The first time I came to Italy I was a prim Aussie uni student on a Eurailpass who fed her eyes on shoes (more later on that) and museums and architecture. Coming from a country with a dodgy colonial history of convicts and oppression - a history more whispered by the land than announced by architecture, I gazed over facades and domes and marble and fountains and sculpted gardens, giddy with delight.
But I remember finding Italy overwhelming. The ornamentation, the fancy dressing, the flirty guys on vespas. I suppose you could say my first reactions were like those of my character Marilyn, who was shocked by the constant 'checking out' by both men and women sweeping along beside her. Now I'm pretty bad at it myself. In fact, in the bar the other day when I treated myself to some non-driving time, I told GG to get out of the way so I could check out the midday dude swarms in the piazza. There are aeons of them swanning around the piazzas in Armani and sunlamp tans, RayBans hooked around their faces. Oh dear, I am lapsing! I have accepted that vanity is a national trait. Is this the trade-off for the pitch-perfect wine in a divine setting?
I make no excuses for grounding my patchy love of Italy firmly upon my passion for well-crafted shoes. No excuses. It would kill me to leave what I love with such searing ardour. I would have to wed a shoemaker, have him trained by Gucci, supervise leather acquisition and the dosage of dyes. Nah! I'll just wait for sales time again. I do wish I could pretend to be less shallow.
Ones of the marketing straplines for my book has been about the 'transition by espresso' that Marilyn undergoes. I didn't grow up on coffee and was strictly anti-coffee while a young adult. Then I went to Ethiopia. Discovered buna. Oh Lord! Went through the whole coffee bean selection/roast with frankincense/boiling and filtering - until that wonderful moment when taste and aroma joined forces at your lips. I fell hard for coffee. In Italy too, the right beans send me into ecstasy, making me crave the smoky slow Ethiopian ritual, but hell it can be good! (I also blame an older local relative for introducing me to the local poison caffè corretto - a blast of coffee injected with a shot of grappa. Poor Marilyn is introduced to this by a cheeky Australian friend, let no names be mentioned.)
Apart from the orgasmic dimensions of architectural and foodie and musical delights, Italy is also stunningly diverse in its natural features. I confess I'm more into roaring fires and funny beanies than string bikinis on the beach. My favourite winter hide-out starts here.
Fifty Shades of the Purest White.
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P.S. I'd be very grateful if any of you who enjoy the blog would like to jot down a comment on the expatsblog.com site, where I'm in the running for an award this December. Mille grazie!
I really hope the 50 glorious shades of Italy outshine the 50 shades of inglorious Italy! After all I like having friends dotted around Italy that I can say hello too when the frustrations of restoring a ruin become too much :)
ReplyDeleteCiao
Ingrid
Yes dearie you can always count on me for the wine banter and shoe shopping (much more extensive trek promised next time!) I'll be here waving my broom at the hunters... Xcat
DeleteI'll hold you to it :) x
DeleteGreat post - all VERY good reasons to stay put - and if you don't - who is going to give me a lift with her passion and wit? Fx
ReplyDeleteHow sweet you are! And thanks for popping over to expatsblog. Grazie !!
DeleteBelieve me your images are very much an uplift for me some days. I can still see that Kirribilli shot before my eyes. Xcat
Very plausible reasons for me! This made laugh - checking out the 'wildlife'.
ReplyDeleteBack in the days when I was going to Italy on business trips, I would come back with a suitcase full of shoes. My husband couldn't understand what a bargain it was, really, compared to shoe prices (and quality and variety) elsewhere.
Oh, and the food...
The first time I came back from Europe I brought home six pairs.. I was hooked. Still am.
DeleteThe vegetables are really great here. And the best food is often the most simple, vero?
Great post, Catherine... and as a long-term expat in Italy, couldn't agree more with all your reasons. Although the once over you get constantly from both men and women still unnerves me some days. : )
ReplyDeleteI hear you. Just recently I was in a northern town with a tall half-German girlfriend. We couldn't believe the stares that followed my red hair and clunky heels. It really was quite weird.
DeleteI had a lot of fun with this topic in the novel, as Marilyn gets checked out all over Milan.
Between the coffee and those shoes, I mean what more do you want? Other than a man on a Vespa, that is. La Dolce Vita indeed.
ReplyDeleteEvery so often I see a guy on a Vespa who could/should carry me away. If only!!
DeleteSounds good to me! The 'out-there' sexuality; the grappa-laced espresso; the sublime shoes (and other accessories - the bags are fab); the architecture. Yes. Oh Yes. Definitely sounds good to me!! You lucky woman! Yx
ReplyDeleteYes sometimes it is truly a modern baroque dream! Other days the hunters drive me nuts, or cloying Italian mothers and spoilt 40-going-on-26 men with neck chokers... Plus not many people understand porridge. It's just a matter of positive navigation. Do pop over for some caffè corretto one day! Xcat
DeleteIt is not always easy living La Dolce Vita :)
ReplyDeleteYes, those of us with insider knowledge are familiar with the dodgy points. But on the whole - remembering your beautiful garden shots! - there are many things to savour, no?
DeleteYou, my dear, are living the good life. This post has my dreams written all over it. Enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteMany things involve ingredients of what the 'good life' should bear, I agree. Apart from the shoes (my great weakness) sometimes the architecture sets me reeling. Who were these people who devised such beauty - just for living in? I'm sure you've seen the cobbled courtyards, the fountains and gardens... gorgeous. Just don't let us talk politics!
DeleteBeautiful post and I agree with everything. I miss Italy sooo much!
ReplyDeleteI think if I left I would truly suffer! Complain as I do (sometimes) there are many just-short-of-divine moments. But you convey so much of this spirit in your lovely blog! All the good things - family warmth, good food, veggies in season, collaboration. I'm sure you'll be back soon!
DeleteAS a cyclist Caffeine is a necessary addiction, making my own coffee ritual (own coffee,black, stronger than a steroid enhanced power lifter) a part of my daily routine, as to cycling & an another of your posts concerning exercise, how does this work when Italians & cycling go hand in hand. Please don't tell me this isn't so as it would destroy the illusion of this Italiophile
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