Two for the Road: July 2014

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Verona: Home of the Laughing Saint

At the Arena for Un Ballo

Last time we were in Italy, we had hoped to travel and see parts of the country other than Tuscany--but somehow, we never acted on those good intentions. Life was just too good in Tuscany.

This time we deliberately planned our trip so that we would see and stay in another region of Italy--more specifically, the Veneto, the area around Venice. Once again relying on AirBnB, we found a tiny but comfortable studio in Verona, a smaller and less touristy town than Venice.

We are 15 minutes outside Verona centro, but it is easy to take a bus to main square, Piazza Bra. The highlight(s) of our visit have been attending the operas performed in Verona's ancient Roman Arena. We have seen four and a concert featuring Placido Domingo. Placido's show was a disappointment (rained out at intermission--which didn't bother us except for getting soaked to the skin waiting for a cab), but we thoroughly enjoyed the "spectaculos," of Turandot, Carmen, Aida, and Un Ballo in Maschera. Because the Arena's stage is so huge, the productions are very elaborate, often with two or three hundred people in gorgeous costumes singing and dancing across the stage, not to mention horses, fireworks...well, a spectacle.

Verona's Arean

The Arena was first built in the 3rd Century and once held as many as 20,000 for games and other performances. Now renovated and updated, it makes for a wonderful, if usually very warm, summer evening. We sit at the very top, sneak in food and drink (which is verboten), read the libretto on our iPhone and grab binoculars when the action on stage gets dramatic and/or particularly stunning.

Piazza Bra

We have gradually gotten to know and enjoy Verona. We like walking through the streets and piazzas. Its center, Piazza Bra, includes the Arena, a small park, some impressive 17th- and 18th-century public buildings, and lots of restaurants, cafes, and gelaterias. Evening passeggiato (walk-about on certain streets, chatting and window shopping--a custom we wish Americans would adopt) is such a nice way to wrap up the day's activities.

Before and after the opera, the square is full of opera-goers--some in full evening dress and others, like us, in typical tourist garb, shorts and a T-shirt. Italians are a beautiful people, and we see many lovely women and handsome men along with gorgeous little children.

When we get tired of walking, touring or shopping, we always reward ourselves with a gelato. Who knew there could be so many gelaterias and that they could all have so many different flavors or that the gelato itself could vary so much? We could probably be here a year and not hit all of the stands and certainly not sample all of the flavors.

Costume for Don Gionvanni

We have had two very rewarding, but different museum experiences. On our first day in the city, we stumbled upon an art exhibition featuring the hometown painter, Paulo Veronese. This was the first time so many of his paintings had been brought together, from museums and collections all over the world. Inclusive, but not overwhelming, it was an enchanting exhibit and a great introduction to Verona and to an artist we really didn't know very well, but will now never forget.

Just this week, our last, we finally got to the Opera Museum, which we thought we would be able to breeze through in half an hour, only to find ourselves fascinated and entertained for nearly three hours by the exhibits about opera and especially its impact on Verona.

The costume and set design exhibits were fantastic as was the use of technology to highlight and display original scores and librettos. In one exhibit we were able to hear three different sopranos singing the aria, "Un Bel Di," from Madam Butterfly, and follow along in the holograph of Puccini's original score, with the computer showing you each of the notes as it was sung. Amazing!

Every Italian city and town has an old church or many old churches, usually filled with painting, sculpture and other art, and Verona is no exception. What we found interesting and to some extent different about Verona's churches were the incredible number of frescoes and murals they contain, how intimate they seem, how well preserved some are and, surprisingly, how little security there seems to be.

San Zeno

Our favorite, perhaps, is the Basilica of San Zeno--Verona's patron saint. This lovely romanesque church, besides being the resting place for the "laughing saint" as he is sometimes called, offers some incredibly beautiful frescoes. Many of them are at eye level allowing you to walk up and view them close at hand. Some have been there since the 13th century.

Weighed down with one's sins

San Zeno may be our favorite, also, as it is very close to our apartment, making it a very easy drive. We are able to join neighborhood families during the cool of the evening and people watch. One of our favorite restaurants, Il Elefante Blu, is in Piazza Pazza (Crazy Square), just a few steps away. A non-Italian restaurant and thus providing a nice break from pasta, it features south Indian and Ceylonese cuisine.

