#2920 welcome lunch on Montallegro

 Ready to go to Rapallo with me? Let's head up to Montallegro for lunch.

On our first full day in Rapallo, the art group took a walk through the town to the funivie station. It's a cable car that takes you to the top of Montallegro. The day was overcast and a little drizzly. The view from the funivie was beautiful. I love the Liguria region for its mountains that seem to come right up out of the sea.

view of Rapallo from the funivie

At the top, there was a little confusion because some construction work was being done, so the way Suzy and Jeanette from The Blue Walk usually take their clients was blocked. We walked up a paved road to another access point. There was a glass elevator that did not look operational, and a steep muddy path with a chain across it. We ended up walking back to the funivie station and cutting through the construction area. It wasn't a problem. We then walked up pretty path to the bottom of a big staircase. At the top of the stairs was the Sancutary of Our Lady of Montallegro church. She is lovely.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montallegro

Ussie from the piazza in front of the church with Rapallo below
photo by Lizzie

We did not enter the church. There seemed to be some type of service going on inside, so we stayed out. After we all took photos and caught our breath, we had a short walk through an old oak forest to reach the restaurant.

mossy!

Lizzie and the funky, mossy oaks

The welcome lunch was held at Casa del Pellegrino restaurant. Since the day had been drizzly and overcast, a large table was set up for us inside. It was nice enough, but very close quarters. Fortunately the sun peeked out from the clouds and soon, tables were rearranged outside to accommodate our group. It was so much nicer! It is always more fun to eat outside, I think. 

We all settled at some tables, and the food started coming out. There were five people at our table: Lizzie and I, Scott and Laurel, and Jeannette. We sipped wine and had a nice conversation until the food came out, after which there was reverent silence, clinking silverware, and groans of delight over the meal.

tomatoes with fresh mozzarella; anchovies

a classic tray of cured meats

these might be sardines in lemon juice and olive oil

pansotti in walnut cream sauce; pasta with pesto

I confess that I didn't have any tomato with mozzarella or anchovies. I did try to sardines, and they were good. There was also some pickled veggies and something else that I didn't take a pic of or partake in. I did get after the meat tray, and the pasta was excellent. Liguria is known for pesto and focaccia, so if you are in the region, be sure to try those specialties. The pansotti in walnut cream sauce was so, so good. Pansotti is similar to ravioli in that it is a stuffed pasta pocket. Instead of being filled with meat, pansotti is lightly filled with cheese and greens. I think ours had spinach. This dish is also typical of Liguria. 

A plate of desserts was brought out, but I didn't take a photo because by that time, we were painting. YES! A bit of plein air painting time in Italy. How marvelous! Here is a pic of the group:

There was plenty to be inspired by.

 

Here is what I came up with:

After a wonderful afternoon, it was time to head back down the mountain to the town. Lizzie and I stopped for some gelato:

salted caramel gelato

We went back to the hotel to drop off our art supplies and chill for a bit before we took a walk along the lungomare to admire the full moon.

full moon over Rapallo

The evening ended with a nice aperitivo at Il Papi Neri. I had a Limoncello spritz; Lizzie had an old fashioned, and the tray of meats and breads came with the drinks. The total cost was 16 euros (8 euros per drink.)

aperitivo time!

What a great first day! 

#2919 three things: micro-memories of Rapallo

 

3 Italian pastries 

First, I'm bummed that I didn't write here on Sunday. I had time, but I kept putting it off during the day, then later in the evening, I had terrible stomach cramps, so I took some medicine and went to bed early. I have every intention of writing a nice post this Sunday, and in the meantime, allow me to share three micro-memories that only happened in Rapallo.

1. Chiosco della Musica. One of the things you'll find on TripAdvisor when you are looking at things to do and see in Rapallo is the Chiosco della Musica (Music Kiosk - sounds better in Italian, right?).

Chiosco della Musica

It is the structure with the arches behind the cannon. From this angle, it looks like a nice little gazebo-type building in the Art Nouveau style and dates back to the late 1920s. The thing that makes it interesting is that the ceiling is covered by a fresco painting of Italian composers. 

The first time I peered up at the fresco, it was a dark and stormy night so I didn't see anything too clearly, but I was struck that some of the faces looked kinda scary. We passed by the Chiosco nearly every day, and didn't look too closely at it because, well, it is what it is, and it wasn't too meaningful to me. 

The last night we were in town, though, we decided to stop by for another look, and I was again struck by scary faces. Looking at them now, I don't think they look as menacing. It was probably just a trick of the lighting and the thought of Halloween coming along soon. What do you think?

part of the fresco in the Chiosco della Musica

2. Giardini Ezra Pound. One day Lizzie and I stayed in Rapallo while our art group went out on an excursion. We decided to take a walk along the lungomare. It was raining, more of a drizzle, really, and we didn't have a destination until we spotted what looked like a cafe in the distance, right on the waterfront, that looked like a cool place to hang out for awhile. 

