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Published: September 11th 2015
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Lunch on Wednesday
Specialities from Prato and cheap too It is a morning just dawning. much like the one almost four weeks ago in Palermo when I could not sleep. I have heard a bell chiming telling me it is seven o'clock. I can hear birds outside and Bruce, the new puppy, (a chocolate Labrador) has been making snuffling noises on the verandah outside the open window. The shutters make the room still dark, but outside the strong autumn sun is up. The air feels chilly. In the space of a week the weather has gone from summer heat and humidity to chilly mornings and evenings. The Italian summer is almost at an end and I have witnessed its demise.
I have had the most intense four weeks of experiencing life differently. I have had to move out of my comfort zone every time something didn't go the way I had planned it or expected it to. I have had such varied and out of the ordinary experiences and there are memories swimming around my head that will delight me forever. The mosaics from Monreale and La Cappella Palatina are even now a shimmering and colourful visual in my imagination. The vistas in Ravello from cool and verdant gardens overlooking
cliffs which fall to a sapphire blue sea will always be examples of infinity and of earthly perfection for me. I remember the rocky and steep steps of the paths which took us ever northward along the Amalfi Coast and allowed us to see parts of that coastline normally hidden from the bustling world. I will always remember that swim I enjoyed off the rocks at Conca dei Marini. Lake Como was beautiful when kissed by the sun, when lashed by flooding rain and magnificent lightening, from on high and again from the gardens that hug its shores. All these recollections are precious to me now. I have become more fluent again in these four weeks. I realise now that I so rarely get the opportunity to speak Italian anymore when I am in Adelaide. Here, I am swimming in a thick Italian minestrone which delights me. I love the accents, the inflections and intonations, the gestures and the snippets of conversation I greedily listen to. I realise also that I have missed la bella lingua italiana. I am glad to have tasted it again. Speaking of taste, why oh why is food so flavoursome in Italy? We have scarcely
had a bad meal. What did I love? The bread, the fish, the pasta, the sauces, the meat, the granita, the gelati, the pastries, the coffee and the wine, I could go on! I will miss the food so much. The people we have met have been friendly, helpful and great to talk to. Our last week here in Prato has been especially pleasurable because we have really got to experience the rhythms of an "ordinary" life in an ordinary town. We now greet the lady who lives in the apartment above my cousin's house, the two resident cats I have met get a friendly pat and the same taxi driver has driven us back from the station a couple of times. It is easy to see that patterns of familiarity quickly establish themselves and one could almost imagine a life being lived here.the cousins have been so kind and have gone out of their way to make us welcome. We have spent time with some of Paola's friends and they have also been lovely to chat to.
But the pull of my own home is strong and I am feeling that it is time to return. I need
to hug my children again and my cat! Goodbye beautiful Italy till the next time.
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