Special Edition Post for Sunday, 18 October 2009

This “special edition” celebrates the joyous fact that a new Douglas is breathing the Lancashire air this morning.

We welcome William Lachlan DOUGLAS to the family. By all reports, after a very lengthy gestation, he was born without incident in the early hours of today at Lancaster, weighing around eight pounds. Mother and child are well.

The last Douglas to be born in Lancashire was my great, grandfather - James Douglas - born at Bury, 30 March 1852 - a long time between drinks!!!

Who knows what the future has in store for William - be it a long life or short, complex or simple, he will go through many of the highs and lows of life that we have all shared and that, at the end of the day, make life worth living.

But one thing is certain, he is already much-loved by his parents, uncles, relatives, supporters and by his new grandparents, including Cathy and me.

Bravo, William – I can’t wait to meet you in person.

Love

Grandad

This is livin’

Well at least we now have some of the usual accompaniments to living.

Finally, we moved into a proper apartment, or at least Ian did – last Saturday. Not such an ordeal though as the move was only about 150 metres. A series of strolls along Via Capo D’Africa, trailing suitcases on wheels – four round trips did it.

We had purchased some furniture – two lounges, a dining table, a cute coffee table that converts to a dining table, and a credenza/sideboard that contains a dining table that rolls out of it and unfolds. We are clearly planning to “dine”.

The furniture was ordered to be delivered after 4:00pm on the day of the move and arrived spot on time (actually a little early). The chaps struggled it all up four flights of stairs - we are on the (….. ground, first, second) second storey (or piano) – without a complaint. Even if the streets had to be blocked off for a while with the two vans required!!!

Similarly on Friday morning, four cartons of (chiefly) clothes arrived exactly on time at 7:00am, having been air freighted to us. The rest, is spending some time “before the mast” – eight days into a 45 day voyage to Italy. That shipment contains our cutlery and crockery so we will have to make do for a couple of months maybe.

It wasn’t easy, or pretty, but Ian was persistent and within a week (actually it took a week) he has also purchased, in Italian, a digital TV set, bench-top oven and a toaster. And also, a modem-router, enabling this posting to be conducted with comfort, on the dining room table while watching TV over the red, leather lounge, next to a Vegemite sandwich. So what more could life deliver?

Perhaps the answer is my darling bride, who is awaiting a delivery in England with some increasingly anxious young-uns.

Soon Ian will travel to Paris (for one night and business), to England to rendezvous with Cathy, and maybe to Washington for a few days.

The summer has been a long one here – delightful weather just now when it should be colder.

And Italy in general – well there have been demonstrations here for a range of things, everyone is back from holidays it seems, the grass is getting greener and the leaves on some trees just seem to be browning off. They painted the zebra crossings outside my bedroom window sometime on Thursday night – what a waste – everyone ignores them anyway and they could only paint those parts that no-one was parking on anyway.

And our little neighbourhood ticks on as it has for decades. As a nice example of this, when I found I needed a TV antenna cable this morning, two trips of about twenty metres across the road from home got me the necessary from the local (I’ve got it all in this tiny space) hardware store.

Ah!!! This is livin’!!!

Settling Down

We have been here in Rome for some 16 days now, and thought we would let you know how we are settling in.

For starters, the jet lag has ended. Now when we set an alarm we awake just before it goes off – just like the old days.

And we have had a rest – such that the exhaustion of departure has declined, tennis elbows are healing,

bruises disappearing.

We are now recalling which bus goes where and can move around the city at ease again.

Italian words that we had not heard for so many months arise again and we recall them, even surprising ourselves with some modest phrases that just seem to slip out but satisfy waiters.

We have met most of the people we knew when here last time.

But the new experiences have also started. We are discovering delightful little streets that we must have missed before. We are meeting new people and having the privilege of showing them the ropes. We have been facing new challenges. We are finding new things that amuse us or impress us. Take for instance the Sunday morning choir at the Basilica of San Clemente, a rather famous church in Colosseo. Twelve male and female choristers and a conductor – singing in at least four parts, Latin and all a capella – magnificato!!!.

