Still in my sweats

We have been here one week and today I really feel like I am living here not just visiting. Why is that? Well, first of all, there’s no frantic rush to get out in the morning to meet a guide and see SIGHTS. Instead, I leave Steve in bed and head off the gym for a not too early morning workout. Hours later, I am still in my sweats. I’ve met Steve for a mid-morning hot chocolate at our local internet café. (Still no hook up at home but that’s another story.) We’ve strolled together to a neighborhood bakery to buy lunch which we eat sitting on a bench enjoying the afternoon sun and watching the parade of people go by. Then we stop into a local salumeria where we pick up a selection of cheeses, meats, olives and other good things to “nibble on” at home, as Steve always says.

I love shopping in these little stores. One waits as the proprietor takes a long time with each customer but when it is your turn you have his or hers sole attention for as long it takes to decide and sample. You discuss your order with the large man behind the counter--he looks like he samples most of his products--but you pay his mother, the tiny old lady with the stern expression who sits at the cash register.

Even I, a non meat eater, are tempted by the pork products here--all shapes and sizes of salami and sausages di nostri produccione (not sure of the spelling but it means home-made by the proprietor), fresh bufalo mozzarella flown i giornali da Napoli, cariciofi grillate, etc., etc., etc. And, of course, wonderful crusty bread. Today we tried pizza croccante which is exactly how it sounds—a sheet of very thin bread baked brown and crackling with olive oil.

And now, I am sitting alone in our living room, watching the light fade from the sky. It will soon be time to shut the shutters, signaling the end of the day. I have a glass of red wine in front of me. Steve will soon be home. (He is out getting a shiatsu massage. Let’s hope he likes it better than yesterday’s Russian rubdown!) And we will decide how and where to spend our evening together. Va molto bene.