Project Runaway

There are 71 steps to our apartment.

We went up 230 steps to get to the top of the Torre Guinigi

And to celebrate Canada Day, we did 850 steps up and down in the Grotto di Vento (Wind Caves). If the world is Luc’s classroom then this was science class. Subject:Speleology

The caves are in the Apuan Alps north of Lucca. The caves contain many stalactites and stalagmites that have been forming for thousands of years. The temperature stays a constant 10.7 degrees Celsius all year long. It was discovered because the locals wanted to figure out why the wind was coming out of a hole in the mountain. There is only 1 way in and out currently and 4 km of tunnels have been explored, and there still remain at least 30 unexplored branches.

It was interesting and was guided by a Scottish guide who was very informative. A few times I could hear Luc or Dwayne mutter ‘Very sketchy…’ on especially wet and slippery stairs. I was too busy hanging on to the guardrail.

Deep near the bottom of the abyss there was a ‘room’ off to the side with a table and chairs. Apparently in the 1990’s they did a study with asthmatic children, called Speleotherapy. They had the kids sit each day with toys and videos increasing the hours each day that they were below. After 25 months of rotations, most of the children were permanently cured of asthma. This was due to the fact that the air in there is absolutely pure because, if I was a good student and remember this correctly, the 100% humidity grabs all the dust and pollen or something like that. All the guides that work there never suffer from sinus or respiratory problems.

Catch is they all now look like Gollum.

After all the climbing and educating we decided to eat dinner at a restaurant in a little town called Gallicano. The restaurant was called Eliseo and the food was all made from scratch and was again fantastic. We met a lovely couple from Scotland who had retired there and they were full of great info and recommendations. They were across the restaurant and the wife would talk across to us, so the whole restaurant had no choice but listen, as she told us not to be shy and go to the Turkish Bath when we are in Istanbul. ‘There by the grace of God go I..’ she commented as she detailed all the types of shapes and sizes you see in the baths.

It was a great day to celebrate being a Canadian, even abroad. Age of Canada:142 years

Number of friendly Scottish folk we met today: 3

Grotto di Vento

Going down into the Cave

Yesterday the boys and I went canyoning. Today I am hungover, bruised, and can’t turn my head. But let me explain how I got there….

You know the saying ‘The devil makes work for idle hands’. This is especially true of some, if not most, teenagers. As Luc has ADHD this places him at the top of the ‘most likely’ list. Now to cut him slack, I will admit that no teenager gets that excited about going to museums or in every church in Italy. Even Dwayne has put his foot down and said he is not likely to be dragged into anymore either. (Even though they both loved the Duomo in Milano, snicker, snicker, cleverly coerced I must say)

As most of you know or have ascertained by now, Dwayne has a hobby. Ladies, it is CRUCIAL that men have a hobby. Please refer to ‘The Secret Lives of Litterbugs’, and you will understand. But, I digress. When he is not being dragged to something by me, he is off on his bike. This fills his days and nights with planning routes and playing with his bike. This leaves Luc and I to figure out how to fill our days in this quiet town.

I decided to go online and see what sort of adventure tours were offered in the area. Lucca is just below the Garfagnana region which falls between the Apuan Alps and the Apennines. In this region you can trek, ski, bike, fish, and yes, do canyoning.

Canyoning is the sport of travelling down beautiful river canyons and waterfalls using a variety of techniques including walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, and rappelling. It sounded challenging. I was intrigued, so I ran it past the boys. They both definitely wanted to try it.

When the day arrived, we waited at the Piazza Verdi for our guides to pick us. A black Range Rover comes flying up to us with who we think at first is David Lee Roth (when he had the long hair). This is Carlo. He jumps out wearing a t-shirt and jeans so ripped up and worn that I am not sure they qualified as pants. He speaks little English, but his partner, speaks fairly OK English, so we figured that we should be good. I must mention that none of us can remember his partner’s name. It was beautiful and complicated and we all forgot it immediately so that if we wanted his attention we had to wait until he was looking at us. For this blog, let’s just call him ‘Alex’.

