10 October 2006

This will, perhaps, be a brief travelogue, as it is getting later into the evening and it has been a long day here. But, I thought I’d do a recounting of a single day. There isn’t really a typical day, but several elements of routine have developed, making it feel more like we are settled here. I started off the day with a walk along the path to the beach with Manny, which I do nearly every morning before breakfast. It is always a treat to see the early morning sun peak up over the ridge and light up the town of La Maddalena around the bend. This morning’s was a pre-dawn walk, as I was heading off to catch the 8am water taxi to Santo Stefano, where the Navy ship is based. So, it was darker than normal at the outset, but soon a beautiful light bathed everything around, the cormorants were doing their usual morning fishing in the shallows and Manny was, once again, contemplating going in after them, but quickly retreated.

With a brief stop at home to put a small cappuccino in my large, American-sized coffee mug, using my revived skills as a barista and our hand-me-down cappuccino machine, I headed to the port to catch the water taxi. Dawn was still just breaking and, as the water taxi pulled away, I spotted splashing in the water, only to notice that there were dolphins alongside the boat, a rare sighting around here. I went out to Santo Stefano (dubbed "the site" because it is where the ship is kept) to meet with a few people who work in the Navy's Environmental Department in order to learn both about the native plants and animals and about the Navy’s environmental plans for closure of the base here.

After returning home, having lunch on the porch, and doing a bit of reading and work for my class, I went for a run down the beach and up the path to Punta Sardegna, followed by a brief plunge in the still-warm water. Later in the day, one of the Environmental Officers called me to meet him, his wife and some friends at Guido’s, a cafe at the port, for an end of the day drink and to watch all the people coming and going from the ferries. Several hours later, in true Italian fashion, I wandered down the railroad tracks back to our house, Manny in tow, and watched the sunset over Punta Sardegna before Chad returned home for dinner. Now, I am sitting in our living room looking out at the lights across the way, listening to music on our stereo, which is hooked up via transformer to the mostly reliable Italian electrical system, and thinking of how much our lives have changed in the last couple of months, yet how many things already feel familiar.

3 October 2006

I am sitting on our porch looking out over the tip of La Maddalena towards the island of Spargi and then on towards Corsica, which you can barely see the top of through the warm afternoon haze. I just finished a lunch of leftover homemade mushroom lasagna from a Sangria party we went to this weekend and a fresh persimmon (locally called kaki) picked from a tree in our yard. We have been enjoying sunsets from the porch and had our first dinner cooked on the grill over the weekend. Our house is in a complex of condiminiums that are right on the water and are about a ten minute walk from town and the ferry landing either along a lovely waterfront path (and a patch of pines that offer a rare and welcome shady spot) or through town along the railroad tracks. On Sunday, we met the groundskeeper here, Pietro, who told us that we are the only year-round residents, so it promises to be quite quiet. However, with our proximity to shops and beaches, we will have our pick of being social or taking refuge in our cozy place against the much-tauted winter winds.

Speaking of the winds, it is an unusually calm day here (molto tranquillo) and has been for the last several days, giving us an opportunity to use our long neglected kayaks. On Saturday and Sunday, we explored the coves both west and east of our house and found hidden spots to swim and picnic. The coastline is dramatic with wind-carved granite rocks of all sort of strange forms, including a bear after which Capo d’Orso (just the other side of town from us) is named. We have found the beaches full of treasures - thousands of mini shells nestled among the large grains of rocky granitic sand, many of which we have collected to decorate our seaside abode.

It has been a week since our household shipment arrived and we have tucked everything away in the many storage nooks in our house, and have hung the art of our various friends and family on the walls. While, at first, the arrival of our shipment was a bit more daunting than exciting, now that we have the mountains of boxes and packing paper gone and things put away, it is nice to be surrounded by familiar things.

Moving has been the greatest occupier of our time lately, but we have also spent some time getting to know the town of Palau, where we now live. I continue to be amazed at how patient the Italians are with my poor language skills. I have now met several shop owners who have taken the time to help me find something and then have introduced themselves and wished me a buona giornata (good day). I am hoping that these are the places that will stay open year-round, as we have already seen many places close for the season (including a wonderful gelateria, much to our dismay). It is nice, though, to be able to walk through town and frequent the local shops and restaurants without the crowds. The tourists that are here now are mainly English and German. They are somehow able to easily recognize that I am not an Italian and are eager to strike up a conversation with someone who speaks English. We feel so utterly spoiled by this place, so please please use us as an excuse to get here.

10 Settembre 2006

Salute,
We have come "home" to La Maddalena from Sicily. Coming back to a place to which you have just moved always makes it feel a little more like your home. We also had our first guests - Rob Najarian and a friend of his, which required navigating the road to the Olbia airport and back in our newly arrived Jetta. We continue to learn more about how to get around here - have befriended several of the local market vendors and tasted many more of the zillions of varieties of Pecorino, salsiccia (including some made from cinghiale - the local wild pig), and tasty olives. Chad has started an Italian course, so we are practicing our new skills around town and rapidly inventing a new Engl-Italian language. For the most part, we have been able to get by and people have been very patient.

With the arrival of the car, we have been able to explore the many beaches around La Madd, including some on Caprera, which is attached to La Madd by a verrrrrry skinny causeway just barely wide enough for a single car. We hiked down a harrowingly steep cliff wall to get to Cala Coticcio, where the water was perfectly clear and full of animali mari which we viewed through our snorkel masks. Manny has proved to be a wonderful exploring companion while Chad is at work. We have been scouting out good places to return to on the weekends for beach picnics, sunbathing, and more marine life viewing.

