We have finally made it to Italy, the last country in our six month journey away from home. The great thing is that none of us have ever been here before. What a great way to end this adventure -- with something completely new!We arrived in Genova, Italy two days ago and it has immediately lived up to our expectations. It really feels like we are in Italy! It is amazing how those stereotypes we have somehow developed in our heads have kicked into place. The Italians are SO exuberant, gregarious and friendly. It is quite the contrast to the more reserved nature of the French people we have experienced in the last few months. Not that we are making a judgement -- it is just a very big contrast.
The picture shown above is the beach right in front of the place in Genova where we are staying with our friends Ugo and Deb. We met Ugo through Cam and Cristina over a decade ago when Ugo came to visit Canada. During his visit, Ugo came to stay with us in Victoria for a few days. Ugo and Deb are such a lovely warm couple -- they have been nothing but kind and wonderful to us!
Just to back track back to France a little, for a moment. Here are some departing photographs, below, of Provence before we left. We just had to sneak a picture of this women with her two dogs at the Tuesday Cucuron market. The French really like their dogs!
Then we also chose to take some departing pictures of us all looking out of the quintessential Provencal blue shuttered windows at our place in Lourmarin. Such a good memory!
The night before we left Provence, we had a little visitor to our room. This was the second scorpion we encountered in Provence. Apparently they have a bit of a sting (check out the poison-pouch at the end of the tail) but nothing lethal, or so the locals say. That said, we were not keen to experience the sting.
Okay, back to Italy! Here is Skye and Pippin on our first morning in Genova. The windows from Ugo and Deb's apartment look out over the Mediterranean. It is great for people watching and the setting is just so Italian, with the colourful buildings set tightly together overlooking the water.
This is a picture taken of Kai on Ugo and Deb's terrace (on the rooftop of the building). They often prepare their meals in a little terrace-top kitchen, and then settle in to eat and enjoy the evenings up there -- the cooler air makes it a great place for hanging out. Again, it feels so European!
Ugo and Deb's apartment is also great. It has the appeal of an old building, but has been upgraded with all the modern amenities. The floors are marble (apparently original) adding a cool feeling in this warm climate, and they have created a very open, minimalist asthetic. It is tres chic!
The beach experience here is also quite a trip. As we like to say in Canada: people are "tooth to jowl" on the beach! It makes for great people watching and makes the beach a much more social experience. We got right in there, swimming and lapping up the sun.
Last night, after some hours on the beach, we went down to basically the basement of the apartment building to a family owned pizzaria for what was undoubtedly the very best pizza we have had in our lives. The crust, the toppings, the flavours, the wood burning oven all made for a fabulous culinary experience. Ugo and Deb know the owners well, and so they put on a real show and made us feel very welcome. The owner's name is Franco and he has been making pizza for over 40 years. Ugo kept talking about Franco like he was an artist and how he put "so much love into his food." Well it showed. The Italians are so passionate! Below is a picture of Franco, his family, Deb and Ugo.
Franco insisted on demonstrating how he opened up the pizza dough. We are not exaggerating when we say that it took him a mere 30 seconds to go from having the ball of dough in his hands, to twirling it in the air so that it quickly became a thin Italian pizza base ready for the oven. It truly was like a work of visual art. When we make pizza at home, it takes us half an hour of working the dough to get it so nice and thin. We might need to come and study with the master!
Here is a picture Pippin took of the after dinner glow. 
To help us digest, we then went on an evening stroll through the neighbourhood. There is a lovely walk along the water and along narrow lanes through what was previously a fishing village. The evening was warm, it was already 11 pm, and the streets were bustling with energy. John and Bay were here recently and kept saying that the Italians like to have a good time -- well now we know what they meant! People were out everywhere enjoying the moonlight shimmering over the ocean. Skye and I had a good chuckle because (just like the stereotypical visions in our minds') there were endless numbers of smooching couples, clutching their motorcycle helmets in one arm and each other with their free arms, all romancing along the way, reinforcing our view of the romantic Italian ways. Added to that, there were droves of teenagers and young people milling about smoking, visiting, and having a late night gelato. Which brings us to the topic of gelato. Let's just say we are already mourning the loss of the gelato that will come when we leave Italy! It is the most ambrosial, delicious thing we have ever experienced, in terms of ice cream. The best part about the gelato is that it is almost half the cost of gelato/creme glacee in France. We will be having at least two a day while we are here! Get ready to roll us off the plane when we arrive back in Canada.
Well that is about it for now. We have another day here before we venture south in search of the perfect site to set up camp for awhile. We shall see where we end up!Until next time . . .
Arrivederci
Skye, Ronato, Kai and Pippin
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