Sybil’s Leaves 2009: Out-and-About At Long Last
Although i have been touring Perugia and Umbria by day, my evenings before this week-end had been devoted mostly to chatting with friends back home, watching streamed television and reading. After Friday’s successful trip to the Umbria Jazz box office, i worked up the courage to correct that and have been enjoying more of Perugia’s nightlife over the week-end. It is a trend that is likely to continue as i am have another SIX concerts to attend at the outdoor theatre Santa Giuliana. Tonight is Chick Corea, tomorrow Bryan and i are going to see Wynton Marsalis, Thursday is Burt Bacharach (did you know he attended McGill?), Friday Bryan and i are going to see George Benson’s Tribute to Nat King Cole (i LOVE Nat King Cole - he is one of three singers whose performance of Christmas carols is permitted in my vicinity), Saturday Bryan and i are going to see James Taylor and Sunday Michelle and i are going to see John Scofield. It’s going to be a busy week - and one in which i will hopefully be able to get some more gelato in!
Michelle and i are getting along very well. Friday she dragged me with her to Rosso and Vino’s garden even though it was raining a little. The brothers who run the place, Stefano and Pier-Lucca, kindly set up a table with an umbrella and we watched the sunset behind a bell-tower without getting misted upon. Their prosecco is scumptious and Pier-Lucca teaches Italian at the Universita Straniere as well as being fluent in French so he is a great conversationalist for us beginners! We did not stay out TOO late though - Michelle had been to class early that morning and was a little tired. However, i was happy to make two new friends who i now get to cross on the street at least twice a day and go about the pleasantries as well as having found a new place to spend the evening that is only a little more expensive than my favourite cafeteria (tea is 1.50; prosecco is 2).
To be perfectly honest, i don’t remember what i did Saturday during the day other than calling Bryan’s mother in the morning even though it was the middle of the night in Montreal to let her know that a train strike was scheduled and that this would be wreaking havoc on his transportation from Rome’s airport to Perugia. At some point, i decided to start reading Stranger in a Strange Land which i had rec’d as a present earlier that week. I was a little afraid of reading science fiction at first, but i have to say, it’s a lovely read. When i got back from the Steely Dan concert at midnight i sat down and continued reading until 4:30am, stopping numerous times to guffaw out loud. When the birds started chirping i thought it might be a good idea to get some shut-eye.
The Steely Dan concert was awesome. I hadn’t realized just how familiar their music was to me even though i have never consciously listened to them before - i picked a lot of concerts based on recommendations from Eric, a friend of mine more with the jazz scene. I found myself swaying along to the music from my cross-legged position on the ground but was a little saddened that no one was dancing. There was also a group of obnoxious Brits behind me who seemed to feel that because there was a beer tent they should comport themselves as if they were in a pub rather than shutting up and letting the rest of us listen to the music. However, Michelle and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and weren’t upset even by the dense crowd that made our voyage home on foot take over an hour rather than the usual fifteen minutes. I can only hope that Chick Corea (who i have never heard before but am blindly trusting will be awesome based on the affiliation with Miles Davis) is as incredible this evening.
Yesterday was an interesting day - i spent a good portion of the morning and afternoon running around trying to make arrangements for Bryan’s arrival only to receive a phone call at 1pm informing me that the doofus had the time difference worked out wrong and had missed his 12pm bus - so i had to run out and reorganize everything. However, Jacqueline was still able to pick him up at the bus station at 8:15pm and i finished Stranger waiting for his arrival on a bench. After dropping off two suitcases and a backpack (how long is he staying for exactly? i am on the road twice as long and have half the stuff) and drinking a glass of Orvieto, we headed to Dal Mi Coco, a fixed-menu restaurant just down the way on Via Garibaldi that is highly recommended by both locales and guidebooks.
Dal Mi Coco is possibly the best meal for cost i have enjoyed. We had pizzette, a bottle of wine, a bottle of fizzy water (hehe!), two primi piatte of pasta (the cheese sauce on the penne was INCREDIBLE), chicken, pork and sausage as well as a mixed salad. Dessert was tiramisu (not rich like the stuff at home, but light and fluffy) with a shot of sweet wine. All for the low, low price of 16 euros each. We are going back to try what they serve on other days of the week. Unfortunately they are closed Mondays or i might even consider eating there everyday. LOL.
After Dal Mi Coco (and already a tad tipsy i have to admit), i dragged Bryan two storefronts up Via Garibaldi and into a back alley to meet Pier-Lucca and Stefano in the Rosso e Vino garden. Julia (who might be a relative of theirs and has the most stunning head of jet black hair i have ever seen - she may in fact be Ruth from Stranger in a Strange Land) was behind the counter and brought over some more pizzette on the house. Michelle actually stopped by and she hadn’t met Bryan yet, so we had some great conversation while drinking a glass of red and a glass of white under the stars. It was a good thing Bryan had arrived today - otherwise i am not really sure how i would have gotten home. Cobblestones are not particularly solid - but he holds his liquor better than i and is a true gentleman.
I’ll be in Perugia all week because of the jazz fest, but hope to work out some more solo traveling next week rather than just hanging onto my good friend’s coattails - but as i mentioned to both Stefano and Pier-Lucca last night - the only thing better than old friends is old friends AND new friends.