The weather is about to turn. Still hot in the middle of the day, the mornings and evenings are idyllic – and this week rain.

This time for your viewing pleasure, variously, Caterina puts out the garbage in the shadows of the colosseum (well, if it had not been raining), which bank (che banca) is copying which other bank, a graffiti artist expresses “why?”, a centurion trudges home from work (as they have done here for millennia), and a friend’s son is baptised and we are privileged to witness it.

ROME - the Return!!

The Douglas Report risks becoming more of a sequel to the Rocky movie than Homer ever imagined, but after an 11 month sojourn home in Brisbane, this ‘Ulysses’ has again taken flight. Telemachus (#2 & #3), or should that be ‘Telemachi’, remain in Ithaca (actually other nearby suburbs) while Telemachus #1 sits in England awaiting the birth of ‘Telemicollo’ or ‘Telemicolla’ next month.

Anyway, one can only take a metaphor so far. We’re back in Rome!!! Been here for 9 days now – and arriving at Fiumicino was like ‘coming home’.

This time we are here for a two-year contract, so life will be different and we will put more effort into ‘settling’ down.

Departure from Brizvegas was an ordeal. About a month of flat out, hard physical labour to prepare Chezstardust for departure and we did not get it all done. We had to step over major renovations as we left.

Even leaving was a shock. The airline was to send a car for us at 5:00pm – plenty of time to get across the peak hour traffic to the airport for our 8:30pm flight. But at 1:30pm while at Indooroopilly Shoppingtown doing last minute business at the bank, we received a call to say that our flight had been cancelled, we would be delayed for two days but that we could fly QANTAS to Sydney to connect to our planned flight from Dubai to Rome – BUT we had to be picked up at 3:00pm. Fine if we were fully packed but we weren’t.

We made it – QANTAS had no booking for Cathy – we made Sydney and then flew on the new Emirates Airbus A380 to Dubai – very plush. It even has a funky bar down the back.

In Rome, we stayed for six nights in the delightful little Villa San Pio Hotel in Aventino but Cathy found an even better ‘residenzia’ in Colosseo, so we moved on Thursday morning. As you can see from the photo, we are about 100 metres from the Colosseum. A stone’s throw away is tourist central, but our little street is very residential and very quiet. The place is as neat as a pin and air-conditioned – very important right now because it is ‘hot’.

Cathy spends her time apartment hunting – some possibilities are popping up, and Ian works. We are seeing all our old colleagues and friends and it is just great. On Wednesday night we had a big staff dinner on a roof top in Testaccio. The ‘coffee culture’ is still operating.

So this blog is now active again, although we will be only as regular as would people who are in one place for two years. Enjoy – buon pomeriggio!! [And…. Buon pomodoro for those who like tomatoes!!!]

Punctuating the experience and some favourite photos

I promised in Hong Kong airport, en route for Brisbane, that I would post one more blog about our six month Rome adventure.

Now, nearly eight weeks later, I sense that I am in a position to sum up my reactions to this year.

Maybe my re-orientation to Australia and the way Rome has changed some of my outlook on life is typified in my reaction to coffee. I lasted four days drinking 'ordinary' coffee before buying my own expresso machine. Now I drink but one coffee each day but that is my own version of an expresso.

The daily coffee ritual, the late night magnificent pasta dishes, the shopping in small 'bites' at grocery shops and markets, the joy of walking almost everywhere ... all these are the quintessential Roman building blocks for what is a relaxing and perhaps a slightly decadent life. We were fortunate to have had a pleasant and secure apartment with a lovely landlady; to have had an interesting work and social life that provided contacts with delightful and interesting people; and, in some respects, to have had the advantage of the knowledge that we had six months to make the most of it.