The drive up to the Garfagnana is fantastic and reminds us a bit of northern Vanouver Island. After climbing up and up into the hills, we stop at an ancient ruin of a villa to change into our wetsuits. This was a funny affair. Imagine 3 grown men trying to shove a skinny 15 year old into a wetsuit by the side of the road, pulling and tugging and bouncing him up and down, like getting a gangly pillow into a too small pillow case.

Then we got back into another vehicle and again drove up and up and up. At the very top we go through a tiny village clinging to the side of the mountain. The men of the town are sitting in the small main square looking solemnly at the crazy people driving past. Then after a bit more of, you guessed it, up and up, we stop by an ancient cemetary and get out. As we are fitted up with our climbing gear a car pulls up and a man and his ancient mother get out to visit the cemetary. She looks at us and says something in rapid Italian. No one needed to translate for us. She thought we were nuts. She even had a few’ Mama mias’ thrown in there. I hoped she wasn’t right.

We then trekked into the trail and the start of our descent. As I indicated earlier, we then jumped, slid, scrambled, swam, and rappelled our way down 22 falls. The bigger and more dangerous the fall, then you had to rappel down it. There were times when I seriously didn’t think I could do the next insane task they asked of me, mainly because I would get frozen over a height issue, but I did. And I loved it. it was hard, it was physical, but it was not out of the realm of possibility for most people with a bit of a fitness level.

Luc was in his element. He was a natural, rappelling down gracefully most times and impressing his parents, who were not so graceful, and the guides. You have to remember that Carlo spoke really no English and he was the main lead so he was teaching us to rappel in Italian. Dwayne had taught them the B.C. Salmon handshake, taught to him by our friend Dennis Chopko. They loved it and did it all day long, laughing long and hard each time, and exclaiming ‘Salome, Salome!’

After 3 hours in the most beautiful canyons and ravines, we then reached the bottom. The feeling of accomplishment was great and we were now hungry enough to eat a cinghiale (wild boar).

The excursion included a Tuscan lunch which we assumed we would eat at the ruins as we could see it in the back of the vehicle. But instead Carlo suggested that we go back to his place and have a swim and a shower, relax and eat. OK by us!

He then drove to a hilltop town called Ghivizzano, where he took us to his own home. His house is on a beautiful piece of land overlooking the valley and the hills on the other side. The views were stunning, and here is where I apologise as we did not bring a camera, thinking water and cliffs not conducive to cameras. He has a pool and lovely gardens and many fruit trees, and he is apparently a celibe, or bachelor, and owns this B&B.

He then disappeared into the kitchen were he and ‘Alex’ came out with plate after plate of food. Rings of 3 0r 4 types of local Salame, olives, fresh tomatoes, 3 kinds of hard cheese, bread, marinated artichokes, onions, zucchini, and eggplant, Cacciucco alla Livornese (a traditional fish stew), sauteed breaded eggplant stuffed with cheese and pancetta and topped with a piece of sage, a minced onion salad with a heap of anchovies in the center, sliced cantaloupe, and to wash it all down, white wine and red wine, blood orange juice, and Coca Cola. Then after we thought we had no room for more, he brought out a type of dessert bread with glasses of Il Santo, a dessert wine. Next came his homemade 80% proof Grappa, and his delicious homemade Limoncello. As we ate and ate, and drank and drank, the conversation flowed and we laughed and managed to get past all the language barriers, sometimes with the help of the dictionary. Carlo is well travelled and has had a diverse career and ‘Alex’ is a home town boy who is sweet and trains a very successful swim team of kids.

Their hospitality was of a kind we had never seen. To me it seemed like the essence of Italy, and I truly felt like I was a part of it not a tourist. It was a truly memorable day. So that leads me to being hungover, bruised, and unable to turn my head, but…also very happy with our day in the Garfagnana.

Part of the plan, the very loose plan, was to base in Lucca and then explore from here. ‘Mishing it’ as Luc would say.
It was decided we would check out Milano and do a day trip up to Lake Como.

So Monday we headed out by train to the great industrial north as it is always referred to. Now, I didn’t really know what to expect
from Milano. Most of the locals we asked did not seem to like Milano. ‘It could be any European city’, I was told. ‘They are always in a hurry and it is all about business’ was another comment. Hmmm. But we decided to check it out for ourselves anyways.

