Romance with Italy

This summer in mid August Donna received a call from an old friend, Lomberto. She knew him in San Francisco shortly before we met about 23 years ago. Donna had some reservations about meeting up with him because at the time she had a short romance with his friend. Lomberto showed up with his wife, and his son Rafael. We arranged a nice dinner in our backyard, then off to a party with Donna's band, the Hubbub Club. They returned a couple of weeks later after a whilwind tour of Califonia and stayed a couple of nights. They were wonderful guest and we had several nice evening just sitting and talking in the backyard. He talked of his life in Italy. He is a lawyer and works at least twelve hours a day. Jokingly I asked him if he works for the "good guys" or the "bad guys". He litgates labor law for large corporations in Italy. Lomberto invited us to stay at his apartment at San Benedito, Marche. It is actually an extra apartment that he owns and does not use. He also said that we can have full use of an extra car that he does not use. He wanted to show us Italy, in a way that tourists do not ordinarily see it. It was a generous offer.

Several weeks later we received a glowing letter from Lomberto about how much he enjoyed his trip to California, especially his visit with us. In a phase that Donna still quotes with a laugh he wrote about our "natural happiness" and way of living that we have found in Sonoma County. One major reason for this "natural happiness" was that Donna and I were both on vacation at the time. So now I find myself working like Lomberto works, ten to twelve hours a day and five or six hours on the weekend. I have certainly idealized life in Italy as he has idealized life in Sonoma County.

Five years ago I went to Italy on a cooking tour, more like an eating and drinking tour. We primarily visited kitchens, met with chefs who gave demonstrations and ate their food in the north near Lago Maggiore and in the center of Italy on the Umbrian/ Tuscan boarder. We road in a van from place to place. It made me idealize Italy and the Italian life-style much the way that Lomberto idealizes our mythical lifestyle.

Then, three years ago I went to Italy again. This time I went to Firenze for two weeks to take a classical realism painting class. We painted for about seven hours every day in hot little studio. The heat was oppressive. Evening could be pleasant and we sometimes went out in a group, but more often I was alone in the evening. Then I remember my little room overlooking a little resturant, a charming location. But the heat of the night prevented me from sleeping well. The only way that I could sleep was to remove all clothing and lay against the wall the coolest part of the room. Any stitch of clothing would emphasize the extreme heat in the night. It was at those moments I began to reevaluate my love affair with Italy. I could not live in such a climate in the summer. In contrast, this summer my visits to Helsinki and St. Petersburg I encountered what I now consider perfect summer weather- hovering between 45 and 65 degree Farenheit.