Alleyways

We were warned about crazy Italian drivers, but I have to say that so far, the drivers haven’t been too bad; it’s the roads that are terrifying. They are very narrow with lots of blind curves, and stone walls on either side. They are very scary to drive along and even more terrifying to walk on.

As I mentioned, there are lots of blind curves and long stretches where there are no sidewalks, and the roads are so narrow, if two cars are passing each other there is no room for either car to move aside to make room for a pedestrian. There is very little parking here, and restaurants are often perched right on the edge of the road, and both the internet café and the little town of Lenno where there are restaurants and the ferry stop is a 15-20 minute walk from where we are staying.

Luckily, we figured out that you actually don’t need to walk along the roads at all. On both sides of the road, around and between the houses there is a whole network of wonderful narrow cobbled alleyways, and these are what pedestrians use. As I walk them in the daytime, all of the lizards who have been sunning themselves on the cobbles scurry out of the way, and since the alleys wind between the houses, you there is a wonderful sense of being right in the middle of Italian life.

The other day, as I walked through, there was a wide open door and several people standing around, talking. I of course walked by with this big smile on my face, until I realized as I walked by the open door, that these people were gathered for a wake. In the middle of this otherwise empty room was an elevated coffin. It was not the kind of big heavy coffin with lid that I am used to seeing; instead it was very small and thin, white, with no lid. Inside it was a very old woman, with a thin, gauzy white sheer draped over her. It is a terrible cliché, but I must say that she did look very peaceful.