Dear Stranded Commuters,
The day started with a fair amount of uncertainty as to how long we would be here. The Age updates were telling us that the special hearings before FWA hadn't drawn any conclusion to the dispute and that more were scheduled for Sunday afternoon Melbourne time. The cessation of all flights and the lockout made the news here, even the local radio stations covered it.
We booked our driver for 10.45 am the next day on the assumption that at the very least we would still make it to Heathrow (as Qantas use British Airways for this first leg) on our 5pm flight and we could then get some place to stay if we were unable to go any further. So out we went and stumbled across this fantastic shop that had an amazing range of clothing. I think that I could scientifically prove that the stress of not knowing one's destination can be offset by some targeted retail therapy.
We headed to Campo di Fiori for some photo ops as they have a lovely food market there. We decided to go against our cardinal rule of never eating on a square or piazza because the food is usually tourist rubbish that is overpriced and dumbed down. But we lucked it big time with a place called Mercato that served up a brilliant leek, speck and peccorino pizza, a beetroot and goat's cheese salad and a gorgeous white from Alto Adige. The only downside were our neighbors to our immediate left. They were like straight out of an episode of The Hills and like, were like, so bloody painful, like, I just couldn't, like, bear it anymore !!!!!
After lunch we indulged in a beautiful gelato from Grom - a new contender in the gelati market and just gorgeous. They have shops in Florence and Rome and if we could import, we would, it's heaven. Even better than the place in East Brunswick at top end of Lygon street. A very slick outfit outfit it is too - all organic and cleverly designed. Unlike our experience the day before, when stopping into a local bar near San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter's in Chains), we were standing enjoying our coffee and cake at the bar when an all out verbal slanging match between the lady serving behind the counter and waiter tending tables outside the shop, broke out.
In between slamming food and plates onto the glass counter top, this largish and loud woman did not stop to draw breath as she shouted abuse at this waiter at the top of her voice in a constant diatribe. Her colleague at the other end of the counter working the coffee machine, refused to be drawn into the fray and his expression didn't even change - giving Siobhan and I cause to consider that maybe this kind of scene was not that unusual. We seemed to be the only ones amazed by the ruckus. The regulars didn't even look up from drinking their coffee..........and then we found out why.
The waiter outside was having a whale of a time baiting this lady and he kept on goading her, until she finally exploded and scooped up some cakes from the counter and proceeded to pelt him with them.....we would have paid twice the price for this kind of entertainment. As we were leaving (most reluctantly), the waiter turns to us and says "she's crazy woman, crazy woman" we laugh and then we hear her start up again so we kept moving just to be sure to stay out of pitching range! But I digress....
On what is our scheduled last day, we trawled through every shoe shop in search of some good Italian shoes and you are not going to believe us but we could hardly find any whatsoever. Of course there is the high end stuff but one can hardly spend over $1,000 per pair on each pair of shoes - well, actually this one could, but decided against it. We had not brought lovely Bruno Maglio shoes just outside of Florence thinking we would see similar in Rome but no such luck. They are boot crazy here with casual flat boots or low heels and fur trims being HUGE. And they aren't that nice but are that brushed leather stuff.
The look for this coming winter is all natural colours of browns, taupes, light greys and a bit of burnt orange and is all soft knits, t-shirts cut on the bias and draped layers that you wear over leggings or fitted jeans, with the legs tucked into said boots. It is totally de rigeur! It's kind of a soft or herbal rock chick look. Oh, and everybody, without exception, wears the linen or cashmere scarf looped deliberately casually around one's neck. Even the nonnas are into the look. On men it is an absolute must.
We took our purchases off home after a mid-afternoon bevie and packed them in readiness. On our way home, organ music draws us into a little church in a side street. The church, L'organa di Sant Antonio dei Portoghesi was this incredible surprise even to us now having seen probably 17million churches ( and that was just in our 10 days in Rome!!!!!!) I am strongly of the view that there are more religious places of worship in Italy than there are people. But this little church was so beautifully decorated in different hues of marble, gilt and frescoes and when combined with candlelight and organ music, we were transfixed. A stunning end to our foray into religious iconography!
We headed to a lovely local restaurant that provides a complimentary Prosecco and we enjoy what may be our "last supper" in Italy. During dinner, Ty calls and advises us that he has booked us on a flight to Singapore leaving at 11am the next morning and then another flight to Melbourne after a three hour stopover. I cannot tell you how grateful we were for Ty's assistance and efforts. All going well we will be back in Melbourne late Monday evening so we can see Dad and catch up with everyone after jet lag has paid us a visit.
Here's to Flying Friendly Skies
Kelly & Siobhan
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