Lots of catching up due here
Before leaving Puglia and our adorable friends, we took us all out to a "typical" regional dinner. Naturally, that dinner did not even resemble a starting time until a little past eight in the evening on Thursday.
Mysteriously, Joe began a bout of coughing just as we had exited the Grotto on Wednesday. After the trials and tribulations and the chilly rain on Monday, we were certain that, added to two hours in a humid grotto, caused a cold. By Thursday, he was coughing for most of the hours of the day but we assured our hosts (who really didn't care one bit) that it wasn't Covid (we tested) and they were fine with his presence.
Now, to add to the drama.....three days after or arrival in Rome, Joe began a round of coughing. And, after the entire Pandemic, he finally tested Positive. We were in a good place, a nice comfy apartment in an actual "neighborhood" in Rome and he didn't have to totally isolate. The weather was fantastic and we continued our walking and exploring while he powered through and neatly got over it before we came to Umbria.
Our dinner. Well, it was as authentic Pugliese as it possibly could have been. "La Nicchia" is a series of Trulli, attached to each other. The interior is charming, stone walls and arches. The food, well......good thing we were aware of the local custom of antipasto. Last year was our first exposure. No kicking each other under the table this time! Within minutes of our arrival, plates and plates and more plates of the most delicious foods arrived with extra portions of fresh mozzarella and the most fabulous fresh ricotta. The men ordered "meat" and Mimma and I, "fish". I cannot tell you which fish or which meat but we were all happy.
Friday morning, at eight, Mimma and her son, Antonio drove us to the airport in Bari for our flight back to Rome. Antonio is a nursing student who has almost completed his studies (again, Italians are very vague so we don't know exactly when he will be finished and ready for his career but we do know that he attends the university in Bari where the family purchased an apartment for him rather than a dorm). Bari is approximately an hour's drive and all went fairly smooth until we approached the airport. The traffic situation is similar to the approach to the bridges coming off Cape Cod.
Karol Wojtyla Airport (named for the past Pope), is modest-sized and modern. Very efficiently operated.Our flight was smooth and we landed at Fiumicino in Rome on time.
Getting to the train station at the airport in Rome is not easy. Lots of walking and following signs for the "Leonardo Express" train, one that goes directly to Termini Station in Rome, our next destination of the day. Needless to say, the train is always jam-packed with people who have just arrived from destinations all over the World.....with their luggage.
Off the Express and now to, of course, the furthest-away platform in the entire huge station (it was Friday, need I say more?) and onto the train to Assisi, a mere two hours away. Joe coughed and we kept apologizing until we realized that nobody cared. Covid is a thing of the past in Italy.
Finally, after trains, planes and automobiles, we arrived at the station of Assisi and then boarded another bus (jam-packed) for our last stop, Piazza Matteotti at the top of the town. We know it well, but not everybody on the bus did so after giving directions to some Italian tourists (I should get paid for the times that I am asked for directions), I was literally crushed in between a young, total back-packed, Chinese woman who obviously was surprised that THIS was where she should be getting off, as she jumped up and without the least bit of concern for my health and safety, squeezed by me. Or should I say, jammed my body between her entire life's possessions and the metal post of the bus.She only stopped briefly to listen to my yelling about how the backpack should not be "on" the back while riding on public transportation. Yes, it hurt.
Assisi completely turns herself over to a once-a-year celebration and, at that point, nothing, absolutely NOTHING else matters. This is a three day event called "Calendimaggio", the celebration of the official arrival of Spring, that starts on the first Wednesday of the first week in May and never stops until that Saturday night....very late that Saturday night. Every resident of Assisi cares very, very much about all of it and they all participate in the planning and execution. Most of the preparation for the events of the week are done on the tiny streets that feed into the center and it causes major disruptions and hazards to people who are attempting to get from one point to another. So, getting through it all was our final challenge of a very challenging day at the end of a very sweet but exhausting get-away.
And Joe, well, he continued to cough, non-stop and I, continued to be a nurse and a wife and a very tired sleepless individual with more to come.
Domani.
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