I am sure we all remember a young Judi Garland exclaiming this when she found herself in the unfamiliar world of Munchkinland in Wizard of Oz, and it is much the same for us in Umbria (Italy). There is nothing to remind us of Wollongong. Why travel halfway around the world to see, smell, touch and do the same things as at home?
And here is another reminiscence for you. Who remembers the Alan Sherman song – “Hello Mudder, Hello Father; Here we are at Camp Grenada; Camp is very entertaining; And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining”.
Yep, it’s raining. Just as we were warned. Bucket loads of the stuff. It comes and goes in waves, thick black clouds gathering ominously, clearly visible as a coal grey mass accumulating in the near distance, then rumbles of thunder close by. It gives us just enough warning to duck for cover, before fat raindrops start to fall, followed shortly by the type of downpour that used to be common in old black and white movies when an assistant tipped a bucket of water over the scene to simulate a real downpour. One moment daytime, next moment raintime. Then it clears, and then shortly after, it returns again.
It’s a bit like my Italian. I first learnt it about thirty-five years ago, and since then have become very rusty. I reached the stage where I would listen in Italian, and answer in English. Now, from the moment we stepped off the plane in Milan, I have been doing my best to use it. One moment it is rolling off the tongue effortlessly, the next moment it is a collection of disjointed nouns and verbs with no joining words, and every noun in the wrong gender, and every verb declined incorrectly.
Even when I sound fluent, my accent is atrocious. So I have been trying to imitate Freddy. He has a lovely sing-song quality to his tone, and if I listen and imitate, I have a chance to lift myself from an English drone, and develop the music of the language. The only draw-back is that Freddy is only four years old, so I am in danger of picking up his baby talk, and starting every sentence with “why?” On the other hand, we could all learn a lot from asking “why?” more often.
I do find myself asking “why” more often now that I am travelling. In my case, it usually has more to do with the iPad…………I am narrowing the gap between its capabilities and my ability – but it was a very wide gap to begin with. So misspellings and typos do have an explànation – e.g. How the heck did an accent just appear over the “a” in explanation?
Garrulous Gwendoline, Assisi, Sabato June 1st 2013
The Reluctant Retiree 
Love the blog. Sounds like you will be away for your b/day Gwen. Couldn’t think of a more exotic place to be. Have fun.
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Glad you like it Bec. I will be in Sarajevo for my birthday. I am expecting that to be a once in a lifetime exotic experience. A great melting pot of cultures. GG
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Well at least you’re being prepared for rain in the UK! Actually its sunny here at the moment but not up to Oz temperatures. Spent the w/e on Anglesey watching Chris race his old Capri, lying on the grass above the track and soaking up the sun…..
Glad your trip has kicked off though; how exciting.
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Right now I’d accept any temperature that accommodates short sleeves …… 🙂
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Are you having a good time yet or has Jet lag caught up? Smart phones are a little to smart for their own good me thinks! Have a good time PS We had very heavy rain Joined by high winds yesterday Sunday 2.6 To wet to open the shop and it was all over the state.
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Weird weather everywhere it seems. All the locals are complaining. No jet lag so far, but being in the northern hemisphere has created a miracle – I am waking around 6am!
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We are all enjoying your holiday updates, keep them coming.
I have put a copy in the mail room, I hope that’s ok.
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Thanks K. I love it that you spread my stories – good for the ego. Right now, I have more in my head than I can keep up with!
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Hey Gwen Hey Bill – if it is any consolation it is cold, miserable and wet here…. with no authentic Italian cusine (Dave and I would love to hear about any food adventures too!) or promise of summer ….. only the promise of winter here…
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Food stories coming right up! 🙂
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Great post! We simply love Umbria! We do hope to come to Perugia for the Jazz Festival! If you have time, come and visit Abruzzo, there’s a lot to see here too 😉 Nice to meet you! Alessia
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So glad you enjoyed the post Alessia. Sadly I don’t expect we will get to Abruzzo on this trip. We don’t have enough time to do it justice. The pictures on your blog are very tempting though 🙂 GG
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Thank you so much! And you haven’t tasted the food yet! 😉 If you love Italy and are planning to come back again, visit our website http://www.mapleandsaffron.com, we have a huge offer on 2014 tours! 🙂 Enjoy Umbria! Alessia
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Thanks Alessia. Your tours look delightful!
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Thank you so much!
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I’m enjoying your physical and philosophical ramblings as I love to travel vicariously. You’re making both entertaining reading.
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Thanks Ann. We had an experience today that I believe you will enjoy – Le Infiorate. Just catching up on stories now. GG
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This is the first post I’ve read, I wasn’t sure what I had joined. It was very entertaining to read I can’t wait for the next one now. Xx
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Hi Sam, glad you liked it. I have so much to write about. Looking forward to seeing you, GG
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