Bagni Ariston

On the way to the cafe, we passed a little patch of grass with a frog fountain.

Giardini Ezra Pound

It turns out that the poet Ezra Pound lived in Rapallo for awhile, and this little green space was named for him. Lizzie and I felt warm and fuzzy about it since Lizzie is a poet and we like things for artists and poets. 

Don't know much about Ezra Pound? Neither did we. He was born in Hailey, ID in the late 1880s and was a poet and a professor. In the early 1900s, Pound left the United States for Europe, where he travelled around the continent. He settled in Rapallo in 1924 and lived there for 20 years or so. Pound supported fascist ideals, and went back to the U.S. to tout those ideals. He was imprisoned, then released, and moved to Venice, Italy for the final years of  his life. This is a very poor nutshell of a summary. The main thing I take away is he was an American poet who lived in Rapallo. 

Fun fact I learned while reading about Ezra Pound: he befriended Ernest Hemingway (who died in Ketchum, ID which isn't far from Hailey) when they met in Paris in the 20s. Hemingway visited Pound in Rapallo, and wrote a short story called  "Cat in the Rain" about an American couple who visit Rapallo. You can read it here.

3. Don't use the elevator. When our time in Rapallo was over, we took the train to Milan along with several of the women from the art group. They all met at the hotel and walked to the train station, but Lizzie and I wanted to have our breakfast at Tossini then meet the rest of the people at the station, which is just a block away from the cafe. 

At the train station, Lizzie and I decided to get on the elevator so we wouldn't have to carry our bags up the stairs. We got into the little elevator, and when the doors opened on the second level, everyone in our group turned and gaped at us. We greeted everyone, and someone said, "You took the elevator." We laughed, because, yeah, we just got off it. "Didn't you see the sign that the elevator was out of order?" Suzy asked. I guess I did see a sign, but didn't take the time to try to decipher it. We all kind of nervously giggled and I felt really thankful that I wasn't trapped in a tiny elevator at the train station in Rapallo. 

Rapallo train station

There you go...little tidbits to whet your appetite for more stories and photos. 

xo
 
 

#2918 three things about Rapallo: where, why, and what

 

Hi! I'm ready to write about my trip to Italy! I'll start with three little things about Rapallo, our home for the first week we were in Italy. 

1. Where is it? Rapallo is in northwestern Italy in the Liguria region. The closest big city is Genoa, although we flew in to Milan, and took the train to Rapallo. The train takes a couple of hours from Milan. Rapallo is a great "home base" on the Italian Riviera, because it is quick and easy to get to a lot of cool places. 

Rapallo

2. Why was I in Rapallo for a week? Lizzie and I were there to participate in an art walk vacation with Jill the Artist. Jill teamed up with Suzy and Jeannette from The Blue Walk to give us a fantastic week on the Italian Riviera, seeing a bit of the area and doing some painting and writing every day. We stayed in Hotel Astoria, right across the street from the beach. The hotel was really nice; we had a great room on a corner with two windows to let in the fresh sea air. I thought it was really comfortable, and I loved the location. It was an easy walk to the lungomare (beach walk), or into the historic center of the town. The staff was wonderful, too. I just can't say enough good things about Hotel Astoria. I would definitely stay there again if I ever found myself planning a trip to the area. 

ready to do some art!

3. What is there to do in Rapallo? Like I said, Rapallo is a good base for exploring the area. I thought Rapallo was charming, too. The cable car to the top of Montallegro is a must. (I'll be writing about that excursion on Sunday.) There are lots of restaurants and bars, including many with sea views. Rapallo isn't very touristy. You won't find lots of little souvenir shops there, which is kind of nice. I loved walking along the lungomare every day and looking at the water. It was pretty rainy while we were there, so there was quite a bit of seaweed and sea debris on the beach, and we didn't even dip our toes in the water. I think it is quite different in the summer.

Oh yeah, there is a little castle in the sea, too, easily reached from the lungomare. While we were there, the castle was having a beauty treatment or something. It was covered with scaffolding and netting (as many things in Italy were, especially in Rome.) I bet the castle is pretty when you can see it. 

Here's a pic of the main piazza in town. It's just a cool, chill town.

#2917 back and better than ever!

 

painting & having cappuccino in Rapallo
photo by Lizzie

Ciao! I've been back from my vacation for almost a week, and I'm starting to get settled back into my routines. There were just four work days in my week, since Monday turned out to be a bonus vacation day, and with jet lag hanging on tight for three of those work days, and my workload being pretty big, there wasn't much time to tap into the creativity and vibes from vacation. It's to be expected, I suppose. This is real life. Yesterday I devoted myself to getting my finances in order and getting my art space organized a little. Today I have let myself paint, read, rest, and now write. It feels good!

