Fossano and Saluzzo - The Excursion

7/26-28
Fossano and Saluzzo
0 trail miles walked

My timing could not have been better for the trip to visit Anna. Just as I got on the train, the rain started to pour down, and would follow me all the way to Fossano. In addition, I had managed to barge my way into a dinner that was being planned for that evening with Anna, her boyfriend, and two of his friends.

I was particularly excited about this, as it meant that I would get to eat home-cooked Italian food, and most importantly, spend some time with Italians who were around my age. Now don't get me wrong, I really love speaking with older people: they are wise, knowledgeable about their area, generous, and more overtly friendly than people of my generation. However, I had been lacking the experience of hearing about living in Italy from people my age, so I was excited.

Anna and Claudio picked me up from the Fossano train station and we immediately hit it off. I think they were pretty relieved that I could hold a conversation in Italian, since the other two guests at dinner were not big English speakers and a meal where two different languages are spoken can be sometimes strained and awkward.

We made our way immediately to Alice's (pronounced AH-lee-chay) house, where after a much needed shower I joined everyone in preparing for dinner. We had a couple beers, some Martinis (not the cocktail, but the vermouth, prepared neat, since ice is absent from this continent), and even a small jam session on the bongos. Later on, Claudio's good friend Roby joined us, bearing gifts of all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, since he works on a farm. We incorporated these into the meal, and after everything was prepared, took our seats.

The meal, which was in three courses and consisted of some delicious seafood dishes, lasted a few hours, and was accompanied by bottles of white wine and lots of laughter.

The company was excellent: Alice was playful, Claudio hilarious, Anna full of keen insights, and Roby knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects. After a couple more drinks, we headed out to the streets for a gelato, some face-time at the local bar, and then made our way back home.

After sleeping and relaxing away the morning, an activity that has recently become a foreign but welcome luxury to me, we made our way back to Alice's house for lunch, and to play with her 4-year-old son Pietro, who was a real firecracker. After that, Anna, Claudio, and I drove to Saluzzo, where Anna lives in a cute and thoroughly Italian one-bedroom apartment in the middle of town.

This sleepy little town was absolutely magnificent. An important administrative outpost on the road to France, Saluzzo boasts many beautiful mansions and civic buildings. One prominent feature was the grisailles fresco work, which is often made to look like stonework, as in this particularly well-preserved piece.

We received an insider's tour from Roby, sweating under his heavy motorcylce gear but clearly proud of his town. It was quite clear that he had studied the history of his town extensively, and his stories brought the town to life for me. For example, it is one thing to see a pretty cool-looking building, and another to know that it is owned by the descendants of a count, has been on the market for 60 years, and that everyone who thinks about buying it ends up being scared away, convinced that it is haunted.

The tour ended with an evening Aperitivo, or pre-dinner drink. This is a common activity throughout Italy, and everyone, from pre-teens to grandparents, makes an appearance in their Sunday finest.

For dinner we each picked a personal pizza and brought it home to eat on Anna's balcony. There we all waxed philosphical about Italy, with subjects ranging from the subpar health care system (sound familiar?) to the 20-something social scene. This was exactly what I had hoped to find: the state of Italy from a young person's point of view.

We turned in early for the night, and I said goodbye to Roby and Claudio before going to bed, since I would only see Anna on the following day.

My last few hours in Saluzzo were spent doing various errands with Anna, all the meanwhile comparing notes about our experiences as Americans in Italy. With four years under her belt, Anna has accumulated some wonderful experiences, and it was great to hear her talk about Italy, and share some of her plans with me.

These 48 hours were an excellent break from my trip, and provided some much-needed perspective. Claudio had joked that Italian guys my age only liked to talk sex, cars, and motorcycles, and yet he was both sensitive and possessed a strong connection with the traditional Italian values of honor and mutual respect. Roby, who worked on a farm and appeared at the market stall once or twice a week to sell his produce, was extremely well read, and had the tranquility of someone who had thought many important questions through. Alice, who at 25 already possessed the ability to cook a large dinner for 5 almost effortlessly, pursue a career as a massage therapist, and take care of a 4-year old child, could be as bubbly and playful as a child herself. And Anna, the girl who came to a city of less than 20,000 people with no friends and almost no knowledge of Italian, had managed to find a job, an apartment, and a multitude of friends, all on her own. Now that takes courage.