Gita a Tindari

Sono di ritorno dalla mia gita a Tindari, l'assassino e' il postino (di Neruda, girato la' vicino, nelle Eolie). Ho testimoniato al matrimonio dei miei amici, festeggiato questo evento comunitario, a cui tutti la famiglia (cuggini fino al quarto grado) e il paese hanno partecipato (commossi, tutti tranne me ovviamente).

Ho avuto ampie occasioni di esercitare il mio nordico cinismo:
"eccerto e' un peccato quella raffineria rovina il paesaggio"
"ma che paesaggio e paesaggio, lascia stare la raffineria che porta lavoro!"
Con la deformazione professionale del muratore bergamasco ho osservato con un misto di stupore e cipiglio lo stile originale delle costruzioni locali, che potremmo definire un misto di cemento e forato a vista.

Mi sono sbafata innumerevoli granite al caffe' con brioche. Ho nuotato (non abbastanza) in un mare bellissimo e mi sono scottata in un giorno nuvoloso:
"peccato che c'e' brutto tempo"
"ma che brutto tempo, voi non avete proprio l'idea"

Alla fine non ho potuto fare a meno di lasciarmi coinvolgere e scoprire che si puo' essere liberi (con un po' di fatica) anche in mezzo a una rete di rapporti. Una bella cura per il mio individualismo.

More on the flood

Beh, questa meritava. Comunque oggi avevo un invito per un BBQ di cui ormai dubitavo, mentre a quanto pare gli ospiti hanno deciso di perseverare.

Flood

While friends&relatives kept whining about hot weather in Italy, The Shire&about were drowning (listen: flood). Yesterday at 6ish, after one day of torrential water, no train was leaving from London, motorways were closed and at most under passes you could swim. Local roads were stuck with cars. Along the way, I was keeping in touch with few colleagues, the German Swiss has a good idea: get to Springfield through local roads opposite to the flux, have dinner (chinese, actually a good one!) and then cinema, at our new empty multiplex-close-to-work, waiting for things to calm down and firemen to (possibly) pump the water away. So after having our friday evening nerves relaxed by Shrek the Third (great fun), we tried to get to the A34: still no way! So following those small white signs leading from one village to another (when you can see them) we finally reached home, even without too much trouble. By the way, satellite navigators are apparently useless when it comes to finding alternative routes! God bless forgotten local roads!

Henley Royal Regatta

Domenica finalmente il sole, siamo andate a godercelo in riva al fiume, precisamente Henley-on-Thames, ove si svolge due volte l'anno la storica Royal Regata (o Regatta). Significativa per il folklore della borghesia inglese in abito da festa, tacchi a spillo e cappellino con veletta (non importa se c'e' fango), banda musicale e uomini in blazer a righe, possibilmente con abbinamenti cromatici a dir poco appalling. E tutta la spocchia che vi riesce.

Go west (2)

We went to the West again this week-end as it was probably the only spot in England where it wasn't raining cats and dogs. We went for hiking in a beautiful place, it's called Pen-Y-Fan, and it is the highest mountain in South Wales (Fan means just Mountain in Welsh, I think). The wind was chill, but at least there was a sort of sun, even warm sometimes.

I tried to go up thinking of Ithaca. I realised I'd never reach the hill-top if I kept thinking of it, looking up. So I had to try and enjoy even the pain (I'm not very fit), enjoy the landscape, enjoy the nature around (grass&sheeps), appreciate that I was going up, anyway. Well, I need to explain this, for non-hikers: even making an effort is enjoyable, for many reasons, because you know it will do you good, because you know it leads somewhere, and maybe because it releases endorphins. So you travel because you want to get to a beautiful place, but you need to have a anticipation of the beauty along the journey. And you need to enjoy what you are doing, even if you wouldn't have chosen it purely, as I wouldn't go to the gym because it is too boring and ugly to sweat for the sake of sweating.

I forgot: I was following the Black Knight on the way up-hill, and I was trusting his passion for the mountain. (Also his passion for the sheep: he was running after them crying "Lamb chops walking".)

When we reached the top, the landscape was beautiful, much more than what I had expected. We could see at 360 degrees, there were various basins, probably dug by an ancient glacier, with small lakes at the bottom. I'll try and post more pictures tomorrow. So that's Ithaca, I hope. Even more than what I can desire!

Go West

This week end great trip to the west for hiking in Wales. The weather was uncertain, so rather than rushing there for then maybe getting just rain, we just decided to take "B" roads and enjoy the landscape. Immediately outside the Abbey Town we pass through a tiny little bridge: surprisingly, it is a Toll bridge. Price: 5p. If you are Italian, this reminds a lot of an extraordinary immortal movie (audio ON!).
On the way there we listened to BBCymru, the original national radio broadcasting in Welsh. Welsh sounds like more like German than English, as History doesn't lie. I thought Italian pop was the worst pop I had ever heard. I changed my mind.
Finally we reached the bottom of the Sugar Loaf, a nice triangular shaped hill, which, we believe, has been the inspiration for The Windy Hill, in the Lord of the Rings. Here, believe it or not, it was crowded with sheeps.

Watercolours

Domenica io e il Cavalierenero siamo andati in citta' a farci un giro degli open studio nell'ambito della manifestazione "Art weeks". In pratica abbiamo passeggiato per questo quartiere posh e visitato alcune case-studio aperte al pubblico. Gli acquerelli non erano male. Ma la cosa piu' bella erano le case. Mai visto case cosi' belle in Inghilterra. Wooden floor rigorosamente. Cucine moderne (all'italiana, insomma). A quanto pare vanno di moda le porte di legno sverniciate, nature, con solo una mano di impregnante trasparente. Giardinetto sul retro pur in centro.

L'America agli Americani

The previous post is dedicated to my American friend, who was afraid that ONLY American President were a megalomaniac type. And who was chased by many English for being an American, because of American foreign politics.

UK politics

"The British are special - the world knows it, in our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth." (dal discorso di addio di Blair) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6639945.stm
Scusate ma questa e' davvero troppo forte... sui giornali italiani non c'era. Cioe', ma ve l'immaginate un politico italiano che pronuncia queste parole?