When we first left Brisbane in the 70s we went to Cairns, supposedly for a twelve month stint before moving on (we stayed for 15 months in fact). A good friend advised us that whenever we moved we should consider that we would only remain for 12 months. Then you will be, in part, a tourist and do all of the things that you should do when you are fresh. The alternative leads one to always put off things for the ephemeral future. And then you depart after so many years and have yet to do these important things.

Life for an Italian is different of course. It is impertinent of me to suppose that I know what makes an Italian tick after so short a time but I will chance a few observations.

I suspect that most Italians are conservative insofar as if something worked last year, why change it. If I worked successfully as a waiter at this restaurant last year then why do something else. If a shop paid its way last year, decorated and stocked as it was, why move or expand it this year. So the waiter works all his life in the same restaurant, with the same menu and the same tables. The hardware shop sits where it sat 30 years previously. Change is not generally valued in Rome. This is not a city prone to faddishness although fashion is an important industry and mobile phones and computers are at least as popular here as anywhere else.

Some people think that Italians are rude. Indeed, in Rome they have to put up with loads of visitors and I guess the novelty would quickly wear thin. Not that Australians are always paragons of considerateness, but they generally seem to be aware that they may be standing in a doorway that you need to pass through and will step back. Romans do not seem to have that awareness but will obligingly step back once you say “excuse me”. So I think that this is a lack of awareness, an ignorance of the problem. On the contrary, Romans seem to be very welcoming and warm.

The “not-done” items on the bucket list? Well our circumstances did not really allow me much time off to explore the rest of Italy or any of its neighbours. Although not an immediate attraction, driving in Italy seemed a possibility and we survived a three day weekend to Tuscany. So I would now be prepared to drive and explore the roads “less travelled”.

The language and cultural issues are really not an issue for us but on the contrary, something that we really enjoy.

We have been blessed in recent years with some wonderful travels and we have learnt a great deal. This particular odyssey has certainly come to an end but life goes on and we still think of Homer.

Arrivederci – cosi basta (that's enough)

Arrividerci Roma - goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

It seems once again that my final report comes from an airline gate lounge.  In this case, Hong Kong, almost at the end of a 17 hour transit where we managed to play (very tired) tourists for as long as we could stay awake.  Home in Brisbane in around 11 hours from now, QANTAS willing.

Just right now, we can hardly wait to collapse on the plane.  But on this occasion, I promise that I will put cyber-pen to cyber-paper once more, when I am up to it, and I will try to sum up my impressions over this past six months.

The Fontana de Trevi has scored a couple more coins from us - so who knows??

Note this new record posting for shortness.

Ciao tutti amicis

Things that one brings home with one!!

It is now officially autumn here in Rome – or 'fall' as the northern hemisphere folks tend to call it.  And that seems reasonable because the leaves are starting to gather at the bases of the trees although we are yet to see the autumn tones in the foliage.

Last night it stormed and rained quite heavily for Rome and now we seem to be in for some extended cooler weather.  The ferrogosta is done!!!

The warm weather began this year perhaps at the end of June and never became unbearable.  Just a lot of warm, reasonably humid nights and bright, hot clear days.  

Now all the Romans seem to be back in town – the public transport is crowded, the traffic troublesome again,  the roads harder to cross, and the shops and restaurants are open.

So where did they all go to in the few weeks of summer?

We found out to some degree when Ian tripped to Tunisia for a work meeting involving the five Maghreb States – Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.  Of these, only Libya is non-French speaking with it sharing English with the universal Arabic.  So this was a great opportunity for Ian to brush up on his French language.

Tunisia is a very popular tourist destination for Italians, Spaniards, the French and eastern Europeans – most of whom fly home via Rome's Fuimacino Airport on one or other of about five flights per day.  Our meeting was organised at very short notice and the four of us coming from Rome found ourselves delayed in Tunis for varying lengths of time.  This was the very end of the summer season and the migration home had begun.

