Some people bring back ceramic objects, many bring back photographs or postcards to add to the memory bank, but I like to bring back little parcels of sweet moments. Sugar sachets from Italian coffee houses provide a little taste of Italy when needed on wet, dull English days. Memories of leisurely coffee taken before a mammoth session of sightseeing. Coffee taken in a piazza watching dogs being carried in bicycle baskets. Coffee taken the traditional Italian way, standing at a bar, quickly , like a shot of vodka , a morning perk of caffeine.
Lucca and Riccione, different but both stylish, sweet memories.
Best taken with a black coffee and a little water.
Eminently suitable for drinking with my current book. 'Deceived With Kindness' by Angelica Garnett. I have to admit it has taken me a long time to finish this one. But I never give up on a book as I always think there will be a redeeming feature. I have found it very dark and rather bitter and extremely sad. Helped by the recent visits to Bloomsbury homes Charleston http://www.charleston.org.uk/ and The Monk's House http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/monks-house/, it was easy to place the characters in situ.This book came to Italy and back with me, so it is part of my Italian summer. I am fascinated by the Bloomsbury set . But rather than answer questions it has served to inform me of a different angle from the usual and if anything made me more curious. Being more poignant with the death of Angelica Garnett this May. Not a happy read but an enlightening one. It explores her relationship with her mother Vanessa Bell , Clive Bell and her father Duncan Grant. My bookmark is of Sissinghurst, a rather lovely 'Sweetman & Son' postcard and so fitting for the subject matter. Especially as Angelica travelled to Rome with Vanessa and Quentin in Vita Sackville-West's car in 1935.
No comments:
Post a Comment