As our time here comes to a close, we have only one regret. Just a couple of days ago we discovered that we could have rented bikes for the entire time we have been here--that would have made the city center even more accessible and our forays easier to manage; perhaps next time!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Istanbul with Erin

We had not seen our daughter, Erin, since last August when she left for her yearlong State Department assignment in Pakistan. It has been a long, grueling and difficult stint for her, and we had missed seeing her, so we were very happy to meet up again in Istanbul, Turkey.

We were last in Turkey in 2000, and many things have changed. Turkey has grown and prospered economically. Istanbul seems a first world city to us, and certainly is a lot more expensive than we remembered. Many more women seem to be covered and dressed quite conservatively, yet many Turks seem to be quite casual about their religion as well. And like so many places we have visited recently, it seems to be overrun with tourists.

The difference in the tourists is quite marked however; there are far more people from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa than you might see in a piazza in Rome or the Prado in Madrid. It was quite interesting also to see the number of Muslim women and their varied costumes, veils, and scarves. We often tried to pick out where they might be from, based on their clothing.

We arrived just as Ramadan began; this annual Muslim celebration involves fasting from dawn to dusk for thirty days. Although some Turks seem to fast and pray, many go about their business as well. Tourists as well are not expected to observe Ramadan fortunately.

One of the most interesting things that we did during our stay in Istanbul was to attend a performance of the "Whirling Dervishes." The Dervishes are members of the Sufi Muslim sect and part of their worship consists of whirling or turning in circles many times a minute to the accompaniment of musicians and singers chanting from the Koran.

It is hard to explain, but mesmerizing to watch. Since it is part of a religious performance, no photographs are permitted and you are asked not to clap after the performance. We left the performance very calm and serene.

Delighting in being with Erin, we seldom managed to visit more than one tourist sight a day. Our second day, though, we took a really great, two and one half hour boat ride along the Bosphorus.

Istanbul is home to perhaps 20 million. It straddles Europe and Asia, stretching 150 kilometers East to West and half that north to south. Many beautiful homes line the Bosphorus, so many that you wonder to yourself, "where do the poor live?"

Our one stop on the cruise was to visit the 600 year old Rumeli Fortress, built by the Sultan
Mehmet in 1452 to aid in the capture of Constantinople for the Ottoman Empire, something he accomplished in a few short months in 1454.

We stayed in the Old City, in the Esans Hotel, just a short walking distance from the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. The Esans is new and quite small with just eight rooms, but we were treated liked honored guests by all of the staff. Every where we went in Istanbul, people were so nice and welcoming.

With so few foreign tourists being able to speak Turkish, many, many of the Turks speak and understand some English. Again and again, we asked how to say hello and thank you, but never seemed to master even those rudimentary phrases. Waiters, tour guides, and shop keepers, on the other hand, always seemed eager to practice their English, and often wanted to know where we were from. Many have friends and family members in the States.

The Blue Mosque, which is nearly 500 years old, is huge; its interior is covered in blue tiles and suffused with blue light streaming through Venetian glass window. Other than that, it is quite austere, but revered by many Muslims.

It is closed to tourists five times each day as it continues to be used for prayer and services. We all had to take off our shoes, and Sue and Erin had to cover their heads with a scarf--provided by the Mosque to all women who show up without them.

The Hagia Sophia dates from the 6th Century and served as a Greek Orthodox cathedral for nearly a thousand years before being converted to a mosque in the 15th century. Today it is a museum.

Like the Blue Mosque, which it faces across the Sultan Ahmed Square, it is huge, but it was much more elaborately decorated and, for us, more interesting. Many of its icons and paintings were plastered over in times past, but some have been uncovered and are now being restored. The ones we were able to see, although not fully restored, are hauntingly beautiful.

There is so much to see and do in Istanbul, and, in truth, we did very little. Mostly we just wanted to relax and enjoy being with Erin, which we did.

Long lunches and dinners in small cafes and roof top restaurants were the norm. We liked especially the mixed hors d'oeuvres plates (always asking for extra stuffed grape leaves) and the lamb and seafood.

Catching up on all that has happened this past year always gave us something to talk about. It has been a difficult year for Erin in Pakistan; the security situation is often difficult and much of the time she can only go between work and home.

Fortunately, we were never hurried and had plenty of time to talk and relax. We especially enjoyed sitting on rooftop terraces, many of them with nice views of the Bosphorus and harbor.

The Turkish people love cats apparently, and everywhere we walked in the old city we seemed to encounter them, which Erin, our cat lover, really liked.

She often took time to pet and visit, while pining away for her own cat, Diego, whom she adopted while she was in Mexico City but had to leave behind in Washington, DC with a friend. Even though the cats seem to roam the city streets at will, most are very tame and well fed and often quite oblivious to us humans.

