Quick visit

Our lovely niece Lucy came to visit for a couple of days, en route to a summer art-history program in Florence. She spent some of her brief stay with us getting used to the time change, but while she was conscious we showed her around town.

We had a drink on the piazza with Pam and Romano and torta fritta and tortelli at the Antica Trattoria. We had pizza at the Astoria, visited our local supermarket, and strolled around the side streets

I was reminded that part of Fidenza's charm is that there's not much here that's a conventional don't-miss experience. The town itself, its day to day, is where the thrill lies, but it's an incremental sort of thrill.

Of course we took her to Fidenza's one real sight, the 12th-century cathedral, where she met San Donnino, the town's headless patron saint. His statue has been moved to a more prominent spot since we were last here, but his bones are still enshrined in the crypt.

The next morning Danny warned Lucy about how Italians start the day with nothing but coffee and a cookie or a croissant and made her a good American breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, in hopes of tiding her over for a while.

 Then we put her on the train to Florence. Buon viaggio!

It was great to spend a little time with her and to vicariously share the excitement of a young person being on her own in Italy for the first time. I hope this is her first visit to us of many.