Author: sanborn

Busy day: park cleanup event, then a party at my mom’s old studio.

A friend told me about a local community event cleaning up a public park, so I decided to drive over and check it out.

We were each issued a bright cover-jacket and a pair of gloves, and sent out into the park forests. It was quite fun. I teamed up with a local woman and we happily chatted as we uncovered evidence of old camping sites and tons of garbage. A rainy day but everyone had a good time. A woman nearby had some chocolate she was sharing, and she had to put it into my mouth for me because my hands were full. We laughed a lot! We even found an old Prada sneaker, but only one!

The rest of the day was spent at my mom’s old studio: Pescarella. Everybody was there, so it was a marvelous send off for me. The studio space was full of beautiful sculpture and a great jazz band was playing.

I’m ready to head to California. One more day of house remodel stuff, and then a plane to San Francisco. My brother Charles is picking me up and I’ll stay with him the first night, which will be lovely.

I’ll miss Italy though.

Wanted to get in a longer ride today, so headed out early. Had a great ride, with some adventures…

Rode over a nearby hill and found an abandoned road with several runners and dogs with their owners. Followed it down into town.

Piazza dei Aranci: Oranges Square. The central piazza in Massa is surrounded by oranges. Apparently they aren’t very sweet, but they certainly are ripe and gorgeous.

Decided to finally go to the castle above Massa that I’ve been looking at all these years but avoided because it’s way up high. I didn’t figure out how to get there, so took a very narrow steep road uphill. Up and over and then it dead-ended in some houses, but I could see more narrow steep pathway so I walked it. Fortunately there were no steps… I kept going around the hill and eventually there was a sign to Castello Malaspina.

Castle Malaspina overlooks Massa. It became a prison under the Germans and when they were about to lose the Gothic Line, which runs through this area, they took out all the prisoners and, yes, shot them. Sigh…

Took a ride up the valley to see what was there. A set of snow-capped mountains and some terrific trails.

Pretty much every day I ride, I see something delightful…

How about a frog on a water fountain?

I rode one day way up into the hills, to a small village called Torcigliano and found these terrific murals of Pinocchio. I was crushed because it was one of the very few times I went without my camera so I knew I had to go back.

Finally last week, I went for a hike with my brother. So here you are: Pinocchio and his winged donkey!

This little village is on my favorite local ride. Every time I turn the corner and see this small church, I sigh with pleasure. It’s just right. So Italy.

This water fountain is at the top of a climb out of my valley as I ride towards Lucca. There’s a cafe up here that caters to cyclists and I always try to have a cappuccino there.

One day I met a friend for lunch at the beach.or arranged meeting place was at “The Sails” which is the name for the impressive marble sculpture. I love the shape and sweep of it.

We had a glorious windy sunny day and walked around after lunch. This is a shot looking back from the pier.

I’m homeless… I moved out from my mom’s old apartment yesterday. Who knows when I’ll be able to move back in… Maybe May?

My brother Tom flew into town last week for a couple days to move the big pieces of furniture. Whew! I couldn’t have done it without him. We packed everything up and put it into three different storage places.

1. My neighbor and general remodel manager John built a temporary storage shelter in the front hall. Almost all of my mom’s sculpture and paintings are hidden behind it.

We put the smaller pieces and 30-40 boxes of books and a bicycle into a large room in the warehouse space downstairs. The owner says I can use it free for a few months. How lucky is that?!

For the big pieces, Andrea, the main project boss, built a small room on the terrace. It’s got plastic sheeting outside and plywood sheeting underneath. It’s very cool and makes me want a greenhouse/conservatory out there after the remodel is done.

Scaffolding has gone up outside and it’s got a small crane.

The rooms are empty and the bathroom no longer exists. It’s just an alley to outside…

I’m a bit daunted but it all feels like the Right Thing. My goals for 2019 are (1) to design a space I love to be in and (2) figure out how to pay for it all. I’m staying at a friend’s place for a couple weeks while I visit stores for appliances, flooring, stonework, windows, lighting, bathtubs…you name it!

And gone…

Yesterday was the Epiphany and the night before is when the Befana comes.

In Italy, the festival of Epiphany is the big holiday. Christmas is an American newcomer…

In fact, the year has actually only just begun today: in Italy the big holiday is the Epiphany, which was yesterday. It’s bigger than Christmas. This is when Italian kids either get presents or a lump of coal. The emblematic person is a witch.

And now the decorations and creche figures are coming down… Back into storage until next Christmas season.

Last night had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, but my friend couldn’t stay until midnight, so after dropping her back at the hotel, I went wandering around town.

New rule for tourism: Follow the crowd! The church bells rang non-stop from 11:45 on as I walked up through the narrow streets. Then I was in a big plaza. Lots of people with champagne glasses. The big hotel in the square had a bar, so I went in and ordered champagne. The very nice older bartender warned me that he only had rosé left. I laughed and told him I didn’t care, I just wanted champagne on my hand at midnight. He smiled.

I didn’t have long to wait. Suddenly people were counting “…cinque, quatre, trois, deux….” (and many other languages) and then the fireworks! OMG!!!!! Right above us, in front, behind us, shooting from the top of the hotel, in the distance up the hill, downhill, over the valley, even way up at the top of the pass.

It was fantastic!!!

Happy New Year to everyone! Enjoy this brand new year, full of possibilities and adventures. Xxxx

Sunset from Santa Lucia, directly above my apartment. Christmas Day. Rita and I drank very tasty wine as we watched the sun go down. The owner was a character and he had a beverage or two. We got to chatting and he refused to let us pay for the wine. Great restaurant. Will go back.

Again, the shadows…

December 26 is Saint Stephen’s Day. A nearby town, Nocchi, has a new tradition of holding what they call a “live creche.” Rita and I went. Very popular. Had to park far away and walk up. Very fun. Totally worth it.

Nocchi had many different crafts people doing traditional crafts: laundry washing, making bread, cobbler, sharpening knives, ironmongery, wood carving, chair weaving. Such fun to see it. Plus they had mulled wine, tastes of bread and polenta, cooked sausages. Ran into some friends. A fun evening.

Pietrasanta had an exhibit of hand-made creches. Very cool. Here are my selection:

This was a lifesize creche in the main square of Pietrasanta.

[Another Jordan post…]

After Petra, we stayed in a hillside village in the Dana Biosphere Nature Preserve. Our hotel was right on a cliff, so the view was gorgeous.

The village was in a state of transition, with a lot of broken down abandoned houses and some newly restored places as foreigners move in.

On the way out of there, we had to take a bus. As we drove, we passed a lot of road side shops. Jordan is a very poor country, so the “shops” were often fairly simple.

We stopped at a coffee place, a hut really. Arab coffee is strong and sweet. Very tasty!

Finally we ended up at the Dead Sea and got into the sea itself. The mud is supposed to be good for you. Here’s my roommate…