Do any of you remember that summer? That was the hottest summer in about 25 years all over the world. Old people were dying without air conditioning. It was even muggy in San Diego (where we usually don’t have humidity). Well, I remember that summer. It was my 2nd trip to Europe. My 2nd trip visiting Mik’s parents in Vernasso, Italy. But this time instead of 10 days I stayed about a month. My old boyfriend, Mik, had neglected to tell me how humid a NORMAL July and August can be when compared with the perfect May weather from my previous year’s visit. This year the weather was simply…painful.Put it this way: Italy and most of Europe, I think, – does not have air conditioning. Maybe the big cities but certainly not the country. It was so hot and sticky one couldn’t sleep, eat, walk, look pretty or anything. I remember the first day I tried working out with Mik and I got so sick that I scared Mik’s parents greatly and they had to call an emergency doctor at 1am who (get this..) did a house call!!! I’ve only heard of doctors making house calls in old books and movies!!
Regardless of humidity, I wasn’t going to spend a month in Mik’s tiny village – no matter how pretty it is. We did a lovely day trip up to Austria (about a half hour to the north). This was a great idea as it was much cooler up there in the mountains. We went to 2 nice cities – Klagenfurt and then the pretty lakeside town of Velden. I enjoyed Austria very much – it is completely different than Italy in architecture, food and mannerisms - yet so close!
We also did a tranquil day trip to Slovenia – only a few minutes east of Mik’s village. We found ourselves at Santa di Lucia Lake where we had a picnic and strolled around the large lake watching the swans and the Slovenian teens playing in the water. It was very peaceful. Mik told me stories how people in his village used to go there to buy gasoline since it was so cheap until the Italian gov’t gave them special cards to buy discounted gas in Italy so the profits stayed in their native country.
Another fabulous trip was a week spent in San Cugat and Barcelona, Spain visiting my 2nd oldest sister: Sylvia, brother-in-law Tim, and kids, Ariela and Sebastian. They moved to Spain for about 3 years when Tim’s work at Hewlitt-Packard transferred him there. It was definitely a life-changing experience for all of them and a great way for the kids to really have to learn and use their Spanish in school. They were greatly missed in San Diego by all the family, so it was very exciting to see their temporary lives in Espana! They lived in a cute house in quaint San Cugat – about 15 minutes by tram to Barcelona. We spent our time between hanging out with the family, playing soccer with Sebastian and going into Barcelona to explore. I loved the museums and getting lost. I thought the Spanish people (men and women alike) were the most beautiful people, collectively, that I have ever seen! My only complaint was that I did not really like the food and also I, surprisingly, found it hard to understand the Catalan dialect they use in Barcelona. I realize my Mexican border Spanish is different but sometimes business owners were a little snooty about my Spanish. Geez!
One harrowing story in Spain was that we got to meet up with our dear San Diego friends Danny (Mik’s old roommate), and married couple Claudio and Leyla who were all en route to party in Ibiza. They stayed a couple days in Barcelona to see us and shop. The first night we met up with them we were ahem, ‘over served’ sangria (ummm) and found ourselves late at night wandering the famous Calle Ramblas where all the bars and clubs are. The boys were demanding to have Paella since we were in Spain. We finally found a tiny, dirty hole-in-the-wall shop after midnight that was open and, indeed, selling paella. Paella, that is, for a whopping $20 bucks for a bowl that was probably made early that afternoon and was old and hardened. Still, Mik and Danny, being buzzed said they wanted it. We hadn’t paid anything yet and the gruff Turk behind the counter shoved 2 bowls in the oven to warm up. We waited. And waited. And waited. I was doing all the translating but they could see that we were a little drunk, tourists, and NOT happy about how long it was taking to warm up the darn bowls of old paella. Finally Danny suggested we leave. It was almost a half hour we waited. So we wandered outside. Well, next thing we know 3 pissed off Turkish men jump over the counter and grab the boys roughly by the collars shouting and swearing at me in Spanish that we were thieves and breaking the law. I was so scared – they looked like they were going to kill Michigan blonde hair, blue-eyed Danny who was cussing back at them in the only Spanish he knew. I tried explaining that they were taking too long, the food looked poor and we hadn’t even paid yet. Well, SHAME on US. That was very naïve of us to assume we can do whatever we want in a foreign country after midnight. They dragged us back inside, pulled down the bars and LOCKED us in, demanding to be paid or they would call the cops. Believe me: we paid. Then they basically threw down the bowls of food with no silverware and told me they could use their fingers. We were so glad to leave in 1 piece and I can honestly say that we were very lucky no one got hurt. I was very ashamed at our behaviour, but we honestly had no idea it would make them so mad. As for the $20 paella bowl? Inedible and thrown away.
The last event to discuss was that in August back in Italy, Mik’s village puts on a HUGE festival (Matejur) that now brings 100s of people even from Germany, Austria and Slovenia. It is a week-long, complete with beer garden, nightly bands and dancing, volleyball, BBQs to sell food day and night, a gorgeous but tough cross-country race, people swimming and tanning in the adjacent river Natisone. Out of towners bring tents and camp there next to the field or river and bathe in it for a week!!! Can you imagine the stink of no real shower and the heat of that summer??? EWWWWW. Being Italy of course there was a huge soccor tournament for prize money (major fights and racism). Shoot, one guy was so hurt that they had to call in a helicopter to land in tiny Vernasso!! Amazing! The locals all sign up and work booths, or sports events. It has gotten to be so big that it is a MAJOR money-making event for tiny Vernasso.
My 2 favorite memories were dancing to some Asian girl fronting a foreign band in her heavily accented English as she sang Shania Twain’s song, “Damn! I feel like a woman”. The crowd would go so crazy at every American song and they’d sing it at the top of their lungs in their broken English as best they could and I swear but I saw some big, athletic, macho, monster of some guys who were singing and dancing like happy oafs, “Damn! I feel like a woman!” Now you know they had NO CLUE as to what they were saying, and if they did they would be traumatized. As for me: it almost made me homesick for my gay town Hillcrest in San Diego. Sigh!
My last great memory was on the closing night of the festival had the best fireworks' display I had ever seen. And this isn’t America, folks, where they set them off far away. No sir, they set them off right in the middle of the soccer field and everyone just laid down in the grass and watched the sky – it was SO loud and SO low I almost got scared a couple times! Absolutely fantastic!!! And seeing that massive, colorful display in the dark countryside with no city lights and only stars just can’t be beat. A great memory… it even made the humidity worth it! :)
click on slideshow below!
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