"Here We Go Again!"
Ciao, everybody!
Here I am, once again in Reggio Emilia, and back to the Friday emails you�ve all come to know and love (or maybe dread? I�m never quite sure, somehow�LOL!). Anyway, here is the day-by-day recounting of my return, so far, but be warned � this is a looooooooong one, mostly because of the first couple of days:
venerd� (Friday), 14th maggio (May):
I sat in Tyson-McGee airport for nearly an hour, before I saw that they had changed the sign to note that the flight had been delayed and wouldn�t leave until 3.00 instead of the scheduled 2.10 departure. This was, of course, a disappointment, since it meant that I would have to hurry more than I�d anticipated to make my connecting flight in Newark. Oh, well� We got on the plane around 2.40, and we were told that we�d have to sit and wait on the tarmac for about 20 minutes. The twenty became nearly 40 before we took off and I watched the Smokies recede behind me into the mists of a surprisingly cloudy sky.
Arrival in Newark was nothing unusual. We flew over much of suburban New Jersey, I saw a lot of old, familiar landmarks and started to get edgy to land and make my dash to my gate. I had no idea where we�d end up, and I was afraid that I would be at the farthest possible gate from the flight to Milan. My worries were only half-founded, it seems. I dashed from one set of gates to the next, but it wasn�t too far. Best part was that as soon as I sat down in the waiting area, it was time to board! J Well, since I was in the very last seat in the back of the plane (but a window seat!), I was one of the first to board. I settled in, got comfy, greeted my seatmate (a girl from Seattle named Tina) and then we were all duly informed that we would be delayed in our takeoff because of the congestion of flights out.
�sigh�
An hour and twenty minutes later, we were airborne � at last! The entertainment was okay (a few tv shows and a few mildly entertaining movies); I wound up watching three episodes of CSI (the ones with David Caruso), the movie Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, which was cute, and a few reruns of prime-time comedies like Friends, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, and a show called Like Family. I slept a little after eating the meal they provided (sliced beef in gravy, potatoes, green beans and carrots � which I ate!), then woke up around one a.m. EST to watch the sun rise on the horizon as we approached Ireland.
sabato (Saturday), 15th maggio (May)
I�ve never gotten to see the sky like this, even though when I came to Italy last year, my flight to London was on roughly the same time-frame. I slept a bit more at this time of morning, then, so I didn�t get to see the horizon glowing pale blue around the airplane wing, then getting brighter and brighter blue until it faded into the yellows and oranges of morning daylight. When we were over England and the channel, the sky got brighter still, until I could start making out the villages and towns below us when we reached France. By the time we reached the foothills of the Alps, I could see the mists burning off the mountains, so they seemed to be rising out of the fog and glowing silvery grey below. It was Tina�s first visit to Europe (she and a few others on the plane were going to an Italian-Language school in Florence), so she was watching out the window with me until we were served breakfast (croissant, jam and butter, fruit salad and orange juice). Even then, we were still watching out the window together, or viewing the GPS system to see how much longer we had to wait.
At last we landed in Milan, after flying over a landscape that seemed to go from grey, wet and miserable to the most amazing greens and blues, old cities mixing with modern highways and traffic. I got in line at passport control, waited, and eventually got stamped through and went to the luggage belt to collect my bags. Unfortunately, I found that the carts here weren�t provided for free, unlike at Bologna airport. Urk� Instead, I pulled the handles out on my luggage (thanks, Byllie! They sure came in handy!) and managed to stack bags and then steer them out through the exit where Alle was waiting. My, but he was indeed a sight for sore eyes, let me tell you� He hated it, but I thought he looked adorable with his long(ish) hair, in his blue shirt and jeans. Once I�d got around the gate there, he greeted me, we hugged, we kissed, and we began walking through the airport in search of the exit for his parking area while I recounted highlights from my trip.
We headed out from the airport and I tried not to doze in the warmth of the car after it had been parked in the sun for a while. Alle told me about his adventures getting there that morning, how he�d worried about being late (if only I could have told him not to worry!) and raced to get to Milan on time, and I laughed at the image of him adjusting his seat so he wouldn�t be right on top of the accelerator of his car anymore. Eventually, however, it began to dawn on me that we didn�t seem to be heading southeast at all, but instead, we seemed to heading toward the mountains.
Finally, Alle told me about his surprise � the thing he�d so vaguely hinted at on the phone a few days before. We weren�t going home, after all. Instead, we were going to Lago Maggiore, for a night. How wonderful! A night away, just the two of us, before we went to settle in at home in Reggio. I couldn�t believe my luck. We kept driving, higher and higher, until at last, he pointed out the lake off to one side. "That�s Lago Maggiore," he said, and I tried not to "ooh" or "ahh" too loudly. It was just beautiful! Blue skies, blue water, green mountains rising up to become steadily more rugged until they shone in snow-encrusted peaks in the clouds. Incredible.
We pulled off the motorway and descended toward the lake, drove through a lovely little town (which turned out to be Baveno), and made our way to the Hotel Romagna, on the lake. As it was only 10.30, our room wasn�t quite ready yet, but the proprietress assured us that we�d be able to go in shortly. In the meantime, she invited us to sit in the garden out back, so we did. Just a few plastic chairs and old tables, but they were on the water in a patch of green lawn next to the dining area; we had a most delightful view of the islands in the lake and the Alps beyond, while we sat in the sun and enjoyed the cool breezes off the water. While waiting, Alle rubbed my shoulders and neck, relaxing me until I thought I might fall asleep right then and there. Soon he sat with me and we held hands and got reacquainted, both of us just glad to be together again, at last.
Finally the proprietress called down that our room was ready, and we went up and checked in. Our room was nearly at the end of the corridor, number 20, and we put our things away before opening our shutters onto our own private balcony and a gorgeous view of the lake and Isola Superiore (aka Isola Pescatore � "Fisherman�s Island"). It was simply beautiful � the blue skies and blue water, against the backdrops of the mountains and the islands, and seagulls and other birds flying to and fro over the water in our view. We stared, dumbfounded and delighted with our luck, out at the scene before us. To the left, international flags in all their bright colours, with Baveno and the Alpine peaks beyond. To the right, Isola Bella and then in the distance, the town of Stresa. Directly ahead were Isola Superiore and Isola Madre and then, farther along on the opposite shore, the town of Pallanza. We settled in shortly thereafter, our gazes returning repeatedly to the scene outside our window.
After a nap and a quick, cool shower (this place provided all the amenities I�m used to, btw�no surprises! LOL!), I put on one of my Summery dresses and sandals, and Alle and I drove into the town to park the car before we went for a stroll along the lakeside and a quick snack in a cafe. In the cafe we had a light, sweet cake with a hint of amaretto, strawberry and kiwi slices and heavy-cream icing and some mineral water, then we set out again to continue our stroll and take a few photos of the lake. I don�t know how long we walked, but it was long enough for the sun to drop a bit and for the air to get wonderfully cool and inviting. Eventually we headed back to the hotel after deciding we ought to visit the islands on Sunday. We changed clothes before dinner, which was another delightful meal, consisting of a vegetable soup, bread, spaghetti carbonara (that�s spaghetti with a sauce made from egg, cream, and bacon or ham), more mineral water, and for dessert, a cake made like my favorite � zuppa inglese! Our server was great, he had such a wonderful sense of humour and was so understanding of the fact that I can�t eat the huge portions they normally serve. LOL!
cont'd