Monday, July 25, 2005

where in the world is miss adventure?

at the festa dell'unita on friday night in Carpi, near Modena:
I went with a group of friends to hear the Bluebeaters, an Italian rocksteady band that they're all fans of, in this little town that inexplicably has the second largest piazza in Europe. We had to stop to ask directions five or six times, but arrived in enough time to sit down at the makeshift osteria and eat fried specialties and drink very cold lambrusco. We had plates of prosciutto and mortadella with gnocco, which is a big flat fritter, various types of fried polenta, tigelle, which look like little pancakes and are not unlike english muffins - griddle cakes. The tigelle came with pesto - but pesto alla Modenese, which is the furthest thing from the pesto from Genoa we know in the States. In Modena, it is a paste of lardo, mortadella, garlic, and other tasty things. Basically, flavored hog fat. Delicious. I was skeptical about lambrusco, but in this context, really really cold and very dry, it was perfect.
the concert was great, it reminded me of going to ska shows in high school. we danced and enjoyed ourselves and passed out in the car on the way home.

Saturday there was a party for Cipio and some others who just graduated. This has been a great time to be in Bologna, seeing the graduates around town wearing laurel wreaths on their heads. Cipio and his friends rented a place in the country, a cottage behind a nursery. It was a little strange to approach a party through the rows of potted plants, past guard dogs, but the outdoor space was lovely. There were animals and gardens and a gorgeous pool under a domed greenhouse, surrounded by tropical plants. I made friends right away with the goat, admired the chickens and geese, sampled the salad greens directly out of the garden. I found a corner where there were black raspberries growing and snuck off periodically during the evening to eat a handful. There was swimming and lots of dancing and throwing people into the pool. The night degenerated fairly quickly and at the end I found myself riding back to town in my friend's car next to a laureate who'd tucked his shirt into his boxer shorts and pulled his black socks up to his kneecaps, improvised a tie out of a strip of plastic ribbon, but had lost his pants at some point. I told him it was very rock and roll.

My archivist is now on vacation. I have to make due with the other libraries in town for a couple of weeks, which gives me time to hassle the people at the Salaborsa to have their wireless network repaired. Although the network tech is probably on vacation.

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