aug, 3rd - let them drink caffe....

"The Family, as the number one institution in Italian life, is followed next by the Church, with the caffe rating third place."


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" The caffe is a combination of club and office. Here, for the price of a coffee, an Italian can read all the newspapers, brought to him attached to wooden rods, and transact business, with the waiters producing pen, ink, stationery, and stamps as needed. Or if he wants, he can sit outside under an awning and enjoy the parade of beautiful women passing by..."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 172:

a morning shot of caffeine has been my friend for 5.5 months. i especially love the ritual of strolling down to our local deli/coffee shop and picking up a takeaway coffee or sitting down to have a chat with the staff (who have all seen the before and after of Limi - from inside to out).

but coffee in Italy....is in a different league altogether. here it is an art and the setting is a finished painting. the village that we visit is tiny (you can stroll the full diameter in 7 minutes.....we've timed it as part of a fitness-counter-balance-to-the-pasta-eating) but as in every Italian village, life revolves around the piazza. so in the morning, we step out of the huge front door, 

stroll along the cobbles to the piazza and order our "due cappucinos, per favore" from Giovanni (trying hard to resist the cornetto con crema).

this year it's even better as we have a good excuse to take limi for an early morning promenade. although we have to factor in extra time for the locals to squeeze her cheeks and say "bella bambino" (which is not really a reflection of limi but more the attitude that Italians have to all babies).

the day hasn't started in Italy until we've had our caffe, said "buongiorno" to the locals and surveyed the countryside.