Stanley va a scuola
Stanley goes to school and then, has some fun!
In selecting a language school one of my first questions was, would it be possible to bring along Stan? When I called the Grasshopper Language school I was surprised to be greeted by an Italian accent with a, not so faint, Lancashire lilt. Imagine my surprise when I discovered, not only that the owner was brought up not far from me, but she was also called Elisabeth. The fact that she clearly loved dogs made the decision even more straight-forward. Stanley enjoyed his lesson today, he was impressed with the speed by which he captured the articoli determinativi. He didn’t quite understand why I spent so much time conjugating verbs. That said, he was happy to conclude that his favourite verb to conjugate was, of course, that Italian favourite - mangiare. He could literally eat it up! Cynthia, our teacher, is looking forward to serving up more Italian delicacies for our consumption tomorrow! Stan can’t wait.
Carol, my fellow student, as a frequent traveler to the region had a recommendation that we visit Camogli. Getting there was easy, just five minutes on the train. That’s one of the great advantages of Rapallo - the train links are second to none. Since we arrived, Stan and I have, thankfully, not driven anywhere in the car,
In class, we learnt about the many words Italians have for the word blue - little did we know that this rainy day would provide such a beautiful examplar of them, in practice. Stan and I weren’t surprised to learn this given Italy’s reputation as a centre of art. We are looking forward to debating which specific version of Italian blue we will see when we head to Rome and Florence.
And when we looked back from the sea to the beach, Camogli rewarded us with an even more colourful experience. Buildings of terracotta, green, pink and yellow make the perfect boundary between sea and land.
Did I mention that Stan likes food? Of course, I did! Camogli represented the perfect destination; it is the centre for a most unique Italian festival. Unlike many Italian festivals, the provinence of the festival is relatively recent but that doesn’t detract, in any way, from its significance. It’s known as the Fish Festival of Saint Fortunato in honour of the Patron Saint of Fishermen. Fishermen’s wives during WWII prepared a festival, in gratitude, for the safe return of their husbands. Suffice to say, the extent of that gratitude has reached gargantuan proportions. The pan you can see in the picture is colossal - it has a liquid capacity of a thousand litres and weighs over 2.5 tonnes. Every year in May, it is placed in the harbour and thousands of fish are fried for consumption. Fireworks and huge bonfires, created by the two main residential areas of the town, build a party atmosphere. It’s testament to human nature that, in the depth of human challenge and tragedy, an event is created to celebrate and preserve those we love. The good news is that Carol plans to come back next Spring and will be there to witness this in person. I can’t wait to see the photos!
In the spirit of the fish festival, we indulged in a phenomenal meal at Izoa. Not only was the food fantastic, we shared with the waitress that we were learning Italian. It provided a great opportunity to put our Italian into practice. The service and food here was second to none and Stan and I have no doubt it will make an excellent choice if you happen to head this way. Stanley provided a valuable security system against the, both dominant and lovely, gulls that sat sinisterly seconds from our table. As we relaxed into our meals and shared storied of our lives, they seemed, moment by moment, less threatening that we imagined.
The fish festival isn’t the only way that Camogli celebrates the most special of human emotions. Here, on the harbour, Stanley was delighted to be photographed alongside the hearts and knots that the Camogli Fishermans’s Cooperative tie there every Valentine’s Day. The association between romance and Camogli is so great that the town is officially known as the City of Lovers and linked to San Valentino ... Innamorati a Camogli (Valentine’s Day ... Fall in love in Camogli). Each year, a love poem is selected in a competition resulting in the award of the Special Price of the City of Camogli. No wonder so many couples come here to reaffirm or cement their feelings of affection. Maybe you should too?
If you’re either religious or an admirer of historic churches, you’d be mad not to visit the Basilica Santa Maria Assunta. Like many churches, be you religious or not, there is a sense of calm that was particularly compelling today. The rain had kept the tourists away lending an even more special experience as we surveyed its spectacular interior. Built in the baroque style, externally a clean, simplistic style made the interior artwork even more powerful. I’m afraid that, in defiance of the ‘silenzio’ signs, Stan was desparate to remove his raincoat. The result was that he wriggled and rolled in an attempt to get it off. Our two other fellow visitors were kind and smiled with affection as I quickly freed him from its constraints.
I hope that one day you get to experience Camogli too!
Stanley goes to school
Blu isn’t always blue; it can be azzurro, celeste, chiaro, scuro, marino and more! Che bello!
Colourful Camogli
Is this the world’s largest pan?
Will you be my valentine?
Stan … respect! You’re in charge.
Basilica Santa Maria Assunta
