Bogliasco Giorni: Forgot to do this Yesterday

We thought it would be nice to show some pictures of the evening activities at the Villa. It is fairly routine now, but has been an adjustment to our normal flow of the day's closing activities. For us it has been a very nice experience, but the consistency often challenges our energy level! Each evening we gather for cocktails - or aperitivi - around 7:00. We meet in the salon, which is the main living space in the Villa. Sometimes this activity moves out to one of the terraces. At approximately 7:45, we get the notice from Fabbio that "La Cena e pronto!" which means that dinner is ready.

We then move into the dining room and have a wonderful series of appetizer, main course, dinner and dessert......with wine of all kinds! Following this we retire to the main salon again, and usually one of the sitting rooms, for the after dinner coffee and 'digestivi.' This process is absolutely wonderful, but somewhat exhausting, usually concluding around 10:00. We need to walk miles to shed the calories the next day.

Tonight, we begged off of the after dinner drinks and headed upstairs early. This gives us a little more quiet time to relax, read and work on the blog. The pictures that follow here are from last night. On each Thursday or Friday, the foundation sponsors a particularly nice dinner which is provided by funding from the foundation donors. This event is sponsored by an individual each week and the general ambiance is a little bit nicer than the average dinner.......silver candelabra and fresh flower arrangements, etc.

It is all happening so quickly that it is hard to react to the cultural shift and nature of this kind of presentation. It is very easy to adapt to.......and somewhat difficult to fully digest. We are caught in a kind of time warp......it really feels like we are living in another era. While we have managed to maneuver the decorum a bit to avoid ties, jackets and dresses every night, we still feel a profound sense of respect for maintaining a sense of continuity with the values of the foundation.

We are all excited (and a bit nervous) that one of the Biaggi family will be coming to Bogliasco next week. Gianni Biaggi is a landscape architect now in his 80's and is one of the key family members responsible for establishing the Center for Ligurian Studies. While he lives in Switzerland, he has a separate villa up on the hillside and likes to stop by once or twice a year. It will be fascinating to have a chance to talk with him.