Yesterday morning, Clare and I decided to visit an Italian city that I hadn't been to yet and where a couple of her old friends live: Caserta.
When we set off, it was cold and misty. We were dressed in plenty of wintery layers, aware of the fact that it would likely be sunny and warmish, later that day.
The plan was to first go to the Saturday market and meet up there with one friend of hers ( a woman who I've met several times and who has always been super supportive of Clare and her creativity ). A great friend.
The market was huge and full of people. We ended up spending two to 3 hours there and bought a bunch of nice things. It was a bit overwhelming but we had a good time.
Afterwards, early afternoon, we had lunch at an old friend of Clare's, the mother of an ex-partner of hers. This woman's son was the man that Clare came to Italy for, 16 years ago. And although their relationship didn't last long, they stayed friends until his passing, about 4 years ago.
This woman's husband also passed away, not too long after his son and Clare was looking forward to check in on her, to see how she was holding up. Being in her early 80s and without the two most important men in her life, it couldn't be easy.
She appeared to be doing exceptionally well, looking strong and healthy and with a fine working brain. There was also nothing wrong with her cooking and that is an understatement :<)
The lunch was amazing. I was welcomed into the family immediately. The womans' son-in law ( husband of her daughter ) and her granddaughter were there too and all three of them were sweet, intelligent, good energy people.
The lunch appeared to be of Christmas dinner proportions and they fed me as if I was a starving bird. I can eat well but I had to stretch my stomach to the max. I ate the most of all of us ( A primo piatto of pasta, a secondo piatto of meatballs in tomato sauce, followed by greens, grilled veggies in oil, a huge amount of mozzarella, amazingly prepared mushrooms, a big piece of cake, coffee and alcohol ( vino rosso spumante and limoncello as a digestivo ).
All in all, we had a great 3 hour lunch/ chat ( 99% of it in Italian! the perfect chance for me to improve my skills ) and Clare and I decided to leave just early enough to drive home before dark.
The acquedotto of Caserta looked even more beautiful in the late afternoon sun...
After returning home, we decided to have one drink in a bar in town, to ground ourselves a bit after a day in the city.
We picked connect four off the games shelf and played a dozen of games.
This photo, taken there, represents how the two of us felt...
A bit dazed and confused, exhausted but happy.
We are no city people, even though both of us have spent quite some time living in cities.
It's fun to visit a city, every now and then though. It's nice to people watch and socialize.
But, in the end, we like our peace and quiet and we need nature to actually feel good.
Yes, It might be harder on our new land and it is definitely less comfy, especially in Winter. This doesn't change the fact though that we are looking forward to returning to our spot in the wild outskirts of Molise, very soon.
Stay tuned...