After a 4 hr train ride we arrived and checked into our teeny tiny room. Then off we trekked to find the Duomo and the shopping district.
This allowed us to get a feel for Milano and to do a lot of window shopping at the same time.

Now, I had an image in my head that this city would be all skyscrapers and hordes of suits, ties, and cellphones. It is nothing like that. The buildings are a mix of old and new. The old being of various centuries and the new, in some instances, meaning around early 1900s.

We saw traffic flowing in a steady and organized fashion. Everyone stayed in a lane. You rarely, if at all, heard any honking. The streets were not packed with hordes of suits. There were business people, but there were plenty of average ‘joes’ also. I also found that there was a greater ethnic population. Our hotel was in an area where I saw many Africans, Koreans, Chinese, and Turkish people.

Then we reached the Duomo di Milano, and to say that we were impressed is an understatement.

“What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful!” –Mark Twain

The Duomo is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the 4th largest church in the world after Rome, London, and Seville.
You can climb to the roof and stroll around which is, in my opinion, an absolute must do. Even if you are afraid of heights, this would be a great time to get over it. You can see all of Milano and of the mountains just off in the distance.

Just next to the Duomo is the neoclassical shopping mall called the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Inside this beautiful building you can blow your budget on Prada or Louis Vuitton. Or you can sit at the McDonalds in between them and have a cappuccino. Because the McD’s does serve them. This is where the boys cracked and each had a hamburger. I sat next to them holding firm to the ‘no hamburger’ pact I had made with myself.

After more touring around and doing some shopping in stores that actually were a bargain, we headed back to our teeny hotel room again to try and get some sleep. Try being the operative word as sometime in the middle of the night, dozens of men shouting and sqawking at each other in many languages started to set up an open air market in the parking lot in front of the hotel. Sleep is overrated anyways.

We next dragged ourselves, literally, to the train to head to Lake Como for the day. There are two ways to do this. You can take the train to Como and then a long boatride up the lake to Varenna, Bellagio, and Mellagio or you can take the train to Varenna and then ferry over to the other two towns. We opted to head straight to Varenna.
This tiny town was very beautiful and pretty much untouched by touristy shops etc. The whole area between the 3 towns is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Here we had some of the best pizza yet at the Ristorante Sole. Luc has had a couple of pizzas now where they put gorgonzola cheese on it. Delicious!
Bellagio was the most touristy and had lots of shops etc. Again a very pretty town, but definitely different from Varenna. A lot of the shops had these tacky tchatchkes in them that looked German or Swiss in nature. Mostly children in their lederhosen and dirndl about to come on down the mountain with Heidi. Since Bellagio seemed like a place for the very rich I wonder who bought these types of tchatchkes? I am thinking George Clooney has not decorated his villa with these.

After a bit more shopping back in Milano the next morning, hey it is Milano, we had lunch on the terrace of the Rinascente store beside the Duomo. The restaurant was called Obika‚Äô. It is this fabulous mozzarella bar restaurant. You order the kind of handmade buffalo mozzarella you want, then you pair it with types of fresh salads and fine Italian meats like salame or Prosciutto from Tuscany. It was a great lunch and being on the roof next to the Duomo was amazing, sitting there with the stylish Milanese. There was even a Dominican monk who looked a lot like Burl Ives, sitting in his long brown robes and ‘mandals’, as Luc calls them, enjoying his mozzarella and salad.
When I got the the ‘conto’ I could not help but think that monks must make more money than I thought.

Allora…tired, but happy that we did it, we then headed ‘home’, glad that we got to decide for ourselves that we do in fact like Milano, even if it is just another European city.

In my previous life, the life where I went to a place called ‘work’ everyday and sat at a ‘desk’ and provided a ’service’, my office mates and I often talked about what books we were reading or recommended.

In tribute to my mates, here are 4 recent recommendations.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This is a true story of Greg Mortenson who has been building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan for over a decade. This is not a book to read and forget afterwards on a dusty shelf, it will leave you with a powerful message.

