Of things recent

            Well past the half way point and the clock ticks just get louder.  The first 2006 wine is ready for consumption and every shop window frames orange and red mesh sacks overflowing with chestnuts.  The Italian sense of style, especially among the 40+, shines strong with the cold creeping in around late-season sunny days; linen gave way to cotton blend, wool recently took the first and last hours of daylight.  Christmas lights span the streets, though yet to be illuminated, the holidays are hanging over every head.

            Yesterday was students night at Tortoruga, one of the only clubs in town but from what I hear a dynamic one.  A group of abroaders went and to my surprise nobody was studying.  A complex series of passes attainted from cafés around town, at the door of the club, the bar within and the exit complicated the process but made my refreshment feel like a sought-after eastern spice. 

            Wednesday was an excursion to Recanati, another Marche hill town but somewhat more elongated than Macerata, and the former home of a national fave, Giacomo Leopardi.  After some artistic and architectural background on the foreground via Filiberto we made our way to the Leopardi house where the decedents of Giacomo still reside, I felt good knowing that my entrance fee was being put to use by someone.  The house was impressive and a subsequent tour of facilities, jaunt around the gardens and rest under a persimmon tree, the surrounding valleys pillowed below the city, made it clear why Leopardi wrote with such unabashed jollity.