We are headed to Sarzana today to stay with one of Lane's friends from work who is doing a 3-year work stint in Italy. He and his family have graciously invited us to visit while we're in town and they are located quite close to the Cinque Terre hiking trails, which is on our list. Before we leave Florence, we visit the Medici crypts, which everybody thought was kind of underwhelming. They have two adorable little boys (Lane's friend and his wife, not the Medicis) who are almost 3 and almost 5. They are kind of shy around us, but at dinner the younger one says, referring to Finn "I want to sit next to my new fren'." Delicious meal and just so nice to be in a lovely home, talking to people who know Seattle, and can answer our questions about Italy. Luca was born in Italy and grew up here, then moved to the US with his family as a teenager; Joy is American and the kids are bilingual--great ages to be in Italy and really get that language deep down in their bones! I'm jealous. Their yard is large and beautiful, with a slew of olive trees they will harvest in the fall and press their own olive oil, as well as a plum tree with ripe plums on it and a couple of fig trees. We are very comfy here.
Unfortunately, there is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow, so Cinque Terre doesn't seem like the best plan. The trails are prone to washouts and avalanches, so we don't want to be out there in the rain. We give Finn two options for a Plan B: Pisa or Genoa. When he hears Genoa has the largest aquarium in Italy, the decision is made.
Some interesting things Joy told me about Italy and Italians:
- They don't like hand-me-down toys or clothes for their kids (which is frustrating when you have two growing boys)
- When they move out of a house, they take their kitchen with them. Yes, really. When they moved into their house, it was just a room with hookups for water and electricity--they took the stove, fridge, cabinets, etc.
- Nobody has a clothes dryer because most of the houses are so old they don't have the proper venting. That's why everybody--everybody--has clothes hanging out on the line. She also said you get kind of obsessed about laundry because you are always checking the weather to see if it's a good day to do laundry or not
- Italians are NOT concerned about many of the things that Americans are, including: wearing helmets when riding a bike or motorcycle; making sure small children get to bed early and get enough sleep (we heard and saw young children up past eleven on a regular basis); avoiding excessive sugar for kids (breakfast is often cookies and milk; if kids ask for gelato three times a day most don't think it's a big deal to let them have it)
- Suncreen, seatbelts, etc. are considered to be gentle suggestions, often ignored
- Letting families know about school holidays (of which there are apparently many) is done on an ad hoc basis--not sure how families with two working parents, or a single parent, make that work
- While we haven't encountered a lot of shop closures in our touristy-city itinerary, apparently in smaller towns like Sarzana, everything really does shut down between 1:30 and 4:00 for "lunch." (Luca said that's not true for office jobs, just for shops) Still, you can't run errands in the afternoon...
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