How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. Now I had no great hopes for this book that I found in an Italian bookstore shoved into a tiny section that was labelled ‘Read English for the Summer!’ It is a ‘Bantam discovery for only $5.99!’. But….I really liked this book. The title is really self explanatory about the book and the young widower, Doug, is the main character.The one strange thing about reading this book was that I felt like it was written by my brother-in-law Dirk. Dirk is a very good writer, in my humble opinion. This book was written in what I would say is Dirk’s style and the main character seemed to channel Dirk and react in ways to situations I thought, well Dirk would. So for a glimpse into how I perceive my favorite brother-in-law, I recommend this book.

Summer’s Lease by John Mortimer. This is the first of 2 books given to Dwayne by his friend Terry. It is the story of a British family that goes to Tuscany for the summer. The characters are sharp and funny and the story a good twist on what may be or may not be a murder mystery.

the secret lives of Litterbugs and other (true) stories by m.a.c. farrant. I had actually started reading this book before I put two and two together and realised that this book was written by Terry’s wife. As Terry follows this blog and is married to what is obviously an accomplished writer, I then must confess I had a brief wave of performance anxiety. But I got over it.

The book indicates that this is a ‘collection of personal essays’. But what the author does is really let you have an honest glimpse into her life. I always find that so brave as it is like the author strips naked in front of you and says ‘This is it gang, take it or leave it.’ I found this book hilarious and in many ways a bizarreparallel universe to my life. The chapter on ‘Skidney’ made me laugh out loud while at the same time making me want to weep. I loved this book.

So pick up one of these books as your laze-away-the-summer-and-avoid-yard-work reading, I promise you will not be disappointed.

I will now bring you back to our regular programming. I hope you enjoyed this intermission.

The other day we went for a walk outside the wall. The object of this walk was to see if we could find a bike shop. Obviously this was organized by Dwayne as part of his ongoing quest to find a bike shop suitable to put his new bike together.

As we roamed around Italian neighbourhoods, I decided to ignore the fact that the leader of this excursion had no idea where he was going and just enjoy the scenery. And there, smack dab in the middle of a quiet street, was a beautiful intact Roman aqueduct. We decided to follow it up a bit and at the end was an intact large Roman cistern.

Do young Italians today appreciate their history or is it just another spot to put graffiti on? I wondered if half of them even knew what this was running behind all their houses, and if they had a concept about the significance the Romans and Italians had on humanity with their inventions.

Over the last couple of weeks I had asked, ‘Where did all the smart people go?’ By this I meant that ancient Rome and Italy during the Renaissance was time of great thought and invention and I wondered where the Galileo Galileis and Leonardo Da Vincis are today? Some of the things that were invented in Italy are such sheer genius it boggles my mind.

I could see firsthand that the Romans invented advanced roads, aqueducts, sewer systems, fast curing cement, and stone arches. They also invented the calendar, indoor plumbing, public toilettes, and yes even socks.

Here are some other Italian inventions: the mercury barometer, the battery, the piano, the thermometer. In addition, in 1564 the condom was invented in Italy. Ironic considering this is such a Catholic country. And for those drinkers at home, which would be all of you, in 1786, Vermouth was invented here. Was it shaken or stirred?

After sitting with Luc as he showed me the features of his iPod, I think I know where some of the smart people went. They went to work for Apple.

Roman Aqueduct

After Rome, Lucca definitely has a slower pace. We took the train from Rome to Florence and then another from Florence to Lucca.

Lucca is a walled medieval town that has maintained its character through the centuries. The wall completely circles the historic core of Lucca. It is very wide on the top and has a path that you can bike or walk. Napoleon took such a liking to this town he gave it to his sister. It was her idea to plant trees along the top and turn it into a park.

Our apartment is in the historic core in a quiet piazza called San Matteo. We are number 8. We are, I guess you could say, in the ‘penthouse’ of the building. The apt is as least 1500 sq ft. It has a private rooftop terrace and the views are stunning.

My favorite thing about the apt are in fact the windows themselves. Solid wood with built in shutters and beautiful hardware. They are works of art.The inner windows of the apartment is where you can really see and here Lucchese life. Women hanging laundry, children playing or crying or being scolded, dogs barking, cats meowing, people shouting at each other in Italian. It seems that Italians only talk at one decibel and that they are perhaps vying for it. Whomever talks loudest is the winner?