Things here have started to change as we have gotten into September. The tourists have mostly cleared out, though there is an influx of cruise ships bearing many English and Scottish visitors - the first English we've heard outside the Navy crew. Also, we had our first rain here and, much like in San Diego, people don't go out when it rains. Yesterday, undeterred, I went to the market anyway and found it to be pleasantly uncrowded. The Navy ship has also returned from its exercises at sea, which means the arrival of about 1,000 more Americans on the streets of La Madd.

Finally, the base just announced the timeline for closure and it looks like we will be here less than two years. We're scheduled to move into a house in Palau next week, so we will soon be open for guests.

29 Augosto 2006

Salute-
It has been awhile since my last blog entry, so please excuse the jumbled nature of this update. We have now been here three weeks, which his hard to believe. However, we have already settled into the lifestyle of the afternoon riposo (the break in the day between 1-5pm when everything closes), usually facilitated by a glass of wine with lunch, we have braved the local Macelleria to get fresh meats and cheeses (and soy sauce - the only place in town I've found to buy it), learned how to successfully use our cappuccino machine, and sampled the local digestivo, Mirto, which is made from local wild myrtle berries. And, plenty of gelato, too.

We finally got out on the water for a paddle in kayaks rented from the base (since ours have yet to arrive) to a little cove with some protected rocks. The wind here can be quite fierce, so we stuck close to shore and ate our picnic before getting blown all the way back to our put-in spot. We were hoping to go to the other islands in the archipelago over the weekend, but the wind was too strong. So, we settled for a long afternoon passegiata (the customary locals' evening stroll) and a late night dinner in the piazza.

We have met wonderful people here already and have been practicing our Italian as much as possible. I just finished the introductory Italian course offered on the base and Chad starts his class next week. The owners of our temporary apartment are Italian and have been very patient with our shoddy communication skills, which involve much pantomiming and puzzled looks. They even brought us fresh figs from their tree the other day.

For our next adventure, we are going to Sicily for a few days. Chad has a Navy course there and I am taking a free military flight along with him to go exploring. A couple that we have become friends with here will be coming as well; he is American and she is from Sicily, so we are looking forward to having a local tour guide. There are so many places to explore even on the tiny island of La Maddalena, and we look forward to the arrival of our car to get around more freely. We have both passed the Italian driving test, though I am a bit scared to drive while all the speedy tourists are still here. So, perhaps it is best that our car isn't here yet.

On another note, we have found a place to live in Palau (on the main island of Sardegna). It is a beautiful spot with a water view and a small yard and porch. It is quite private while still being just a short walk from town. And, we have an extra bedroom and bath for guests. The owner is Italian, so we will have to practice a bit before our meeting with him next week.

We hope everyone is well and to hear from you soon.

Ciao,
Susanna, Carlo, e Manolito

8 Augosto 2006

Ciao!
The toes have been dipped in the Med and it is quite warm. We are hoping to dip more of ourselves later today. So, we have arrived safely! The flights over and the ferry from Rome went quite smoothly, though we did have to lug all of our bags up the escalator to the passenger cabin on the ferry. They let Manny ride with us rather than putting him in the onboard ferry kennel, which was a treat. Although, we're not sure whether we just got away with it because no one noticed, as he was curled up beneath our feet and happily sleeping the whole time. Chad's sponsor and one of the office's legal assistants met us in Golfo Aranci in Sardegna, rescued us from our many baggagli (bags) and whisked us off on a wonderful tour along the winding roads of Sardegna, including a stop for a delightful lunch of caprese salad and focaccia, and a bit of vino, and at the legal assistant's house in the countryside where Manny got to play with his two dogs and burn off some of the excess energy built up during his travels. Then, we made our way to the ferry port in Palau and were off to La Maddalena, our final destination. It is hard to describe how beautiful it is here - we can't believe that we are here to stay and not just on vacation, although reality might set in when Chad has to start working. The vegetation and rocky landscape are enough similar to San Diego that we are a bit confused as to where we are and haven't yet fully comprehended that we are now living in another country.

Once on the island of La Maddalena, we set out on another sight-seeing tour, which included a drive around Isola Caprera, the island and natural reserve connected to La Maddalena by a causeway. We also drove the panoramic loop road around La Maddalena, which included a dip of the toes in the Med and many sightings of beautiful secluded beaches which we hope to grace with the presence of our kayaks as soon as they arrive. By then, it was about 7:30, or 1930 (military time), and we were pretty beat. We were dropped off at our TLA (temporary lodging, for those of you who are not familiar with Navy-lish). It is a great apartment just down the street from one of the local fruit and vegetable stands. It has a little patio out back with a lemon tree and fresh basil. By that hour, we had worked up an appetite for dinner, which we enjoyed with Chad's sponsor, John, who seemed to know everyone we passed in town. We had delicious risotto, grilled calamari, more Sardegnan wine, and, sometime around midnight, some gelato. Somehow, either the adrenaline, or the morning's cappuccino, kept us going, so that we unpacked nearly all of our things once we returned to our apartment.


That brings us to today. This morning, we were invited to coffee at the Italian officer's club with the ward room (all the officers) from the base. Then, the welcome team (a group of people on the base) whisked us off on yet another tour of town and the base, with a few stops for paperwork, photographs, a trip to the housing office to set up appointments for house hunting, and time for a quick panini before Chad's 1pm meeting at the legal office. And, now I am free for the day. I am heading home from the base, where I am writing this, to unload the many booklets and things I've picked up today and to soak up all that is new. There is so much more to write that I am sure I am forgetting, but I wanted to get as much down while it was still fresh.

It is so incredibly beautiful here and everyone has been accomodating and patient with our still-shaky Italian. We hope to have many guests while here in order to share this wonderful place.

All for now and please write when you can. We miss you all and will write and send more pictures soon.

Much love,
S, C, & M