The grounds to my new home is surrounded by a large stone wall. There are a few villas inside the wall full of extended family and a garden with about 70 turtles, some which are 100+ years old and have been passed through the family like heirlooms. There are lush green trees, purple flowered plants climbing the wall and a big apricot tree at one side of the backyard. It reminds me of books I used to love as a kid, like The Secret Garden...except that I can hear the cars on the other side of the wall and music playing from the bar across the street when I sit on the porch with my wine. The whole property was built by American officers during World War II for refuge. It has since been remodeled into a sleek and modern style, but it still holds on to its historical charm. It also reminds me of my home growing up in Tokyo. We lived right outside the city, but it was still anything but the suburbs. We also had a large stone wall surrounding our property and I remember I always thought of it as a fortress. Inside the fortress was different lush green foliage (a cherry tree instead of the apricot tree) but outside the wall was also a bustling street and busy restaurants. I love the mixing of styles...it has somehow embraced being both historical but modern. Like Rome meets Ikea. For me personally, it is an old memory blended with a new chapter.
We met a group of friends and had the most amazing dinner (after gelato...these are my kind of people if they do dessert before and after dinner) at Circolo Unione Bari, which I think is the equivalent of a country club in America. I kind of felt like a child again because I had people pushing food onto my plate saying "try this" and I didn't understand the adult conversation...but the view was to die for and the food was all fresh seafood caught by the local fisherman so I didn't care too much. It's just more motivation to learn Italian.