Each time I go on a trip, I think of something I'd like to bring home with me. Not a trinket or a souvenir, but some little habit or saying or practice that worked for me on the trip and that I think I can incorporate into my everyday real life. Some obvious examples are having coffee, a habit I picked up in Costa Rica, and doing art, which I glommed onto in Greece. 

From this trip, I think what I want to incorporate into my real life is choosing my clothing with more care. Maybe I wrote about this last time I posted here, but I was pretty thoughtful about the clothing I took with me. I had very limited space because I choose to use a smaller suitcase, so I wanted to make sure my clothing choices all worked together so I could easily mix and match tops and bottoms. I was certainly no fashion plate, but I felt good about how I presented myself, and I was comfortable. The limited choices actually made it easier to dress myself! 

It is cold here now in SLC, and I had planned to change out my warm weather clothes for the winter clothes. It's sweater weather. ;D It's probably not going to happen since it is 17:00 and there are other things I'd rather do, but when I do it around to it, (likely sooner than later!) I'm going to have a serious talk with myself about what stays and what goes. I always say that, but somehow I still end up with lots and lots of clothes, even when I fill up multiple sacks to take for donation. 

Where I'd like to get is sort of a capsule wardrobe with more limited clothes that I really like, that fit well, and are still in good shape. No stains, holes, or pill-y armpits allowed. Hmm...I'm already a little intimidated at the prospect of it all. Wish me luck and courage! 

In the coming days I'll write about the trip and share some photos of the places we visited. I enjoyed myself everywhere we went. My favorite thing was being able to hang out with my sister for two weeks. She gets me, and it is a pleasure and a blessing to be able to spend that time with her. I always wanted to go on this trip, and I didn't know if Lizzie would choose to go. I think I could have handled the Rapallo part of the trip on my own, maybe, but I am pretty sure I would not have spent the second week seeing Milan, Florence, and Rome by myself. I likely would have gotten lost. I really relied on Lizzie's navigation skills in those cities, and I appreciate her willingness to lead me around more than I can say. 

Until next time...salute!

at a wine window in Florence
ussie by Lizzie

#2916: my three phases of vacation emotions

 I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow night, and I realized there are three emotional phases I go through as I prepare for a trip. Really, these three phases are all happening at the same time, but the intensity level of each phase varies in this order:

1. Anticipation. The trip is booked, and I feel excited, nervous and mostly full of anticipation about the trip. What are some things I really want to do and see? What can I learn about the place before I go? Are there any foods that are specialties of the region that I would like to try? What's the weather like? What's the language? What should I pack to wear? I like to do some research before I book a trip, and after it's booked, I am in info-gathering mode. I will likely buy a travel book or two if I don't already have one, and I comb through Pinterest to see what other people have done that I might like to do also. I love the anticipation stage. It's fun.

2. Nerves/anxiety. It's nearly time to go on the trip. It's time to pack. Do I have all the things I want to bring? Do I have too much? Will it fit in my suitcase? Will my suitcase be too heavy? Will my suitcase join me at my destination? Is there gonna be room for souvenirs? Did I pack my charging cables? Don't forget the glasses! Should I take the bottle of melatonin? What's going to happen at work? Will MT and T be okay? Will the dogs miss me? Will they be okay? What if I eat so much pasta that my pants don't fit? Do I have enough money? As a person who can spiral into anxiety, this phase really sucks. It leads me to procrastinate, which in turn can lead to forgetting things and/or overpacking. I tried to mitigate this phase somewhat by putting together a pretty good list of things I wanted to pack. It's still a lot. It's almost 11:00 pm the night before I leave, and I am packed, but there's still a bit of work to do.

3. Excitement. Once I get to the airport, I usually get into vacation mode. I realize that I can probably find almost anything I need at my destination. I know that I am bringing more than I likely need of everything. I feel so happy that I get to go somewhere awesome with people I love and who "get" me. All the planning and research I've done is about to come into play, and my mind is open to soaking up all the vibes.

At this very moment, I feel like I'm turning the corner on the nerves/anxiety phase and slipping right into excitement. 

I won't be writing here for the next couple of weeks. When I get back, though, I will want to relive the memories here on the screen!

#2915 leaf-peeping 2024 and art show

Happy Sunday! I'm listening to the Padres/Dodgers game as I write this post. How's that for multi-tasking? Go Padres!

MT and I went on our annual leaf-peeping tour in the Wasatch mountains this afternoon. We decided to do the alpine loop that starts in American Fork Canyon and winds past Mt Timpanogos and the Sundance Resort over to Provo Canyon. There are a lot of quaking aspen trees on the loop, so mostly we saw gold leaves and it was magical.

