Stradella Here We Come

Friday, March 25, 2011 (Part 3)

Following our lunch, we walked around the streets of Santa Marguerita. We did some window shopping, and I bought some amaretto cookies (one of my favorites) in a bakery. Mo

re than anything, I enjoyed the building facades. In Santa Marguerita, there has developed a tradition of painting the exteriors of the buildings in such a way as to create the illusion of a variety of architectural features -- window ledges, columns, eaves, etc. They are colorful, and they are unique. It was fun to walk the streets and compare this interesting form of artwork.

When it came time to leave this pretty city, we split up for the drive to Stradella. Dad and Roberto were in our rental car, and Katherine and I joined Niki in her car. We had a two hour drive to Stradella. Once there, we settled into Roberto and Niki's house (Ca'Rosa), and we were joined by Paolo. He has grown! He is several inches taller than when I saw him just 18 months ago. And his English has improved too.

Roberto then took us on a short driving tour of Stradella -- mostly for Katherine's benefit. We ended up in Portalbera where we visited very briefly with Angela. We also saw Carluccio there. We took a brief stroll through the small town square in Portalbera and then headed back to Stradella where we knew that Niki was preparing dinner for us.