AURONZO
I have a four hour wait for the bus and so I pop into Venice for a few hours, as you do whilst living in Italy. I pinch myself as I wander through the markets looking for the newest seasonal vegetables because I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here.
Back in our little town, shops are starting to either close until Easter or are on holidays after their busy summer season. The streets are almost empty, the trees are starting to turn, the lake is being emptied slowly to release water for the communities downstream. It’s so different to Australia where in a lot of places the seasons aren’t that different. Woodpiles here are growing and I see people starting to take their geraniums and other flowers inside.
Friends arrive with the daughter and her partner and we walk along the lake and eat at the Agriturismo (a local restaurant that makes a lot of their own produce so the menu is small) and then we find all sorts of funghi and mushrooms, edible or not, we’re not sure but they are like little fairy houses of old.
And we make pumpkin shaped pumpkin flavoured gnocchi with sage butter which was fun but they slightly lost their shape in the cooking.
And then our friends go to Venice and we celebrate Halloween or All Saints Day, Italian style. Pumpkins appear in the square, after school the little kids are all dressed up and looking for sweets. When they’ve had their fill and the sun has set, it’s time for the adults. The chestnut fire drums come out, the mulled wine is heating and an accordianist alongside
a man with some sort of small guitar starts playing. The kids dance their sugar out as we adults have cones of hot chestnuts with the mulled wine.
And then we’re told that there’s a mass in the church the next afternoon for the saints and people who have passed and then there’s as procession up to the cemetery where both my late husband and his sister are buried. We arrive to a church of mainly women and a couple of men. Most of the mass is sung by a woman with a beautiful voice and because this church has such a high roof (built in 1209), the acoustics are incredible. We spot one of my late husband’s relatives, a doyen of the community at 82 and a character and as she informs us, my late husband’s favourite cousin.
Afterwards, she takes our arms and we follow the priests up to the cemetery that overlooks the lake where other prayers are said for those who have died this year. Then we have a tour of the families burial sites and then get taken for coffee. I get up to pay before she does and when she realises, she shouts out in the crowded cafe that they are not to take my money. She bounds off her chair and shakes her finger at myself and the barman. Next time I will definitely let her pay. She still works full time with her daughter, they run a photography and gift shop. Her sister is 84 and still runs a hotel in the town. Strong stock.
An order comes from my favourite online store - #Loberon and I spend the next day arranging everything, from deer pillows to deer linen kitchen curtains and I find some bobbly braid to glue onto the little lamps that I've painted. Another order turns up of some lovely linen curtains for the bathroom so that I can remove the polyester ones that have been there for many a year. And on our walks, we collect the small fallen apples and make strudel and apple cake and the old lady up the hill with her garden gifts us kale and big red Tropea onions. Bring on autumn.
And every day I look out the french doors and think how lucky am I?
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