I got lost in Pescara. I found two old men sitting on plastic chairs on the pavement discussing something that didn’t seem serious. I asked about the bus stop and immediately one of them sprang to his feet to help me. When the other guy tried to contribute by explaining to me further, the first slowly rotated to him with an expressive WTF-look. The other guy immediately apologized laughingly and retreated to his silence.
After explaining to me, the old man awkwardly pinched my left cheek acknowledging his brilliant way of explaining the way to the bus stop. I read in his eyes “Look how easy did I make it for you, young boy!”. Seeing my poster tube, he then asked me if I was going to “school”. I said yes! and this entertained him enough to say “bravo!”
I walk a bit further to see an old fashioned bar. I say to myself, a good cup of coffee and croissant is probably my biggest passion in Italy. I enter and order from the old woman. I pay only 2.20 euros for both. The barista is in his 50’s. He has white hair, a huge golden cross resting on his chest embraced by the collar of his macho-style opened shirt. He served me the croissant and the cappuccino. Then asked me if I want a glass of water and hailed himself and saying “che servizio” “What a service!”. He threw at me a few Arabic words and told me that he used to work in producing Quran cassettes a couple of decades ago for Geddhafi. He said that Geddhafi never paid for the project!
The old woman in the fruits shop. With a full-make up and jewelry. Calling her son “Paolo” to show her how to calculate 44 cents plus 88 cents. Paolo is not amused and blames her for saying that she can manage things on her own. She handles everything extremely slowly and treats me like a grandmother. It is the genuine way of communication between people. The human aspect that goes beyond the services exchange or the minimal effective flow of information. It is the whipped cream on the top of each conversation that gives this place its charm.
Gian is telling me about the 60 years old woman passionate about football that can tell you everything about current football. She and her husband offered to take him to the stadium with them for the next match. I am just entertained by the story! Probably more by Gian’s enthusiasm about this super-alive woman. Or maybe about his story of attending his ex-girlfriend’s wedding and hearing her grandmother telling him “it should have been you!”.
Stories here and there. There is always something happening and probably at the same time nothing is really happening here. Anyway, a few hours left for me here in this trip. I will leave again and promising bella Italia that I will be back for another sip of life!