It was a beautiful day, very hot with a clear blue sky but there was a strong wind and the sea was choppy so it didn't appear to be a beach day. We packed the bathers just in case and set off to the nearest town, Nervi, for a walk. Now, I'm normally a fast walker and here I'm usually up front, leading the way, being told to slow down as it's too hot to be walking so fast, but this day was different. I was always at the back and the others kept having to wait for me to catch up. Chri asked what was wrong with me. I explained that I was a) taking in the stunning stunning scenery and b) taking way too many photos. I just couldn't get enough of the coastline. The waves were incredible, especially for the Med, and that only added to the beauty of the place - it was more like an ocean and reminded me of South Africa and New Zealand in parts. I well and truly lost my heart to Italy that morning. The French Riviera really has nothing on this place, nor does Arma di Taggia, Sanremo etc where I spent the summer, and I thought they were nice places. This place is something else.
We stopped for delicious and very welcome granita - fruits of the forest and yogurt flavours for me. Despite the wind, it was very very hot and we couldn't even cool down in the sea. From Nervi, we drove along the coast to Camogli, a beautiful little fishing village, where I fell more in love with this country than I thought possible. The sea was incredibly high, with waves crashing over the harbour wall and the beach was cordoned off. There weren't even any surfers out. It was simply spectacular. We had foccacia al fomaggio for lunch, a local speciality that's kind of like a white cheese pizza. Yum again. Then made our way back to Massimo's house. The boys went into Genova so Chri could collect his post, while Elvira and I got ready for the beach BBQ. We picked up another guy en route and drove for about 45 minutes to the beach where the 'boobgate' incident happened! It was all quite low key and casual, which suited me fine (I'd been a bit nervous about the Genova weekend as I wasn't sure what we'd be doing, where we'd be going, what I should wear!). One of Chri's mates, Alle, surprised everyone by turning up for the bbq with his lovely girlfriend, Irine, after I'd called him to invite him along with only an hour's notice. Apparently he's notoriously lazy and needs at least a week's notice before he commits to anything so I took full credit for his appearance. I also drank too many strong mojitos and can't remember some of the night, which is all a bit strange (but when I suggested to my mate GB that maybe someone put something in my drink, he said yes love, alcohol - that made me chuckle!). Anyway, all in all it was a perfect day in a beautiful place.
Sunday was completely different but just as good. I had to be dragged out of bed but eventually Chri and I headed along the coast to another little town called Recco to meet Omar, his girlfriend and their one-year old daughter, Zoe. It was so lovely to meet O's family and very surreal to see him as both a father and a serious boyfriend after knowing him all those years ago aged 20! We couldn't stay for long, partly because we had to get back but partly because Omar was having his first surfing lesson. I was sorry not to be able to stay to see how he got on, especially after trying surfing myself for the first time last year and therefore having some understanding of how it's not as easy at it looks.
Chri and I picked up some fresh foccacia in Recco (which, being the birthplace of foccacia al formaggio was, as you might guess, delicious) and headed back to Massi's where we met Daniela, the girl we'd spent some time with in Arma di Taggia a couple of weeks ago. We relaxed in the garden for a while before I headed into the kitchen to find out if my final Advanced Cookery Lesson (ACL) would be starting soon. I was told to go back into the garden and that Massi would be out in a second. I didn't know what was going on but did as I was told, thinking we must be having an apero or something before starting to cook. A few minutes later, Chri, Massi and Elvi appeared and I was told that I was getting my ACL diploma ahead of my final lesson, as I'd need the diploma for the final lesson. I was then presented with a pinny that had my name embroidered on it, with 'ACL Beautiful Cooker, Agosto 2011, Genova'. I was so very very touched and couldn't wipe the grin off my face! I couldn't believe that they'd been so kind and thoughtful and I felt truly blessed to have met such lovely lovely people who had welcomed me into their lives and their homes with so much generosity and love.
Then the cooking really began! Massimo and I went into the garden and picked various types of tomato, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, courgette flowers and basil. You can't get fresher veggies than that and just picking the vegetables gave me a lot of pleasure. We then cooked up a feast for six people. We had simple but delicious bruschetta to start, then fried courgette flowers (roll them up with either a little piece of basil or anchovy, dip in batter then fry), vegetable pasta (boil the tomatoes up then pass them through a mincer, fry finely chopped red onion - in way more oil than I would ever have thought to use, add the passata, then finely chopped pepper then later, finely chopped courgette, aubergine and a smidgin of red hot chilli pepper, served with big rigatoni - not sure of the proper name of that pasta - cooked very al dente and freshly grated parmesan), foccacia al formaggio but fried this time (make the pasta/dough, roll into small thin rounds, add a spoonful of stracchino cheese, fold in half and pinch together then fry in very hot oil until crispy and serve sprinkled with salt) and Chri made a caprese salad too. Eating this feast in the sunshine overlooking the Med, with these lovely people was like heaven for me.
We said goodbye to poor Chri who had to catch the train back to Nice and I spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in the hammock with a big smile on my face. On Monday I pottered around at home as Massi was at work and Elvi had to go to university, then later Elvi and I went to the local beach. I say beach, but Genova doesn't really have beaches - they perch on rocks really - but we had a swim and relaxed in the sunshine before it was time for me to head back to France too. Omar came to collect me and we managed to squeeze in a very quick apero overlooking the sea, nearly missed my train in true Omar-style, then I was on my way. What a weekend! Although I paid the ultimate price to be living this life and would trade it in for my life with T in a heartbeat, sometimes I feel very very lucky.
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