CheetahhhhhhhBlog Mark III

It’s been a while since I blogged because we were busy running around Italy with Vanessa’s cousin and her family. It was nice because we had a real live Italian (the cousin’s husband, Pierro) to show us around. We went to Volterra, Siena, and Genoa.

The countryside of Tuscany is very green and hilly. It’s quite beautiful, with vinyards and farms.

Volterra is a town high up on a mountain. It’s very nice though we wanted to go in the castle, which would have been Vanessa’s first castle, but the castle was the town jail. Pierro exclaimed, ‘Only in Italy!’

Siena is a town I highly recommend. The main square is quite impressive and apparenly they have a famous horse race there. One of the churches has the embalmed head of St Catherine in a shrine. It’s a bit strange and grotesque. The main cathedral is not to be missed. By the time we arrived there, I was completely exhausted and was going to wait outside with Pierro. After the Vatican, I wouldn’t have thought any cathedral would be very interesting. However in some ways the Siena cathedral is actually more impressive. The artwork is less grandiose and more to my taste i suppose. The cathedral is made of black and white marble and the marble was laid in black-and-white stripes. The effect is really cool. Anyway if you’re in Italy, don’t miss Siena.

Genoa we didn’t actually see a lot of though we had a fabulous meal and we visited Pierro’s mother. The Italian riviera is really beautiful and also not to be missed. We passed through some truly beautiful towns like Portofino where apparenly the real estate is so expensive, it has no price. The views from the hills onto the Mediterranean are gorgeous. I hope the people who live there appreciate how lucky they are. The area of Genoa has no flat land, just hills dropping down into the sea, and driving there requires lots of turns and curves, up and down and around the hills.

I had thought my favorite food was Tuscan but no, it’s Genovese. Genoa is where pesto comes from. Indeed the best pesto comes from the basil that grows on a certain hill in Genoa. Pierro said, ‘Nobody knows why the basil there is better.’ I was going to buy a few jars but Pierro insisted on making us some himself. He gave Vanessa detailed instructions about pesto and I sure hope she was paying attention.

Anyway we missed our papal audience on Wednesday, which is too bad, but we didn’t want to leave Castglioncello. Actually we slept in too late so the matter was decided for us, but we weren’t disappointed because we liked Castiglioncello, and also Vanessa was happy to spend more time with her cousin. Ate An-An and Vanessa spent 3 whole days chatting and I’m not even sure where they found that much to talk about. When we left, they both started crying.

I’m currently on the train to Roma and Vanessa is sleeping on my shoulder. I’m writing this on my Nokia 9500. We have a lot of pictures that I’ll post when we return home. We had a very nice holiday, indeed we plan to return to Italy. Perhaps we can come again during December, but we’ll have a 2 month old baby, and Vanessa may not want to travel. Also it would be nice if the value of the Euro versus the US dollar dropped a little because the current exchange rate of €1=$1.21 makes Italy outrageously expensive. Pierro says Italy is expensive for Italians too. Apparently after the conversion to the €, prices went up but salaries stayed the same. I am generally not too keen on outrageously expensive vacations, but Italy was so nice, it’s worth it. Also we know now to avoid Rome, where the primary business is fleecing tourists (even other Italians). There is a lot more of Italy we need to see, including Venice, Milan, and Florence. Also I would like to see Savoy and the Italian islands. With the baby on the way, we will have to work a little harder at maintaining our globehopping lifestyle, though it can certainly be done.

I like the general vibe of Italy and Italians. It’s such a stark contrast to Saudi, which has a rather dull and oppressive vibe. I’m not saying I hate Saudi or anything. However Italy is so beautiful and full of things to see and do. The people are friendy and stylish. The food is so delicious. On the other hand, with Saudi, you’d really have to search your brain for things a turist would like to see and do. If you’re Muslim, there is Mecca, but beyond that… eesh… In particular with Italy, the thing I like is this place is stylish. Straight out of Wallpaper* magazine. I’ve been living in a style void (that describes Saudi well) and it was so nice to be around people who care about esthetics. I have an artistic temperment like most Sagitarians and so I really appreciate the small details that make something beautiful.

I am a tad concerned about our ability to travel this summer. We may have to reconsider Peru because it will be very cold for a 6 months pregnant Vanessa and also I am concerned about the high altitude, where I was constantly tired and sick, and I wasn’t even pregnant.

I wrote the above while on the train from Castiglioncello to Rome. Now we’re in a taxi from Jeddah to Yanbu (actually faster when you take into account waiting around in airports). Tomorrow we will rest and Saturday, it’s back to the slave pits (the university).