ONCE UPON A TIME A LONG TIME AGO I LIVED IN ITALY WITH MY ITALIAN AND TWO OF HIS SISTERS.
WE HAD BEEN MARRIED IN ITALY FIVE YEARS PRIOR.
IT WAS A NEW WAY OF LIVING FOR ME AND SCARY AND LONELY.
WE LIVED UP ON A HILL WITH OTHER HOMES NEW BY ITALIAN STANDARDS.
I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DRIVE A STICK SHIFT!
AS I SAID WE LIVED ON A HILL, SO TO GO ANYWHERE WE HAD TO GO DOWN THE HILL.TO GET TO DOWNTOWN FLORENCE IT TOOK AT LEAST 20 MINUTES MORE IF YOU WANTED TO PARK.THERE WERE MEN STANDING NOT IN A BOOTH BUT STANDING IN THE PARKING AREA.FIRST YOU HAD TO GET THEIR ATTENTION THEN HE WOULD FIND YOU A SPOT.THAT COULD TAKE AWHILE!IF YOU HAD TO RUN A QUICK ERRAND YOU COULD DOUBLE PARK!
GUESS HE KNEW THE CARS PARKED THERE WERE THERE FOR THE DAY!
THIS WAS RIGHT ON THE ARNO THE FAMOUS RIVER THAT HOLDS THE PONTE VECCHIO.
ONE OF THE FUN STORIES WAS THE ITALIAN WAS DRIVING AND HE CAME TO A STOP SIGN AND HE STOPPED.HIS MOTHER WHO WAS IN THE FRONT SEAT SMOKING WHICH WAS MAKING ME SO SICK……..SHE SAID TO HIM
“WHY ARE YOU STOPPING??”
HIS REPLY WAS IT SAYS SO!
THERE IS A STOP SIGN!.
HER REPLY WAS “BUT YOU CAN SEE NO ONE IS COMING!”
I ALSO LEARNED VERY FAST NEVER TO STOP FOR PEOPLE IN A CROSSWALK OR WHO WERE ON THE SIDEWALK READY TO CROSS, BECAUSE THE CARS BEHIND YOU WOULD REAR END YOU!
TO PEEK IN YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR YOU WOULD SEE HANDS UP YELLING WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!
I LEARNED THAT LESSON FAST!
THE ROAD UP THE HILL AND DOWN WAS TWO LANES ONE UP AND ONE DOWN!IF YOU WENT OVER THE EDGE THAT WOULD NOT BE GOOD AS IT WAS A SHEAR DROP!PEOPLE DROVE FAST EVEN IF IT WAS A CURVE……..I NEVER DID THAT!
AS I WOULD DRIVE MY BOYS TO SCHOOL I WOULD ASK THEM QUESTIONS LIKE:
WHO MADE THE DUOMO?
WHATS THE NAME OF THE FAMOUS BRIDGE OVER THE ARNO?
WHO MADE THE DAVID?
THEY LEARN THOSE AS WE DID IT EVERY DAY……THE NINJA TURTLES WERE POPULAR THAN AND I REMEMBER HELPING THEM WITH THE DAVID QUESTION AS ONE WAS NAMED MICHAELANGELO!
WINE WAS AN OUTING TO PROCURE!ONE DROVE TO THE WINERY WITH BOTTLES IN THEIR TRUNKS.YOU KNOW THE ONES THAT COST A FORTUNE NOW A DAYS. THOSE GREEN ONES……THEY WOULD BE IN BASKETS!
FIRST YOU WOULD GO INSIDE AND YOU WOULD BE THE ONLY ONES THERE.
YOU COULD TASTE THE WINE FROM A GLASS on a pedestal.
THAT EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED WINE WOULD TRY!
I think it was a faucet!
NO DISINFECTING BACK IN THE DAY…….
A MAN IN A SUIT WOULD WATCH OVER YOU AS YOU BROUGHT THE HOSE TO THE CAR.
THATS RIGHT A HOSE OUTSIDE TO YOUR CAR WHERE YOU WOULD PUMP THE WINE INTO YOUR BOTTLES.
JUST LIKE GASOLINE.
THE ITALIAN AT 31 YEARS OF AGE.
ONCE YOU ARRIVED HOME YOU WOULD SYPHON THE WINE FROM THE BIG GREEN BOTTLES TO THE TABLE BOTTLES.
IN THIS CASE A PLASTIC CONTAINER.
YOU COULD FIT MORE THAT WAY IN THOSE SMALL CARS.
HERE I am GIVING IT AGO THE FIRST TIME.
I REMEMBER THINKING THIS IS SO FUNNY!
HERE I AM SYPHONING WITH A HOSE TO THE TABLE BOTTLES.
YES IF YOU WERE ME YOU WOULD GET A SIP OF VINO IN YOUR MOUTH!
I THINK THEN YOU HAD TO COVER THE OPENING WITH YOUR FINGER TO GET IT UPSIDE DOWN TO POUR INTO THE WINE BOTTLES.
THEN A WAX WAS PUT ON TOP OF EACH BOTTLE TO SEAL IT.
CAN YOU SEE BEHIND ME THE YELLOW CRATES FOR BOTTLES?
THEN THEY WOULD GET STACKED IN THE SHED UNTIL THEY WERE NEEDED.
THIS WAS LIFE IN THE TUSCAN HILLS.
I HAVE TO SAY I LOVED IT AND DID NOT WANT TO COME BACK TO CALIFORNIA.
SO, I PLAYED ITALIAN MUSIC IN MY CAR AND IN THE HOUSE.
I BROUGHT BACK ALL MY FINDS FROM THE CITY TO THE HILLS IN THE COUNTRY.
THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE LIKE ME!
STILL THE SAME NO ONE ELSE LIKE ME!!
IT WAS STILL LIRE FOR THE MONEY NOT EURO’S.
PEOPLE DROPPED IN UNEXPECTEDLY.
WE BOUGHT OUR EGGS FROM THE NEIGHBOR OVER THE FENCE!
MATTRESSES WERE MADE DOWN THE STREET FROM OUR HOUSE…THEY STUFFED THEM WITH WOOL.
EVERY SO OFTEN YOU WOULD HAVE IT FLUFFED!
A DOUBLE OR KING BED DIDNOT EXSIST.
THE QUEEN WAS TWO TWIN MATTRESSES.
THE KITCHEN DIDNOT COME WITH A HOUSE IF YOU WERE BUYING IT.
YOU HAD TO BRING YOUR OWN!
MOST KITCHENS WERE ON WHEELS……..AND NOT VERY PRETTY.
YOU HAD TO SWEEP THE FLOORS AT LEAST THE KITCHEN EVERY DAY.
NO DRYERS………..ALL THE LAUNDRY WAS HUNG TO DRY!
BECAUSE THE WATER WAS SO HARD THE SHEETS AND UNDERWEAR NEEDED TO BE IRONED PLUS TOWELS!
I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING…………..
BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!
I WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN A HEART BEAT!
THIS LITTLE GUY HAD LEFT HOME FOR TWO MONTHS!
WE ARE HAPPY HE IS BACK THANKS TO A NEIGHBOR WHO SAW HIM IN THEIR GARDEN!
THANK YOU NUNILO for the hand painted card of THEODORE & WINSTON and BANKSY and two of my chickens!
WHO can find the crickets or grasshoppers?
YOU ARE SO KIND TO REMEMBER MY DAY……which is FRIDAY, JULY 22…….I will be 62 years old!
WHERE OH WHERE DID THAT TIME GO…….
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