As per usual Carlo and I start something then get distracted and neglect it....sorry for the extreme lateness of our blogs, we have just been super busy! So we are sitting on the breakwater in Vernazza watching the sunset, inhaling a pesto pizza, drink beer and writing this.
Our last blog ended in us reaching Pescara where we stayed for 1 week before leaving for London. We had a really relaxed week in Pescara and got to know the area. We spent a lot of time on the beach working on getting a little less white. The family seemed to stress out about what beach and whose season reserved umbrella we should use. We were a little confused at the fuss, but one morning when we decided to go to the beach across from the apartment we got ripped off by this guy. 10 euro for a few hours under an umbrella seemed a bit much!
We also ate a lot, with Zia Norina having us over a few times for dinner and lunch where 4 courses are the norm. Maybe an antipasti to start with, my favourite being Melone con Proscuito followed by a large plate of pasta for primi. Me being a pasta fiend got caught out a few times accepting seconds without realising there was another course! Secondi has been things like involtini or cotoletti followed by fruit then the mandatory gelati and often small dolce with an espresso. On Zia Norina days we eat maybe one meal the whole day and I often pass out when we get back to the apartment!
On one of the days we went to an aqua park near Pescara - it didn't rival Wet n Wild but it was a surreal place as everyone had to wear swimming caps in the pools to protect the filters from thick black hair. When we arrived we saw all these people yelling and laughing in this small "river" pool. It was about 2 meters wide and wound around in a sort of circle but with more bends and turns. We thought they were crazy but it was the most fun running around with our silly caps on in the current and blocking the path, for which Carlo got yelled at by the life-saver.
In an attempt to get more tanned we didn't put any sunscreen on and everyone except Carlo's cousin Ricci got very pink. We were advised to put olive oil on our burnt skin and that evening Alessandro's mum attacked him with olive oil, apparently it's good for tanning. We couldn't stop laughing.
We visited more family in a small town called Catignano up in the foot hills of the Apennine mountain range and checked out nearby Chieti and Penne. A lot of the towns in Abruzzo are built up on the top of hills and have steep, narrow cobblestone streets and sometimes ancient walls. It's the postcard picture of Italian villages that I think we may eventually get sick of seeing.
I got a hair-cut which was a traumatic experience. Carlo's cousin Sabrina took me to there and helped me negotiate with the guy for 15 minutes that I didn't want dark brown with blonde highlights. We were successful in keeping me blonde but the process still took two visits and lots more negotiation in broken Italian to ensure he didn't cut my hair into an asymmetrical bob. It was certainly an adventure!
Every night in Pescara we go for walks along the esplanade and if we have room get a gelati. Everyone - mum's, dad's, small kids and grandparents - are out walking, talking and eating gelati until after midnight. The lifestyle here is very agreeable, except for siesta which we are having trouble adjusting to. All the shops open between 9:00 - 1:00 then close for lunch/siesta and then don't open again until 4:00 and close at 8:00. With the late nights we don't get going till midday and then everything shuts. But Pescara is really starting to feel like home and I think we will be sad to leave.
So after the week we left for London. We arrived in Stansted Airport at 10:30pm and didn't get through border security until after 11:30pm. There was over 100 people in the queue, but only 1 or 2 officers processing people. Then when planes landed people that were in wheelchairs got to skip the line, making everything take longer. That night it seemed the entire elderly population of Morocco came to London I have decided the best way of getting through Standsted again would be to sprain my ankle getting off the airplane stairs so I need a wheelchair.
We stayed at Pat & Renee's apartment for the entire time. It was great to see them and they didn't seem too sick of us after 8 days of invading their space! We also caught up with Steve, Candy and Orson and a few others from Melbourne. At the end of our trip we were wondering where all the English people lived as for the entire time we were there we meet maybe 2 natives. The rest were Australian, New Zealander or South African.
On the first day we decided to be uber-tourists and take one of those open air double decker tourist buses to cover off all the main sites.
After 5 hours and countless number of London facts intermingled with spontaneous singing from our out-of-work actor tour guide we had ticked off all the tourist attractions. After that day I wasn't really the biggest fan of London - it was grey, grimy, too busy and no where could we get a 1 euro pizza or quick gelati.
For the next few days we went to the district convention which is held at the Twickenham rugby stadium. The stadium is open air, the seats rather uncomfortable especially for Carlo as there is little leg room and people don't mind resting their books on your back or head.
The elderly and infirm have to sit right down the front as there are no stairs to access those seats but they are out in the elements all day. At least they have an attendant for each section that supplies extra umbrella's if it rains or is too sunny and periodically brings around cups of tea. I will never complain about Melbourne assembly again - we have it so good!
The program was excellent, and on Sunday the peak attendance was around 27,000! That night we went to Richmond for a drink and dinner. It was really pretty and the Pims refreshing. It certainly helped me like London a little more.
At night it heated up with heaps of hipsters from the convention coming out to play i.e. forgetting everything they had just learned and were even wearing their lapel cards while knocking back a few pints. Not a good look, we left before it got too crazy.
The rest of the days in London were spent at the British Museum getting an excellent tour from Alanna, the Tate Modern art gallery and a bit of shopping.
We took Pat and Renee out for a thank you dinner to the restaurant of our favourite chef Giorgio Locatelli. The food was amazing, and I finally got to eat tortellini in brodo. There was even a minor celebrity there, Professor Green but alas without Lily Allen.
London is an interesting place, somewhere Carlo and I have both decided we wouldn't like to live but I think we would like to visit again.
On our return we were excited to finally make contact with the English congregation in Pescara. They have about 36 publishers although 4 people have left since we arrived so they are happy to have us there even if it is for a short time. There are quite a few brothers but not many sisters so I have already been a house-holder in a talk and am expected to get a few more talks in the next month.
The people are really fun, especially this couple Graziano and Rafaela. The first time we talked to Rafaela she told us about all the TV shows about Australia she has watched and she is scared to come to Australia incase she drowns or gets eaten by a crocodile. She also keeps calling Carlo "Carlo con Cornuto" which is some reference to a TV show that mocked Prince Charles when Diana was cheating on him. Whatever the reference her and some other sisters completely crack up when they say it.
We went witnessing for the first time in foreign territory i.e. each house you call on is on a list. Then we did some street work where you walk along the street and play spot the African/english speaker. We weren't too successful that morning but I am sure we will get used to how it works.
That week Alanna came to visit us in Pescara, but that is the subject of the next blog. Hopefully there will be some more photo's in the gallery and the post, fast and reliable internet has been had to come by.