Leaving behind a pile of school work, I set of, feeling rushed, hot, spontaneous, nervous, happy... to the airport. It was the first time leaving Lisbon and it made me think about my feelings when I was arriving in that airport.
Anyway, off we went. Read the United Nations Charter in Portuguese on the plane and fell asleep. The plane, by the way, was delayed because some Napoli Football hooligans had smashed up the incoming plane. So I arrived very late to two gorgeous friends at the airport, armed with a drum and a guitar and little hats ready to sing Ring Of Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko). But I was the last one out of the airport so they were floating around with their instruments alone. It was all rather comic.
So, over the next few days, I got to see into Italian family life; two beautiful families with a lot of warmth and love... and food. Flavio’s house was built by his father over 20 years. It is one of the most beautiful houses I have been in, with creamy yellow walls, nooks and crannies, flowers, silky curtains, a hundred instruments, stars in the trees and sofas abound. The level of hospitality there is a hundred times the usual English style; giving welcoming gifts (perfume), flowers and 3 massive meals, driving you to the airport 2 hours away... this kind of hospitality shocked me in a way. The dog Xibo is a character indeed and is very bold. His Mamma cooks a lot and keeps the house very clean and he has two brothers, one is a dentist and one is still at school. So I just sat there, trying to pick out words in Italian and they trying to speak English all laughing a lot. We often went to Marco’s house, a ten-minute drive away. He lives above his grandmother’s shop with his mother and father who are also so warm and kind. And a dog too, a great big chocolate bar of a dog. Their houses, both, are full of ornaments, embroidery, televisions. It is all so comforting.
So, what did we do? We drove around on Motos, flying about the streets down and over the green mountains along the coasts. The mountains look like lush green felt, they have steep sides, thick with trees and slightly obscured by mist. The coastal towns near there are just stunning, look at the picture below to see what I mean. We took coffees and watched as the waves crashed and splashed the town’s edge. It was fantastic. I sang all the way home, trying to spit on Marco;’s moped and clinging on to Flav.
I sat and watched Flav play the drums. Il Flav, lei fa un movimento lovely quando lei gioca i tamburi, lei il sospetto su le sue spalle un po'ed alza le sue sopracciglia e spinge le sue labbra insieme. And I love it. That was terrible Italian because I translated it on the internet. Ah well. So I got a lesson at the drums. Then we went to a Communist festival in the back of a social centre where lots of bearded Marx-looking men were drinking wine and debating under a big red flag. Flav played in his more gypsy like band that has an accordion and a clarinet. In fact he played for hours and hours. Serena and Marco and Serena’s boyfriend came too, we had pizza in a real buzzy Napoli place. Thin, crispy, fresh, slimy...
And what else? Oh a hundred things. We drove to Florence and walked around the wonderful little streets, over the bridge full of jewellers. Ate pizza, looked at the cathedral and the people wondering around. Felt inspired and arty, studied the hands and the hair and the boobs of all the marble figures. We went to Pisa one night. Due to the incredible fee of 15€ to go up the Tower, we sat out on the cool marble and looked up at it. For the first time in 3 months, I smelt that lovely smell of coming-winter, with the orange-lit streets, the night air with that cool edge and that sweet-ice smell. I felt very happy. We saw Carrara, an Anarchist Centre, with flags and boards and graffiti calling for an Anarchist rule.
(The photo above is a terrible attempt at the cliche Tower of Pisa photo that went rather wrong.)
(Need another song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwFYUFnTD9Q) One day we went to the open-mine of Carrara marble. It is funny, the green mountains I was talking about. They stretch out for miles, and then one or two look like they are covered in snow. But on closer inspection, you see that it is actually marble-mining, and whole sides of the mountain have been chopped into 90-degree angles blocks, shining bright white like a mouthful of teeth. It is so surreal. Marco’s father is a mechanic there for the machines there. So he drove us up in the white dust-covered jeep after work. It was a cool Saturday afternoon, the air was cool and fresh and the mine was empty, the great monsters of machines sitting there, still. It was utterly silent and the smooth white sides reflected off each other. Marco’s Dad showed us all the machinery, the diamond-line that cuts the marble, the dangerous machinery. Many people die in the mine. In the winter when it is icy, they still have to work. I was feeling very angry about the whole situation, the injustice, the disregard for the workers’ lives, the great blocks of marble with buyers’ names already scribbled on... the plastic cross swinging from the mirror of the car.
It is amazing to think this was Michelangelo's stone. But at the same time I felt so sad that this is what Man was doing to the earth, hurting both nature and men alike for what....
Lisbon return was somewhat tearful. But the gang waiting at Gate number D45 were so Lisbon .. a few punks, a gang of Senegalese chatterers, a music student with his Mozart books, tapping away. The descent into the city was a stunner and I was reminded of that first descent. The sun was a golden slant over the city that caught everything in its way. I got home, feeling odd. Cat had pissed in my room. I unpacked all the homemade wines and jams and the mountain of cakes and chocolate and Iced Tea “to keep me going for the journey” and made some couscous, talked to Pappa at last, and saw a film with Tony about immigration, which instantly put my worries into proportion. Woke up the next day, with a whole lot of work to do and my soul still in Italy, and felt a pang. But, come on, Charlotte! It is all ok. I am going to stop being such a mop and get a grip. Time to get into Uni mode, to start working for real. And hope to see it all again soon. Ouch!
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