Ihad another wonderful day on the beach. There were more people on a Sunday ,but Italian kids are so well behaved, it doesn't matter. Apparently you can occasionally say no to a child calmly without making them serial killers or neurotics. The children are happy, curious, quiet, and obedient.
The Italian women my age are mostly in bikinis. They could not give a fraction of a shit that they have sagging bellies or dimpled thighs. They walk proudly, they talk with their friends, and they are happy. And they're not hiding imperfections but exercising! Brilliant. Let's all do that.
I am learning the strolling Italian rhythm. I biked six or seven kilometers, locked the hotel's bike, and then got into the Adriatic. With the Italians, I splashed through the shallows slowly. It was a nature study day. I saw jellyfish, and thanks to chatgpt did not get too close because they all sting. Little beige sand crabs. What may have been sardines? Big, medium, & small gray fish with white circles around their eyes.
I excused myself and asked another woman my age what the tiny fish were. Piccole pesci. By that time, they were gone. She held up a finger. "Guardata." Watch. A metal stick thrust into a breathing hole. Nothing caught. I smiled and said "sand crabs, in Inglese! " She smiled and shrugged, zero English and zero interest in learning. I thanked her, wished her a buona giornata, and kept wading.
As I calm down here, not in such a tourist hurry, I hear Italian better. Snippets: That's just unacceptable. Way to go, girl. We could do it that way. (Implying "let's not") A mom singing kid songs to her toddler about animals.
Again, I could live right here forever and ever. I'd pick up the Italian eventually. It's beautiful, and the people are kind and healthy. And they don't, and don't have to, lock their bikes.
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