From the dining room you can see the towers and churches of Lucca. Some of the towers have gardens and trees on growing on them. The San Michele church faces us and the archangel Michael watches us eat our meals. Apparently he can flap his wings, which church guys would do to ‘wow their gullible flock’.

There is still lots to explore in Lucca, we have not done all the touristy things. We are taking it slow, feeling our way along, learning to adjust to this new world and how we are going to fit into it.

In the meantime, I look out my windows and try to comvince myself that I am really here and not on the set of a Roberto Benigni movie. But if we are, perhaps there is a bit part out there for us to play?

Dining Room Window

Inner view from Master bedroom

archangel Michael keeping an eye on us

I am in the process of setting up a link to our Flickr account to show many more pictures of our travels!

Some of my people have disappeared. They always find their way home though, so I am not worried, but they sure seemed worked up about something.

The girl and I are staying with the treat lady, the belly scratcher guy, the old dog, and that uppity cat. I thought the cat might be a deal breaker, but he has stopped making such a fuss about me being around, so I think I will stay.

The treat lady and the belly scratcher think they are in charge, so training them may take awhile. I am trying to get the guy on a regular walk schedule so I can teach him about the beach and chasing balls. He’s a little slow, but is catching on, so things should go fine here until my other people get back.

~ Cash

We bloody well pulled it off! We are in fabulous crazy Rome!

We love British Airways! The travelling went very well. Very smooth and the connection at Heathrow was perfect. British Airways spoils you, even in Economy. Free booze, tons of food, wonderful and funny attendants, it was just excellent.

And the drugs! Just excellent also! I was VERY mellow and VERY unconcerned with flying I tell you. For the 2nd flight, I passed out before takeoff even! hee hee
Why the frick did I wait so long to take them?

We got in last night and went out for dinner and strolled around a bit. The town was hopping as the Barcelona vs Manchester football final was last night. Barcelona won and there was some rowdiness on the streets.

We went to a trattoria run by a little Nonna, where there is no menu. It is a set menu daily and you just get what you get. So we started with a plate of cold meats, tomato salad, cooked lentils (which were awesome), and 2 more other things I have no idea how to describe.

Then came the pasta course. The Nonna took a liking to Dwayne and seemed to figure out we were Canadian in seconds. She brought out a HUGE glass mixing bowl as Dwayne’s pasta bowl.

The whole restaurant was cracking up. Then came a veal dish, spinach dish, potato dish, etc, then came dessert with some kinda fruit juice in a shot glass.
It was a wonderful meal and the restaurant was a wonderful find.

Today we strolled around and tried our GPS. Luc was blown away by the Pantheon so far. Later today we are going to stroll to the Colosseum. The boys are on siesta right now as I catch up on email.

Some observations:

Everyone smokes, which is tough when we had informed our son that he was quitting as soon as he boarded the plane. On the upside for him, as there is so much smoking we all feel like we have smoked a pack just from the second hand smoke.

I have seen teens with their pants hanging low! eek it has followed here!

Italian men may be the most beautiful men in the world. Seriously.

It has been a madcap week of moving. With an insane deadline of a one week closing, we definitely had our work cut out for us. On top of moving out of our home, my office moved to a new hospital, and my mother moved to the other half of her duplex. All in one week. Quite frankly, moving is not easy. Moving is a lot of work. Moving sucks really.

But…as we closed the doors on our 10×20 storage unit, my son looked at me and commented that our entire life was contained within it. This made me reflect on the fact that in order to fit our life in a 10×20 container we had to sort through all that we owned and make some hard and some not so hard decisions on what we needed and what we didn’t. Humans are hung up on stuff. We seem to want to acquire stuff so that we can sit on our big piles of stuff and feel…what? Satisfied? Fulfilled?

Selling, donating, recycling, and purging our excess stuff has been the one act that was actually the most rewarding. It seemed like everytime I cleared something out of that garage that we were one step closer to our trip.

So, all this reflecting made me think that at least once or twice in a lifetime a person should move and use the opportunity to purge and ensure a smaller footprint on our planet. Even if it is only to the duplex next door.