My Sisters

My sisters Mary (left) and Cathy

It was only after my sisters left on Sunday that I began to wonder to myself:  just what did they see on their visit here?  Did they look at the train that took them from Roma, where they had visited for a week, to Firenze in the same way I look at the train – a beautiful red speed machine that takes you away from home, and then brings you back?

Sister Act...arriving in Firenze

When they got off in Firenze and starting walking down the platform with all the people coming and going, did they feel they were in a different place, or just on another train platform?  And when we were standing on the banks of the Arno on Saturday night and the sun was going down and the lighting on the Oltrarno was just perfect, did they see the different shades of green in the hills and spot the tower of San Miniato, something which I had never noticed before? 



Who are the pretty girls? Kendra (left) and Brandi

How did they feel when I announced, shortly after arriving, that we had a date with my friends Brandi and Kendra to visit the Florence Wine Event at the Palazzo Pitti?  I’m sure it must have felt disorienting and rushed, but they were game, and so we walked the streets I walk so often, and made our way to “the Pitti.”  Pictures were taken along the way, but what was it like to see the Arno for the first time? And the hills to the east?  And the Ponte Vecchio? These are landmarks that orient and remind me daily that I’m here. But how did they look to my sisters’ fresh eyes? 

At the Florence Wine Event, 10 June 2012

The wine event, which was in the courtyard of a 16^th century palace, must have seemed completely “unreal”, but the wines were lovely (lots of local wines) and going to a wine tasting seemed like good practice for the week ahead. We seemed to have wine with both lunch and dinner almost every day.

 

Having visitors like my sisters reminds me of what I now seem to take for granted.   My local grocery stores would, of course, seem exotic and wonderfully different from those at home because everything is the same, but everything is completely different. At home, fruits and vegetables are weighed and priced at the checkout. Here, you carefully put on a plastic glove before touching anything in the produce aisle. You select your produce and put it in a bag, and then weigh and price it yourself at the weighing scale.  Every fruit and veggie has a unique number on the weigh scale and there are pictures to help you just in case you’ve forgotten the number.  And going to the local mercato is a completely different experience than going to the Billa or Coop!  These are small but essential differences that are part of Italian life.  I was so happy to show my sisters that I’d conquered the routines of daily life – grocery shopping, going to the market, doing laundry, cooking dinners, of course, eating and drinking.  I know my sisters worry about their little brother, as they have been doing for nearly 50 years, but after this visit I think they were pleased with my progress.

I offered to take my sisters to Milan for a day-long shopping expedition because I thought they would enjoy Milan and all it had to offer. They quickly explained that while shopping in Milan would be wonderful, they REALLY wanted to go to Venice instead.  And who needs an excuse to go to Venezia?  So, we hopped on a train and headed north for a lovely day-trip.

In Piazza San Marco, Venezia

As with Firenze, but probably more so, I wondered what they experienced and saw when we arrived in the magical city that is Venezia?  I’m sure their silence on the vaporetto ride down the Canal Grande was a sure sign they were in a completely different place and absorbing it all in.  Who is not in awe of the palazzi that line Venezia’s main thoroughfare?  Piazza San Marco was less the Circus it was during Carnivale, and while bustling with tourists, the city seemed less crowded and rushed. We walked for hours with no specific agenda in mind – crossing tiny bridges over picturesque canals, strolling through various campo (fields, but now squares), and stopping to shop, to eat, to drink.  In Italian, the word for a taste of something is assaggio.  For one day, they had an assaggio of Venezia which I hope whet their appetite to return in the future.



In Venezia, 15 June 2012

I left my sisters alone to see some of the Florence sights by themselves like the Uffizi and the Duomo.  But we also did things that were new to me, like walking through the Giardino Bardini – a beautiful late 19^th century formal garden in the Oltrarno. Most of the spring flowers and flowering plants had finished blooming but we had a lovely stroll, and lunch al fresco on a terrace with truly breathtaking views of the city below.  My friends Lucy and Marie raved about the Bardini gardens and now I know why.  Another stop during the week was the Museo dell’Opera di Santa Marie del Fiore – the museum of the Duomo. It’s a gem of a museum and not on many people’s itineraries, yet it’s filled with all the original art works from the Duomo, Giotto’s Campanile, the Baptistery, and was the site where Michelangelo created his David.

While my sisters’ first visit to Firenze reminded me a bit of my own many years ago (too much to see – not enough time), I wasn’t going to let them go back to Canada without experiencing some of things that make living here so enjoyable and unique.  On their final night, we went to the Open Bar so they could experience aperitivo and have a Spritz.  We also visited my local bar on a few mornings for un cappuccino e pasta, so they got to see how some Italians eat “breakfast.”



After aperitivi at Open Bar

And because they both love to cook, a good chunk of their final day was spent having a private cooking lesson with Francesco Arancio at Il Tavola. It was so much fun to treat them to the lesson and watch then cooking up a delicious 4-course pranzo (lunch) which was custom-designed by Francesco and Fabrizio, the owner of Il Tavola.



Francesco and Cathy

We made from scratch: Fegatini all’Umbria in un cestino di formaggio (sautèed chicken livers served in a parmigiano reggiano bowl); Pasta Fresca Pici (pici is a type of Tuscan/Sienese pasta) with a Ragu di Anatra al Brandy (duck sauce); Polpetone (meatloaf, with a lovely tomato sauce); and a Crema al Limone (lemon cream). 

Cooking up a storm at Il Tavola

 If I didn’t know what they saw or felt on seeing Firenze or Venezia for the first time, I certainly did know how my sisters felt leaving the table at Il Tavola after eating the lunch they had just spent 3 hours cooking: stuffed, but completely satisfied.  Kind of like visiting Italy for the first time….



About to sample our day's work!