Simple thoughts

We think we dominate the world, but nature still has the last line.

Yesterday evening an earthquake occured, 4th grade by Richter scale, its origin point very near Parma. We felt the ondulations very well: Marty was before the pc and the table was moving before her own eyes, Raf was seated on the couch and he felt as it was moving up under him, I was standing before the mirror in the bathroom an I felt like having a hangover. We yelled all at the same time "earthquake" and then we stayed still to wait to another wave to come. Luckily we didn't feel any, but the sensation of something going on didn't leave us. It was from the late afternoon that the sky was much darker that it usually is at the time, and a very strong wind was blowing bending trees' branches, raising high everything not fixed on the ground, and breaking some windows' glasses. I usually like the wind, but this one was scary. After the earthquake, I kept thinking that we are living in a world that can kill us anytime, anywhere, anyway. We keep polluting the air, the water, the soil, and we pretend not to know this is bad. Very bad. Coz the air, the water, the soil can kill us. We live our lives pretending we can choose how, but mother earth keeps reminding us that nature has a force we can't win. So, no matter how many concerts we can perform, how many film we can shoot, it's really time we do something for real. For some ideas, you can see what Kelli wrote about consuming less paper or water or energy. Or you can think about something else on your own, just looking around you and see in how many ways we can save what mother nature so kindly offered us. Because I have the feeling this is not an unlimited gift.

So, how was your weekend? Mine was

Saturday night we had dinner with some friends, kindly invited to one couple's home (well supplied with air conditioning at the fastest speed, coz it was so dam hot that night!). Our hosts provided the appetizers that greeted us at our arrival well arranged on a table (pic from my friend Rossy's cell)

Then we have some different kind of pizzas, my fav was with "ham, mushrooms and rucola"

We brought a cake (raspberries and chocolate) that we ordered to one of the oldest pastry in Parma, Cocconi, a must for breakfast and a drink before dinner, and for cakes and pastries, if you want to well impress your host!

The night was enjoyed also by Gypsy, our friends' german bassethound, who never left the table, waiting for some leftover

 (pic taken by Rossy at her arrival)

The night went on till 1.00am, with lots of laughs, remembering old summer vacations, funny picnics, bike trips, looking at old pics, and listening to good music.

For sunday afternoon we planned a bike ride in the Appennini Parmensi with two couples of friends, but when we were halfway through our final destination, the Cirrone Gap, it started to rain. Can you believe it? After four months without seeing a single drop of water, it rains the day we decide to go up in the mountains! So we decided to change direction, to go for a coffee cup in Cozzano, hoping to leave the bad weather behind us, but the rain kept our tracks, we didn't drink that coffee. After a short briefing in the old part of the little village of Calestano

we changed our plans once again, and finally on the road to Passo della Cisa we found the sun again and we had a pit-stop at Casola

a place well known to all the bikers, as you can see.

Yesterday night Marty and I went to Astra Teathre to see the movie The Queen. I did enjoy Helen Mirren performance, and even if I think that maybe an english audience would have appreciated the movie more, considering the subject and the love/hate english people seems to have for their Royal Family, I liked the movie very much.

Watching the movie made me think. I guess that every child one time or another, had thought about being a king/prince or a queen/princess. It seems a fairy tale, living in a very big palace, or even in a castle, having all these people obeying to your orders, have so much power you can hardly imagine, being the most powerful person of the country. But when the door of the castle is closed to the world, even a king or a queen is just a human being. Maybe a human being trapped in a role never wanted or choosen. You can't fail, you can't make mistakes, you can't show weakness, or pain. You're constantly under the scrutiny of the media, and of your own people. Especially in a time when a monarchy is really anacronistic and so much expensive for a country.

The last thought, when the titles of the movie were running, was that I wouldn't trade my life with the Queen's, I'm glad I'm free to choose how to live my life, victories and losses included.

Last saturday hubby and I decided to do good. Our intention was to spend a day in Folgaria, in the Trentino region, to attend one day of training of Parma FC, there for three weeks of hard physical work, and spend some time in the mountains, far away from this hot! You know, hubby has this aunt, always complaining that she's never going anywhere, being always home alone. So we called her, telling her she was going with us on saturday. She was very excited to finally go out and see something! We decided to tell mom too, to let her spend a day relaxing a bit. Plus, she had a subscription to the stadium for years, to see the home matches of our football club, which she enjoyed so much! So it was a sort of coming back home for her.

