LIFE ON ASPARAGUS LANE

Well, against all odds, the old folks find themselves back in their second home and thrilled to be living ‘that other life’.

If you are new to this blog, a little background.  Eleven years ago, through the generosity of a wonderful young man named Fabio Astone, we were offered the chance to live in an apartment in the gorgeous little seaside village of Agropoli in the equally gorgeous area of southern Italy known as the Cilento while I did research for a book on ancient Roman wine.  That first summer was one of the greatest of our lives and turned into nine more visits of five weeks to two and a half months, during which time we have explored large parts of this storied area as well as neighboring Basilicata and Puglia.  We had become so besotted with the area that we had resolved to return for as long as we were physically able.

But then came Covid.  I do not wish to be insensitive, we know perfectly well how disruptive and dangerous this terrible scourge has been for the vast majority of people. We ourselves have lost two sweet souls who were extremely precious to us.  But I must be candid and admit that, in almost all but one significant way, the pandemic has had little impact on our daily lives.  We are retired teachers with a modest but dependable income and a very quiet, comfortable lifestyle.  And what with automatic deposits and bill paying, on-line shopping, incredibly efficient and cheap shipping, we have faced minimal disruptions.  We’ve even found safe ways to stay connected with our friends and family.

Our young'uns, Amy and Vito

But there was that one significant way that Covid was a complete disruption.  And that was our second life here.  I know I sound spoiled, mainly because I am spoiled, but there is also that factor of age.  One of my closest friends speaks of the years of retirement as the ‘Go Go Years’, followed by (if you are lucky) the ‘Slow Go Years’ and then the ‘No Go Years’.  I have friends of a certain age who are inveterate travelers who will recognize exactly what I mean.  If we were in our thirties, a one-year disruption in travel would be no big deal.  In your advanced years, it is.  Sandy and I are still in the Go Go Years, but we're taking nothing for granted.

So when that second Pfizer booster was made available and Italy opened its borders to Americans, it was a no-brainer for Dave and Sandy.  We learned from our buddy, Fernando La Greca, that the Astones were doing a major house renovation and therefore the apartment was unavailable, a real disappointment since we love Filo and Rolando so much, but Fabio and his wife Katiuscia, equally dear to us, live in a large B&B owned by her family, and, since we are here off-season (Agropoli is a tourist resort in the summer), they offered the use of one of the apartments out on the flanks of Monte Tresino, and Sandy went into overdrive booking flights, rental car, rooms for the night in Rome, etc. And off we went.

Travel to a European country is not quite as easy as it once was, but I can assure you it is no major burden either, if you are inclined to make the jump as well.  Italy, which is now 72% fully vaccinated among the eligible and has a transmission rate well under 5%, has a ‘Green Pass’ which attests your vaccination status and is required to enter bars, restaurants, museums, theaters—pretty much anywhere besides food suppliers and medical establishments, but our white CDC cards serve as well.  We were also required to provide evidence of a negative rapid antigen test within 72 hours of boarding the plane, but we made a two-day stop in New York in order to visit daughter Amy and her significant other, Vito, and there are mobile testing sites on many major streets all around the city.  On her advice, we ducked into one on our walk to Amy’s apartment from our hotel; the youngsters operating it helped us fill out the on-line forms, gave us the swab tests, which are not remotely as unpleasant as those ‘tickle-your-brain’ jobs, and early the next morning we received QR codes which led us to our negative results.  Finally, the EU requires a locator form for contact tracing purposes, but we were able to fill it out well in advance and, again, the form generated a QR code which the airlines could access if there was any doubt.  Speaking of whom, the airlines now suggest a three-hour advance arrival time at the airport, and I concur; there is nothing more calming for frazzled nerves than knowing you’ve built extra time into the schedule to deal with inevitable glitches.  But I have to confess that our check-in was remarkably painless since we had all our documents readily accessible.  Heck, we even had ample time for a snack and a celebratory glass of wine before departure.

Our favorite restaurant in Fiumicino

The flight over was relatively quick (a bit over seven hours) and smooth, until we bumped into the remnants of a huge cyclone over southern France and thumped our way over the Italian Alps and down to Rome.  Nothing traumatic, you understand, beyond a bit of spilled coffee.

At Leonardo da Vinci, customs and baggage claim were smooth as silk, as was retrieving our rental car (can’t recommend Hertz Gold Card too highly).  She’s a cute little Fiat 500L, whom we have dubbed Orca due to her black and white coloring.  We had booked a room at our favorite B&B in Fiumicino, Domus Lina, and it was a skip and a hop there.  In former years we would have driven the four hours south on the day of arrival, but old bodies have to pace themselves, we have learned, and the fact that we had difficulty staying awake until bedtime—wakefulness in a time zone six hours advanced is a sine qua non to avoid jet lag—proved that it was a wise choice.  

One of their offerings, spaghetti all'astice

A light dinner of pasta at a cute local restaurant that we love, Zi Pina, and then nine glorious hours of deep sleep.  The next day we had breakfast and the luxury of lollygagging till midmorning to avoid rush-hour Rome traffic, and then we were off to the Mezzogiorno.  The trip south was delightful, traffic light on the A-3 (a miracle) though with its share of overly exuberant Italian drivers, and even the SS 18 south from Battipaglia to Agropoli was lightly traveled.  Off we went at the Agropoli South exit, around the southern boundary of our fair town and up the road to the little frazione of Moio, then further up the country roads to the Via degli Asparagi, “Asparagus Lane’, and to the beautiful B&B Miglino. Fabio and Katiuscia were there for hugs and to help us settle into our lovely apartment, which they have provided with everything we could possibly want (even an espresso maker!)  At 8:30 pm they called us down to their apartment and loaded us up with four different varieties of pizza.  ‘Home’ (upstairs) for pizza and then off to more delicious sleep.

This morning the sun is shining and the air azure, crisp and delightful, and in every direction there are stunning views from our terraces of Monte Tresino, the sparkling Bay of Salerno
and the Amalfi coast beyond.  This is going to be a wonderful trip.  I hope you’ll drop in for a visit often.

Views from B&B Miglino

The coast from Castellabbate, Monte Tresino in the background