Ciao tutti! I’m writing this to you while I am riding on my beloved (re: cursed) regionale train. Since finishing work, I have been to the Lake District in the UK and then around Umbria, Lazio, and Emiligia-Romagna. My summer goals are to: avoid crowds, avoid the heat, eat all my favorite foods, and get as abbronzata as possible (tanned).
Above, a beautiful car roasting in the piazza mid day. Only me and the car are stupid enough to be outside in the heat- but I had a granita, so all was well.
So far I am doing well on most fronts. It’s easy to eat well here and summer is full of fruit stands everywhere. Cue tomatoes on repeat, granita everyday, and PEACHES. I am choosing destinations off the beaten path as much as I can, though coming back to my old favorites (Roma!). With lots of beach and lake and city-walking, I am tan - and don’t worry I am slathering on sunscreen every few hours. The only place I burned was when I was relaxing on a fell in England, go figure!
But the heat. Here is where I am failing but it has become unavoidable. I have written so much about this before so I won’t bore you all but in two words: it’s bad. It was 106 yesterday. It gets too hot to be at the beach, too hot to do much of anything besides lie down with a fan a foot away from your body. I am only wearing linen, donning my straw hat daily, and eating light foods. I love Italy, but I don’t think I would ever come back in the summer. And I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Back to the good stuff. I stayed in Perugia with my perugina friend who was the most lovely of tour guides and hosts. I happened to be there for Umbria Jazz which was absolutely amazing. The whole piazza was lit up with dancing qnd summer sounds and smells. Everyone had a gelato or a drink, and kids were running around at midnight. And the music - the music!
Madda, the most wonderful informal Italian teacher, who is an amazing artist, and a better friend who better visit me in the USA!!
After Perugia, I stayed in Foligno. I ended up there because I wanted more time in Umbria and it was cheap to stay there. Foligno was beautiful and charming - and I enjoyed wandering for hours before the train to Orvieto the next day.
I chose to go to Orvieto because well, Orvieto. A hillside town full of charm and Umbrian food. Rich with history, funky shops, and views around every corner. My airbnb host didn’t know that I was American until I showed him my ID which is perhaps the most proud that I have ever felt about my Italian. (Don’t worry, I’ll fumble over the language again soon enough).
Earlier in the day I had seen a stage in the center of the town, near the stunning cathedral (one of my favorites in Italy). I decided to come back later that night with a gelato and see what it was.
These small towns are so alive on summer nights. Since it’s finally cool, everyone is outside. As I wandered towards to the duomo I heard old time jazz, and came upon ballroom dancing. Not just any dancing but true experts, dancing cheek to cheek to the music. The women in swishy, shimmery gowns and stilettos, men in full suits. The stage was lit by the large RISTORANTE sign and then lights of the 14th- century duomo. I sat with the others on the duomo steps - the tourists, the locals, the teenagers, and the kids on summer break. Like most summer evenings, everyone had a gelato or a drink in hand, clustered in groups. I spotted some other solo travelers. I can’t yet put this experience into words, but I find myself coming back to it over and over. In the distance, the late night diners were absorbed in their pastas and wines. It was a layered scene of Italy, a perfect encapsulation of what makes this place so intoxicating that you want to give everything up and live in an Italian piazza forever. The scene felt simultaneously all mine and shared with the entire town. One of my favorite Italian words is after all: condividere, to share.
Another hallmark experience of my summer has been trains and buses. There has been many CANCELLARE and INTERROTTO and SOSPESO. I think my English readers don’t need a translation for that. Many times where the crackly recording comes on and recites in the familiar, ominous cadence of a capotreno who could care less about where you are going. “Il treno regionale dodici- cinque- sette- otto da Roma Ostiense a Viterbo porta romana ….. sul …. Binario 13 alle ora ………….. 15:30 è………….. CANCELLARE!” (The regionale resin, 12578, from Roma Ostiense to Viterbo Porta Romana is….. cancelled!) I don’t think Trenitalia knows what it means to “bury the lead”, if you will. Sometimes they repeat it twice to rub it in. And, this message is so common - usually it just says you’re arriving on time. So do you unplug your headphones or look up from your book to figure out the message or not? If your train is not cancelled, you get a kick and a pang of sympathy for everyone else who has just stopped in their tracks, rolled their eyes, and cursed in Italian, ticket in hand. When it’s you, you react the same exact way. But maybe more dramatically.
Still, I have largely avoided disaster. The buses they send in substitute have AC and I met some lovely Australian girls in a small town who drove me 15 to my destination once instead.
La bella stagione - what summer is called, the beautiful season or time- is not my favorite just because of tourists and the heat. But it’s my favorite season for train-viewing
Through the train windows I have been able to bear witness (whether I liked it or not) to the changing of the seasons. From the deep gray winter to spring greens so bright it nearly made me squint, to the semolina colored fields dotted with hay bales. So many rich colors and places. My geography of Italy has gotten so much better in a way that I don’t have for the USA (which Im embarrassed about). Sure, I know where Kansas is (and the capital!)- but I don’t know how it looks on the stretch between Kansas City and Colorado. Here I have become so intimately acquainted with the fields that separate my town from Rome, the transition from Florence to Bologna. How the train just feels different as you head south.
Anyway. Tonight I have a graduation party for my wonderful amica- I am excited but as I have said before, my Italian struggles in Italian party settings, so wish me luck. Next stop, Napoli!! It will be the longest time I have spent in Naples and I am excited and worried for my stomach (I know I will eat a lot)
Wish me luck because I was just informed that our train is stopping in a random town and not continuing. Did Trenitalia know that I needed to be somewhere by 19:00, and that I was talking about them behind their back?
Oddio. Deocaro. Here’s a selfie I sent to a friend upon finding out this bad news…
At least I am abbronzata?
A presto,
Oli (another nickname for Olivia here)
Liiiv you're so sweet!
Sooner or later I'll visit in the USA! It's a must
Dajee che il mio passaporto è quasi pronto!