This is the training field

and these are some pics courtesy from the official photographer of the club for their website

After sitting on the grass for a while, we decided it was time to find a nice restaurant for lunch. So we went through the Passo Sommo to the nearby village of Carbonare, at the restaurant Al Giardino.

aunt Carla, hubby and mom

We had coffee outside, in front of this stunning view

We came back to Folgaria for a little walk, some shopping (a woods fairy for Marty) and an ice-cream. And obviously, some pics......

And this is Castel Beseno, a 12th century fortified castle, view from the car on our way back, down to the river Adige valley.

Departure time respected (and this alone it's an event!) 33 persons, 22 bikes, 550 km to go. After a short briefing, we left Fidenza (just outside Parma, home of the bike club "Il Sorpasso") direction the Lake of Garda.

With some short pit-stops (for cigarettes and water - it was so damm hot!) we rode through such summer holiday places as Desenzano, Padenghe, Manerba, San Felice, Salò and Gargnano.

The road we took is called "gardesana" ad it runs all around the lake

but outside Gargnano we left it to climb up to the mountains

to the artificial lake of Valvestino

and to the lake of Idro where we had lunch, kindly homemade by some bikers' wives!

We left the lake after a little rest and some coffee, we followed the road till another little lake lost in the mountains, the lake of Ledro

and driving up the Ballino (a gap between two valleys) over the tiny lake of Tenno

we returned back to the northern part of lake of Garda, at Riva, for the last stop before the next climbing and the next lake, Molveno, as seen from the road up to Andalo

Finally, at 7.00pm we arrived at Passo Santel - Fai della Paganella, where the Hotel El Paso was waiting for us with a very long shower and a good dinner

After dinner we shared some laughs and old songs plently supplied by the older members of the bunch (and their bikes were almost of their ages!)

The sad part is that our friend Luciano, while trying to better park his bike, got hurt on his left ankle, the doc with us (luckily a orthopedic) said that nothing was broke, but it needed some rest. So, with watering eyes, he decided that the next morning his bike were to be loaded to the truck we had with us, and he and Enrica, his wife, had to get a lift on the truck with the mechanic.

The next morning he was a little better, but our road had to divide, after a very good breakfast

We took the road along the river Adige, it was so very hot, and we drove fast, but we had time to look around us

We stopped for lunch near the city of Villafranca, with a very beautiful castle just along the main road

It was so hot, 37°C, we started to speak insane, luckily we found a bar with air-conditioning where we had a very nicely arrahged bowl of melone and ham.

We really had a great time, even if our friend Luciano is out for two weeks now! They had their summer vacation planned for a two weeks trip on bike to Santiago de Campostela, and now it must be cancelled! Poor guys.

P.S. Sorry if some pics are blurry, I set the camera on "view" and sometimes I forgot to reset it on "close-up".

Finally our home pc has been fixed, so I have major possibilities to stay in touch with the world (I'm a little busy here at work ). Today afternoon I'm off work to do some errands and to see daddy, coz me and Raf will be out for the weekend, we'll take a bike ride in the Alps with a group of bikers (and we really hope the weather will be good) so wait for some pics to show up!

Well, we have the final results now, Marty got 92 out of 100, and we're all so proud of her.......

Monday night Marty was out with her friends to celebrate the end of high school (don't ask what they did, only thing I know is she was gone till 11 in the morning!). So we celebrated in the family with a dinner yersterday evening (she cooked what she likes best)

  pizza

  tomato toast

  stuffed tomatoes

  and chocolate crepes.

This morning is for the oral discussion of Marty's essay. She choose to talk about the Dada artistic movement and the historic period in which it was born. Plus the commission can decide to ask her whatever was on the list as issues of the last year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed from early this morning! And right now I'm waiting for her call.......

Later......she called, everything went smoothly, she did good accordingly to her teachers, she's satisfied, she has to wait till next week for the final results to be published at school, but finally it's over, and tonight will be partytime!!!