The bad thing about the alpine loop road is that it is quite narrow, and most of us have oversize vehicles. We were in MT's truck, which is big, and we found ourselves with the passenger side tires off the road many times. There were inches between our truck and oncoming cars and trucks. The drive was beautiful, but we agreed that if we wanted to do it again in the future, we'd bring my car. There were also about a jillion other cars on the road and pulled out onto tiny little wide spots to take photos. It was not a relaxing drive.

We had lunch in Park City at The Spur. We got a nice table out on the deck. I had a burger and a beer, and it was satisfying. I think there's something about sitting outside for a meal that just makes food extra delicious, if the conditions are right, that is. On our way back to the car, MT got some ice cream and I got a chai tea latte. There were a lot of people wandering through Park City this afternoon. It was a gorgeous fall day! We went over Guardsman Pass and down through Big Cottonwood Canyon on our way home. There was more orange on that road, but I didn't take any photos because we were moving along pretty quick. We'd been out for a long time!

Next year, I think we will peep on the Nebo Loop. 

~~~

It's been awhile since I posted some of my art, so let's do it now, okay?

This little highland cow was a birthday card for one of my coworkers. The hair isn't quite right, but I still like it.

highland cow for Sally

This flower is from one of Jill's prompts (#1490) in which she presented us with two lists of words and the instructions to pick a word from each list and make something happen.

Surrealistic Sunflower

I love making little calendars and zines every month!

September wee calendar

September zine

A quick note about this zine: I printed some words from a post on this very blog, put a cute font on it, and cut it to fit the zine, then dew the flowers on it. It was fun and different.

I drew and painted this little doggo for one of my coworkers. She has a dog called Baxter who kind of looks like this. 

little pupper for Tupp

Another of Jill's prompts (#1497) - paint something to honor the Fall Equinox.  It's meant to be a pumpkin, but it isn't very well executed. I still like it, though. I enjoy doing kind of a stained glass type painting. 

cubist pumpkin

This little birdie is a response to Jill's 1500th prompt, an artistic celebration. 

chonky bird with balloon

And finally, the October wee calendar to celebrate my upcoming trip to Italy. 

October zine

Have a great week!

PS...If you are still here, I just updated my 2024 reading page. I've read or listened to 39 books so far this year.

#2914 I skipped September

Well...I knew it had been awhile since I wrote here, but I didn't realize the last post was on Sept 1. Where did the month go? It felt kinda long. It was full of work, concerts, long days and short nights, and constant thoughts of the looming trip to Italy. For tonight, though, let's just stick to three things:

1. The end of the volunteer season. I finished my final volunteer assignment of the season last Sunday, the 29th. I did the docent gig, then I recorded blooms. I don't usually do both on the same day, but things had piled up and it just worked out that way. It was a nice day, a little warm, but the colors were beautiful and I was happy to be doing what I was doing. I finished up my concert schedule with the last show of the season on Tuesday September 24, a show by Rodrigo y Gabriela. I worked the first show of the season (Burning Spear in May) and the last show, plus 11 in between, so 13 shows out of 30 (or was it 31?) Anyway, it was a good summer full of live music, and good times at Red Butte Garden. I gave the Garden 132 hours this summer. I feel good about every one of those hours. I truly love that place.

2. Prepping for Italy. The trip to Italy has been on my calendar for about a year, I think, and now here we are, just 10 days away from leaving. SQUEE!!! I have a list of things I need to take like art supplies, my journal, a book to read, and an umbrella, among other things. I have a list of clothes I want to take, too. This weekend I will be trying on the clothes to make sure they are how I want to represent myself while I'm on vacation. Not only that, but I am planning to keep not only my clothing but all the other stuff to a minimum. I pack around a lot of detritus, so I'm trying to be very mindful of that habit as I prepare for this trip. 

3. Why don't I do that here? A couple of Fridays ago, I wore a concert t-shirt to work. I got it at the Lukas Nelson show. I like the color of the shirt, sort of a mustard yellow, and I liked the graphics: a pair of cacti on either side of a skeleton head wearing a cowboy hat and smoking a cigarette. Except, when I got home and was really looking at the shirt, it didn't appear to be a cigarette, but a joint. I wore a shirt with a skull smoking a joint to the office. No one said anything, but I was annoyed with myself. That is not how I want to represent myself at work. I am fine wearing that Lukas Nelson shirt around the house (it's really soft!), but not out and about. When I'm feeling lazy, a simple white t-shirt, jeans, and a jacket of some sort will always be better than a shirt showing a skull smoking a joint. The thought that I take more care about what I wear on a vacation among people I probably won't see again and what I wear to work among people I see multiple times a week upset me. Clearly, it's been at least two weeks and I'm still obsessing about it! I can do better to look put together. Maybe part of it is that I have so many clothes that I get lazy instead of being thoughtful about what I'm wearing. Hmmm...

Happy October! Happy Q4! Go Padres!