was an exciting couple of hours.
As soon as we arrived in Firenze (Florence to us), we took a bus up above the city to Settignano where we’re staying. We immediately jumped back on the bus to go check how to get to<span> the places Sally has planned for us to visit in the next few days. Then we walked past the Duomo, snagged a back door peek at the David which we will see legitimately on Thursday, walked across the Ponte Vecchio that’s lined with jewelry shops specializing in gold, and then came back up the hill to our cozy place. “Cozy” is too grandiose a word to describe the closet size room we have. I exaggerate, but not by much. However, it has one thing going for it, there is an enoteca next door. An enoteca is a wine restaurant where they focus on the wine that goes with each dish. I had a pasta with a sauce made of cheese and Sauterne wine. They served me an incredible Sauterne with it that the waiter told me I was to drink at the pace of exactly 10 sips per bite. I’m not sure I counted, but I did make it last to the last bite of pasta. It was a very small portion because, if I’d bought the bottle, it would’ve been 75 euros, or $100.
Florence<span> In light rain we walked the two blocks from our cozy place to the bus. That’s where I took the photo of the lady who has her dog carry her umbrella. Once down in Florence, we slogged through a downpour to where our cooking class met, then trooped in a group—still in the rain—to the Central Market where we tasted various cheeses, olive oils, and balsamic vinegars. Our chef gave us a tour around the market and then took us to the kitchen across from the market for the class. We made tiramisu, linguini and tortellini from scratch, a Bolognese sauce. Great fun, great group of people, and great eating since, of course, we ate what we made. The rain stopped while we were in the class and we were has just enough time to duck into the Duomo before it closed. What a contrast to the Duomo in Milano. This one is incredible on the outside and VERY plain on the inside. Check it out on the net. I don’t feel photos I take of these huge places do them justice.
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Lisa Conner
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Love Your Blog
Hi Julia, I'm all caught up with your entries and anxiously waiting for the next one. I'm so excited for you and can almost smell the rain from here. Take care, Lisa