Out and about

25th August 2024

With the start of the week continuing to be a bit on the disappointing side, at least if you were planning days at the beach, Stephen continued his sterling efforts with the downstairs lumber room – with a little help from me, in case you think I was just spending all day on the chaise longue, and I did have one lesson, on Monday afternoon which makes it a working week for me.

Apart from shifting some more of the bigger and less used items into the other downstairs room, it was mainly a case this week of going through and organising the packing boxes and plastic containers and sifting through all the things that had just been put there while we figured out what to do with them. The Renegade was again full to bursting when we made a second trip to the ecocentro on Wednesday. On the plus side we got rid of, among other things, a radio, an iPod station, a kettle, another DVD player and a VHS player (ask your parents), a TV, two irons, an old computer and four electronic weighing scales. Don’t ask.

On the negative side, when Stephen opened the case containing all our Wedgewood dishes, while we could happily cater an intimate dinner party for eight, there were no, to our disappointment, pasta bowls. We are in need of some new ones as wear and tear and breakages has reduced the number to just four, and they look like they’ve seen better days.  Also on the negative side was having to deal with the wildlife that had made the lumber room home. Fortunately, whatever scurried out of a plastic storage box containing towels, having gained access through a partially shattered lid, was a single occupant, but the only thing Stephen could do with another pile of blankets and dust cover sheets was to cremate them and their deceased rodent residents.

It was not all boxes though. Tuesday morning we did a big stock up on non-perishables at Conad in Cuore Adriatico. We were a little disappointed that Gordon’s gin wasn’t on offer, but bucked up when Stephen discovered on browsing the newspaper front pages in the BBC news app the next morning, that, allowing for conversion, a bottle appears to be about half the price it is in the UK.

So what other exciting things have we done?

Wednesday dawned clear and bright as the weather reverted to its default setting, and it was the morning we paid our first visit to the Post Office since its revamp. At first glance it might look like nothing much has changed except that the central counter has been lowered to make it more accessible, with a couple of chairs placed so you can sit while you carry out transactions (a very odd feeling). The only thing with this is that the new rubberised track for, presumably, wheelchair uses goes to the first counter, which is still at the old height.

It's quite some time since we visited the Thursday morning market in Porto San Giorgio. We managed to put that right this last week, even though it looked a bit doubtful when we got there and drew a blank on a parking space. The combination of all the holiday flats being occupied and the attraction of the market meant that it was only on the second drive round that we thought we better take the spot on the road at the other side of the railway tracks and walk back into the centre. It only took five or so minutes, though psychologically it seemed further. And what did we come away with from this very extensive market, centred on the square but spreading out down the side streets? A pack of white ghost socks and a new plug for the kitchen sink, of course.

As is the nature of these things, we were back in PSG in the evening as Bertrando had invited Stephen and Cecilia, plus spouses, to dinner with him and his very pregnant partner. Being evening, we had no trouble with the parking, bagging a spot in a side street near the centre, just a short walk to the lungomare. Stephen had said we were going to eat pizza, but when we eventually all gathered round the table (we were on time outside the chalet, Quadrofoglio, at 8 as arranged, not so much the others) it was decided we would eat fish, which means mainly seafood. The others tucked in with gusto, but I didn’t starve as Bertrando ordered in such a way as I could work round all those things that crawl along the seabed and find plenty to fill my plate.

Living purely for pleasure we made it two evenings out on the trot (didn’t we do that the other week as well; it must be summer) with a visit to Loro Piceno for the second night of their four-night Festival del Vino Cotto. As ever, we got there fairly early (6.45) and had a pleasant wander round the old streets, passing lots of people setting up for the evening. As I remarked to Stephen, it’s very much Catch-22 in Italy: things don’t start punctually because they know people won’t come till later, and people don’t come till later because they know things won’t start on time.

At least our preferred dining spot was up and running – just. While we were perusing the menu on the wall outside a youth came out to tell the girl on the desk that the kitchen had no electricity. There was a moment of indecision, not least because no one seemed to know what shape the pasta with the goose ragu was (we would ask, even though we knew we were going to have tortellini alla boscaiola) but then the lights came on and things started cooking on gas… or electric if you are being pernickety.

Another stroll after dinner to take in just how busy it was (good for them) and to buy a bottle of the eponymous star of the whole show and home for limoncello. I’m not sure if it is an unwritten rule in Italy, but in our house at least, limoncello, like ice cream, is for the summer; vino cotto and chocolate is for the winter.

And then it was all over bar the shouting. Yesterday morning saw our third trip to the ecocentro, and a third different man on duty. This one, though, actually stood up and came and checked our stuff and helped us. Harry became somewhat exercised in the afternoon when they started harvesting the sunflowers in Mario and Luigi’s field; he barked while we closed all the windows to try to keep out the dust.

As for today, it was beach walk as usual this morning, then this afternoon we booked an appointment online at IKEA for Tuesday afternoon. Stephen has, at last, had enough of wrestling doors back on the wardrobes and we’re going to see their design team to see what they can come up with. Watch this space, as they say – or rather, watch the one where the furniture will no longer be.

We continued our dissolute lives by making it an unheard of three nights out in the space of four with pizza at Verde Pistacchio. We enjoyed our previous Sunday evening there so much that we were keen to repeat it. This time we were in the garden rather than up on the terrazzo (or terrazza or loggia), sharing the space with two birthday parties. The two-year old didn’t seem all that impressed, though his adult guests troughed well. The five-year old and his friends seemed to have a clearer idea what pizza is for, as did Stephen and I. Gnam gnam.