Suzy Says

At the end of our stay in Siena, we went to Milan to stay overnight with Dad’s friend David Calamari (amusingly enough, he is a marine biologist: David Squid) and his family, before going on to the Calamaris’ place on Lake Como. My experience there was not at all like George Clooney’s, I’m willing to bet.

May 6, 1984

Claudio [one of Dad’s colleagues at the Unversity of Siena] drove us to Florence with all our luggage (!) and took us on a little detour to PIazza Michelangelo for a last look at Florence (although it was a bit hazy) & then to the train.

Our train was the old-fashioned compartment kind, & very crowded. We shared a compartment with a tired-looking young man reading a comic book & a bored, pretty girl. When I fixed my lipstick after lunch, I was observed and imitated by a group of schoolboys, who applauded in glee until scolded by one of their teachers. When they got out, they opened the compartment door and said, “Bye-bye.”

By the time we got to Milan, it was absolutely pouring incredibly, and Meg & I had to walk because the luggage took up the whole taxi. [Italian cars are small, and Mom did not travel light.] Fortunately, it was a short walk to the Calamaris’ apartment, which was built in the 1920’s. The foyer is all marble (I was unduly impressed until I learned they use marble for everything), with the concierge behind glass and a tiny elevator. You had to close the doors by hand, and only three thin people could fit into it at one time.

The next day was horrible. Meg has the ambition to climb the three tallest cathedrals in Europe. She’s climbed St. Peter’s in Rome, & St. Paul’s in London, and Milan Cathedral was next. So I took her up. It was pouring buckets, & the roof of the cathedral was all wet slippery marble rivers. Megan & I, with my bright blue umbrella and pink boots, were pursued across the roof by screaming Italian boys. Very scary. Check off cathedral #3.

Took the subway to get to the train station to go to Intra [on Lake Como]. I liked it a lot; it’s very high-tech, black, anthracite, and orange. At Laveno, took the ferry to Intra. It was still pouring, and the taxi was there, but the driver wasn’t. We found him in a bar. We finally arrived at the Calamaris’ house, which is very weird.

It’s 200 years old, and nothing has changed. There are: no central heating, dirt floors downstairs, no hot running water, no bathub or shower or coffee pot [even then I was a caffeine addict!]. In fact, it’s completely uncivilized, and a nightmare that could have been designed especially for me. [Still camping-averse, too.]

The Davids [both Dad & Calamari had the same first name] arrived around dinnertime – Dad was speaking at the University – & we had a great dinner. [An on-going joke between the two Davids was that they’d open a restaurant one day and call it Il Due Davide – the Two Davids. I wish they’d had the chance!]

The next day, some of David’s friends & relations (he has as many as Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh) came. We managed fairly well, in spite of the language problems*. The friends & relations had seen Dad on TV a few years ago and were duly impressed. One of them, Ephraim, is a keen bird-watcher and they pointed out birds to each other in a book.

We have gone through 20 bottles of wine since we got here – beautiful red wine. There are shelves and shelves of it in the only room with a fireplace – the dining room. David has lived here, on and off, since he was a child. The view from the back of the house is remarkable – the lake & the high mountains, some with snow on the upper slopes. Much prettier today in the sun. However, I can’t wait to get out of here.

*I never progressed much beyond “Where is the train for Florence?” and menu. Dad refused to try and learn a foreign language, on the basis that if you tried out a few words, you’d get a torrent of nonsense back which you’d have no hope of understanding.