ADVENTURES WITH PIP AND BEN - 26 August 2011
26th August, 2011
Our dear friends, Pip and Ben, arrived from London on Sunday afternoon and left Wednesday morning. What a time!
Sunday evening we took them up to Gianni and Luana's for dinner and, like everyone else, they were overwhelmed by the house, the view and the hospitality. Pip, who lived and worked as a model in Paris for several years conversed in French with Gianni, who surprised us with his knowledge of and ease with the language. Ben, a photographer, carried on blithely in English which, because of his enthusiasm and big heart, seemed perfectly understandable to Gianni and Luana and reminded me of our early years here, before we had any Italian when we would spend long evenings talking with Gianni, he in his language, we in ours, communicating something to each other beyond words.
Monday was hot as buggery and so after a sluggish morning, energized only by the pleasure of being with each other, the four of us took ourselves off to the town pool for the afternoon. The town really got it right when they built it. Situated on the outskirts of the village with a view of the hills, in summer the glass doors and roof slide back to make it open-air. With the purchase of a mandatory swim cap - which managed to make Ben and I look like dunces - and the rental of 4 lettini (loungers) we swam and napped and sunbathed, swam some more, occasionally exerting enough energy to move our loungers in and out of the sun as necessary, all the while listening to that carefree summer sound of children frolicking and splashing.
After a quick shop for dinner ingredients we drove home, surprised at the late hour, and after showering, cobbled together a wonderful salad of cannelloni beans, chopped red onion, tuna and tomatoes, which we spread on thick chunks of oil-drizzled bread topped with a spritz of lemon and a side salad of arugula and cucumber. Dessert was figs smashed onto whole grain cookies with a dollop of Italy's version of clotted cream, which for we Brits is pretty much soul food.
To Be Continued