The last few days have been busy and lots of fun. On Thursday after class , I had my hair cut. Under our building I had noticed a hairdressing salon. It looked good – and I was quite amused to hear music coming out of the salon during siesta. Beatles music sung by a man on guitar. “what would you do if I sang out of tune!” well Catherine and I nearly called out ” we’d shut the window! Anyway on my way to class we stopped in and I made an appointment.
So after class I returned and we started.
Lovely Guissepi , told me in Italian that he worked on his own as he loved hairdressing and wasn’t ready to retire. I asked him about the singing and he admitted that he loved the Beatles! He said he was born in 1952 (same as me) and grew  up with their music! I told him I was a big fan as well. So we  chatted in Italian ( and sometimes English when I  forgot a word) . He complimented my hairdresser in Brisbane and said I had a very good stylist! So I’ll have to tell Nea! After finishing the hair we rushed to the wall of the city where we met the other members of our class to get the bus to Villa Mainochi. My teacher Stefano took us and was”tour guide” . He’s very nice but doesn’t know when to stop talking! The “fatorria” was situated about half an hour out of Lucca . It was really beautiful and we toured the vineyard and the gardens. Italian gardens are so different to gardens in England and France. They are for produce more than just to admire! After the tour we went into the cellar and tasted the olives, oil, cheese, meats and of course lots of different wines. What a great  afternoon. All the class became much better friends after this! We had some wonderful Irish dancing by Finnoula and Frances!

The next day after class ( our last day) we again had to rush off as we were being
picked up by Sue ( a friend of Catherine’s from Sydney Italian class) and her Italian partner Pierre Luigi. They took us to Torre del Lago where we had a lovely lunch and then visited Puccini’s house. Sue has written a book on him so has a wealth of knowledge about him. Music was playing as we toured the house and there was a very good collection memorabilia.
After that we went along to ViaReggio – a sprawling beach resort with some wonderful ” Liberty ” style buildings.

Since Catherine arrived I’ve been so busy!
We had a lovely Saturday . Settling in , farewelling Pat and our first lovely dinner . It rained when Catherine arrived and has done so ever since- so very different to last weeks heat.
Sunday morning we took it slowly and went to St Michel church for Mass. There were lots of locals there so it’s always a good experience. Then we did the Sunday  passeggiata A little shopping and a walk along the wall. Sunday night we had a lovely dinner at Cantine Bernadini.

Then Monday our school. I get so nervous! Had our test to determine our level. Well I know Catherine is better than me but I seem to be in the level just one down. My class is made up of  all Europeans who all sound like they know what they are doing because of their accents. I can hardly understand them in English! Their English is not that good! So we have to speak Italian even in the breaks. So tiring for me.
In the class there is: Simone a nice girl from Switzerland : Gerhard an older gentleman from Austria : Signey from Norway ( my age) Silke from Berlin also around my age: Clara from Austria -young and asks lots of questions , which is good: Dee from USA but very quiet: and Hans Peter from Germany. So very mixed. I thought I was the worst but yesterday I realised I was one of the better ones!

After class Monday we returned home for lunch , a siesta and a walk along the wall before another rain storm hit.
We had dinner at Pasquale and arrived early as our evening passegiata was cut short. Well Pasquale was charming and poured us a complimentary Prosecco! Then he was a wonderful help explaining
and advising us. We had the best meal. Delicious . We ended with another complimentary drink . This time limoncino which I decided I need to sip every night as it helps me sleep! Yes, it really does.

Tuesday back to class. Stefano my teacher is quite dashing and can be funny but isnt the best teacher. Barely explains anything then says va bene! And says Si or non? Well the class have begun to answer non, which throws him a bit as he thinks we must be able to ‘get it’.
After class today we met Catherine’s friend Sue( she lives in Pisa with Pierre Luigi) and Sue’s son who is visiting from NZ. We had a nice lunch at a local trattoria and came back to our lovely apartment for cafe e dolci. After they left we had siesta then went back to school for the Volare singing evening. Only problem! Got the time wrong and we missed it. So we walked some of the quiet streets of Lucca before dinner at a lovely place in Piazza San Francesco. Ran into Gerhart from class and then ended up chatting to the English couple at the next table. Mostly because they kept interrupting us! He was a dead ringer for Bill Nighy the actor but was boring really.

Anyway dinner was delicious -stuffed squid and stuffed zucchini flowers with string beans as a side. Really delicious. Sounds like we eat a lot but not really. We don’t eat anything between meals and our serves aren’t big.

It was Rob’s 29th birthday today. Can’t believe my baby is now that old. Peter was 31 two weeks ago. Happy birthday to my two lovely boys.
Homework before bed!