It was fun walking in the streets and alleys, looking into the shops and even venturing into some. We would probably have gone into more, especially the carpet shops. The carpets are wonderfully beautiful works of art and craftsmanship, and just invite to be touched and admired, but once you entered a shop, you were all too often hounded and pressured, so it was not easy or pleasant to browse as much as we wanted.

But even while the Turkish merchant is trying to make the hard sell, he is always smiling and pleasant and inviting you to come back as you leave.

And go back we may someday: Turkey is a delightful mixture of exotic and familiar, and Istanbul is a cosmopolitan European city, still with a touch of the mysterious Orient.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Tuscany: The photos speak for themselves

Love, Italian Style

View from Poggio looking to Florence

The movies always told us that when you come to Italy you will find love. They were right! We found love…an entire family, as a matter of fact, the Becattinis.

We stumbled upon them last year by renting one of their hillside apartments in Poggio alla Croce. By staying a month we got to know them very well. Last year we were sad to leave them, as we had had a most wonderful month.

Sunset from our apartment, Il Castagno

Poggio is a tiny hamlet perched high atop a mountain with a distant view of Florence. In the daytime you cannot tell Florence is out there somewhere; you just see beautiful rolling hills and mountains, some with typical Italian villas dotting the landscape.

Poggio all Croce

But at night, Florence gleams like a giant diamond. Between the peaks in front of you twinkle a gazillion lights; it is a breathtaking sight.

During the day there is usually a soft breeze blowing and you hear hardly a sound except birds and the occasional rooster crowing. The Becattinis keep their numerous properties (they own the local restaurant, a couple apartment houses and their own homes) in picture perfect condition.

Giancarla & Rina

Giancarla and Rina love plants so there are numerous gardens and pots of all kinds of flowers blooming. Dario loves tomatoes, so his little garden beneath our windows is full of a variety of tomato plants.

The loggia they have constructed to take in the breeze and view has comfortable couches and chairs, a hammock and a couple tables with chairs. An afternoon drink tastes even better sipped in the loggia.

But the place is not the heart of the matter. The family is. The most vivacious member is Danilo, the Chef. His infectious smile, unstoppable energy and zest for every single day fills you with joy just to see him.

His wife, Giancarla, is equally charismatic; a beautiful woman with a sweet, sweet nature—she is a preschool teacher after all— who complements Danilo perfectly. And their handsome and serious son, Lorenzo, who is the spitting image of Danilo, and who also has an amazing winning smile, makes you want to hug him the minute you lay eyes on him.

Il Cuoco, Danilo

The older generation, Giancarla’s parents, Rina and Dario, round out the charm factor. Both full of love and good will, always with bright, happy smiles, twinkling eyes and ready hugs. How could you not fall in love?

Giancarla with Stefania's art

We have taken several of Danilo’s cooking classes, alone and with a number of our visiting friends. Every single person comes away having had a wonderful, fun experience and has learned a lot about making pasta.

Last year and for many years before, the family ran their restaurant full time, but this year they have stopped. Now for friends or guests only will they prepare food or conduct cooking classes.

One of Danilo's creations

The business became too exhausting for everyone—Rina is 83 and was still working hard in the kitchen, as was Giancarla, who also held down a full time job. Lorenzo was the waiter (and he now has a new job with Prada) and Dario the barkeep. Danilo, too, is always very busy keeping up their enormous property. He loved the restaurant but realized it was exhausting the entire family. A good decision was made to cut back.

Rina & Danilo playing dominoes

This year we stayed only one week and were treated to getting to know their good friend, Antonella, who quickly felt like one of the family as well.

We taught Danilo and Rina to play Dominoes and had a good time every day playing together. We went to a lovely exhibition of Giancarla’s best friend’s, Stefania's art show. She has never had a lesson and paints "what is in a woman's soul”.

Becattini Family

One evening we made an “American dinner” for the family and it will be a meal we will long remember. What fun to have them all come to our little apartment and treat them to meat loaf, potatoes, squash and carrots.

Again this year we were sad to leave, but know we will return. Maybe not next year, but soon again. We told them it felt like leaving paradise—Poggio is so beautiful and they are so full of love and fun. How can we stay away?

COOKING AND DINING WITH DANILO

It has been a great joy to introduce our friends to Danilo and all of the Becattinis--many have had the pleasure of learning some basic Italian cooking from Danilo and all of us have delighted in his creations and mastery.