So a two-day meeting became a 6 day trip for Ian.  What to do with a weekend in Tunisia?

Tunis itself hasn't the appeal that, say, Cairo has.  It is fairly urbane with not much conservation of the old or exotic.  We did have a delightful workshop dinner at a wonderfully restored old house (now restaurant) in the medina or old covered market.  A chap with a lantern met us at the entrance and guided us through the winding, narrow streets covered by vaulted ceilings.  Good food, spectacular surroundings and a traditional musician in lieu of the standard 'piano' made for a great night.

So with Ian's party having 'done' Tunis, they moved to the beach resort area of Hammamet, about an hour's drive east.  And there Ian discovered what many Europeans believe is the holiday to have.

The accommodations were very spectacular – a large hotel on the Corniche – in keeping with the white with azure blue trim that is the signature of Tunisia.  But surprisingly, the hotel had a guest-house feel to it with the expectation that every meal would be had in the massive, all you can eat restaurant cum cafeteria.  And as one departed the breakfast mayhem, the 'Red Coats' stood patiently waiting to arrange our day with archery or yoga classes.

Mostly Ian just went to the beach – a beach with reasonable yellowish sand and loads of thatched beach 'umbrellas' that stretch as far as the eye can see in either direction, although to the north, from sea-level the scene was complicated by a huge marina full of huge yachts about 800 metres from our beach club.  That's correct – our beach club.  This is the big, big difference to Surfers Paradise.  All of these beaches are private.  Although one is free to walk along the shore-line which is regarded as everyone's – you just can't sit on the beach.

The water, warm and soft, but effectively still and with a lot of black algae when we were there.  The trick seems to be that you whip across the road before breakfast and put your towel on a lounger so you can come back at leisure and laze about in the sun.  So the novices like us have to take what they can get – mostly right at the back.  So not a great view of the water but a great view of the tourists.

There must be some European Union directive that mandates that if you are a woman, you have to wear a bikini on the beach.  To quote Ian - “Of the thousands of women I saw, only four wore one piece costumes to my recollection (the one pieces that were only bikini bottoms are not included in that number but there must have been another half dozen of those)”.  When Ian says “the thousands of women I saw” he refers to his ability to see however the term “I saw” was often apt.  You see almost all of these bikinis, gracing people of all shapes and sizes, and ages young, mature and old, seemed to have shrunk since they were used last year.

Most tourists, both men and women, who go to such places are clearly well heeled.  Indeed they are certainly well fed.

Personally, Ian found the two days to be pretty dull with not much excitement and pedestrian 'surf'.  I think they might go wild on the Gold Coast.  But I guess the absence of a private beach and beach 'boy' to carry the lounges about, and surf that would probably kill them might be a turn-off for these folks.

So they take back with them a lot of tans and probably the memories that are identical to the memories they had at the last resort they stayed at last summer.

Ian, he brought back a special souvenir in the form of gastro-enteritis – seven days of acute awareness of self, or at least of one's digestive system.  As two in the party shared this ailment, we think it may have been a virus that contaminated some of the food they ate.  But the condition was not terminal and now Ian looks even thinner and fitter.

As this blog is published we are but two weeks away from transiting Hong Kong on our way home to Brisbane.  So sometime in the next two weeks we must decide what we will take home with us.  We have  expanded a little and set up our little home in Rome and will have to jettison much of this.  We have some more clothes and will have to buy another suitcase.

But fortunately, the most important souvenirs – memories – take up little space.  For these continue to grow, even now.  For example, we attended the Italian wedding of a staff member this week.  A beautiful and happy ceremony and a to-die-for post-wedding lunch over-looking the forum.  Very special.

The other compact items to carry home are our digital photographs.  So far in 2008, Cathy and Ian have taken 8 300 photos – mostly in Italy.  So we are so much looking forward to showing everyone of you every photo when we get back to Brisbane.  We're sure you cannot wait!!!!

Arrivederci!!!