If you’ve been following along, you probably think there’s an error in the title of this post. It should be a slice of CAKE in Santa Margherita Ligure, no? We did see a lot of great-looking cakes this morning, that’s for sure. And they did make us hungry. But now it’s time for lunch. So instead of cake, we’re going to have a nice Italian lunch while we’re treated to a slice of life in Santa Margherita Ligure.
We’re taking a leisurely walk around the back-streets of Santa Margherita Ligure. It’s like a different town back here, away from the main drag along the beach and the marina.
Lunchtime
It’s the lunch hour, (except over here it’s the “lunch 2+ hours”). There’s no shortage of places to eat. We picked a café with tables outside, and settled in. Our table faced a courtyard where several pedestrian streets intersect, making this a perfect people-watching spot.
It was a gorgeous day. We didn’t have any big plans, so we could just sit in this quiet, non-touristy part of town and take it all in. Was it too early for a little glass of vino? Hmmm… Well, we are in Italy. And we are on vacation, eh?
The waiter came out and greeted us warmly. He was an energetic young fellow. He was friendly and a hard worker. It looked to us like he and his wife were the new owners of this little café. They were changing the décor and fixing things up a bit.
School’s Out!
There must have been an elementary school somewhere nearby, because after awhile little kids started passing through the courtyard. Each was accompanied by a parent or maybe a grandparent. School had gotten out for lunch.
We watched the activity and got some idea of what must be the routine here. This is a small town, so everything is close by. Papa and maybe mamma go to work in the morning. At lunchtime, they come home for lunch and walk over to the school to pick up the kids.
Mamma, papa, or maybe both of them walk the kids home, have lunch, and spend some time together. After a couple of hours, everyone goes back to work and to school. It’s an ideal kid-raising scenario, eh?
Our lunches arrived – a ham-and-cheese plate, and a tuna salad. The tuna salad was like a normal tuna salad, but the tuna was surrounded by tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Really good.
The tuna salad was good, but the ham-and-cheese plate was off-the-charts good. It was prosciutto – cured ham that had been sliced paper thin. I’m sure it had been sliced right off the leg and onto the plate. I hadn’t expected anything this good from a simple little café like this, but I guess I should know better by now. Even the simplest meals are extra good around here.
Boys will be Boys
We were sitting there, eating, sipping, and whiling away our time, watching people come through the courtyard with their kids. Two mammas stopped to chat with a shop owner, giving their little boys a chance to get rid of some pent-up energy.
The little guys were getting into one thing after another. Most of the time their parents appeared to be ignoring them, but when the action reached a certain level, a comment from one of the parents would put a stop to it – for a minute or two.
Finally, one of the boys took things too far. The other boy retaliated. Then the first one retaliated back. All of a sudden, one of the boys was on the ground bawling. The other one started bawling, too, crying out that it was all the other one’s fault. (No Italian language skills were required to understand this situation).
How do You Say “Uh-Oh” in Italian?
OK – That was enough. The mammas stopped talking with the shop owner and took action. One of them called papa over to get serious with junior. There was no yelling. There didn’t need to be. Papa came over, stood still, and gave a stern look down at junior.
Two sisters, who must have been playing nearby, came over immediately. Their brothers were getting into trouble. This should be good! They’d be glad to remind papa of the boys’ other misdeeds and to suggest appropriate punishments.
The scene was entertaining for us spectators. We were impressed with how the parents handled the situation. No yelling or carrying on. After a minute or so of calm counseling, the tears were gone, there were hugs, and everything was back to the way it had been ten minutes earlier.
When lunch was done and it was time to move on, we took the long way back to the hotel so we could walk by the marina. Some fishing boats had just come in, and were unloading their catch. Hey, our dinner might be in there somewhere, eh?
To be continued…
