martedì 31 marzo 2009

Mamma Mia!

Because I saw mia mamma at the weekend and it was lovely. She arrived on Friday afternoon and, after a cup of tea and a chat, we did some mother and daughter bonding in Esselunga by discussing the ridiculous price of fruit and vegetables and the merits over mushroom versus meat filled ravioli.

On Saturday, we went to the market, where the stallholders tended to assume that she was the one doing the shopping (because what Italian ragazza would pretend to know more that her mother?) and bought vine tomatoes, cheese and strawberries that all truly lived up to expectation when we ate them for lunch later.

Then we went into town and visited the Duomo. I hadn't been there for about 4 years and climbing up to the roof retained all of its magic. You can walk all over the main roof, getting a vertiginous close up view of the statues surveying the cityscape on their pedestals, and peer down on the piazza below from behind the filigree stonework of the facade. The inside of the cathedral is something of a disappointment afterwards. On a dull day, it's dark and the light is almost greenish, making it hard to believe that the exterior is so light and airy.

By the time we'd visited the cathedral, the rain was truly raining, so after a walk past the designer shops, we headed home. We went out for a meal that night and it was a true Italian experience, with delicious food and small children running around and hitting Mr A. in the back whenever they got bored of waiting for their next course. I'm all for children being taken to restaurants, but surely when they start physically assaulting complete strangers it's time to either tell them off or take them home?

We had planned to go to Lake Como on Sunday but it was raining, so we ended up going to the Triennale design museum instead. This place is incredibly expensive, with entry being 8 euros for each exhibition, so if you wanted to see all of it it would cost you about 32 euros. I also found the labelling of some of the exhibits frustrating because they often just said what the things were made of and who made them without explaining why they were special enough to be in a museum. I enjoyed it much more once I stopped reading the labels and just looked at the exhibits themselves, as there are lots that most people would immediately recognise and some that I even have at home. I've found this often with museums: I tend to read too much and look too little, so maybe it's me that needs to change.

Mum left early on Monday morning and I felt kind of sad as I watched her go. I haven't missed home much since I've been here but seeing her reminded me how new everything here is and how far away some of the things that really matter are. So sorry to all the people that I'm bad at keeping in touch with (having no phone line and rubbish internet doesn't help) and I promise to come and visit soon!

1 commento:

Emmina ha detto...

I know how you feel... I never feel homesick in any way until my parents come to visit (twice a year) and talk about the family, what's going on in England etc. etc. Then again, when I go "home" (once a year at Christmas), I miss being here and can't wait to get back. Catch 22...