What to Wear to A Joust

What is a Joust? Why would we go there? And would it be fun?

The answer is yes to all of the above. Bob and I went back to Capri for our last time (ha ha...how many times have I said that). Who knows, but we did manage to cut through all the "should we" or "shouldn't we," and when my son, daughter-in-law, and our grandsons decided to go, it was a synch yes.

Capri was heavenly. Gorgeous weather, great friends from all over the world, our favorite hotel: the Scalinatella (owned by the Morgano family)... it was all how we remembered it. And yes, the rack was up in my bedroom with clothes hanging on it for ten days or so, seeing what would make the cut. Of course I only needed half the amount I ended up taking.

We stayed in Capri 10 days, longer than ever. We took a boat to our beloved Lo Scolio for lunch to start celebrating my birthday. We took our friends, Joseph Klaus and Jane. It was a happy, happy day. We then celebrated again at Aurora with a huge party and the restaurant waiters and chefs singing tante agura a te! Love Italy! Clothes shopping? oh yes. Eating and drinking rosé, oh yes! Being in Capri is a fantasy: you can do anything you want. You are Ava Gardner. You are Lana Turner. You are Jackie O'. Ordinary life goes away and this feeling of fantasy is everywhere. We met a lovely couple in the piazza. I went out to dinner with them and she was one of the most remarkable women I  have met in my lifetime. Bob and I both fell in love with her. She was a warm, fascinating, and powerful woman. She was an Italian living in Australia and was Australia's leading designer. Only on a trip do you meet people so easily like that.

The fantasy continues. When we got to Arezzo, our friend Marjorie and her beau, the mayor of Arezzo, were waiting for us for dinner in this charming little town that reminds me so much of an Italian Montecito. He is a beloved man and has done a tremendous amount for the city. They have a villa in the country and an apartment in the city. They had friends coming from all over for the joust. We stayed in the city, and the bonus was that every night the joust would be practiced under our window. We had horses in costumes, marching bands in costumes, and riders in costumes...the works. The town on the night of the joust went crazy. Picture it being somewhere between the world cup, olympics, and super bowl. The towns people are divided into 4 colors, and the color that eventually went on to win the joust, hadn't won in 12 years. The town went crazy. We all watched it from the windows of the apartment above the entire action. Alessandro, the mayor became the king and the fantasy of the king in the joust. The costumes were amazing and the fantasy grew into a fairy tail because the next night, a beautiful dinner was served at the villa in Tuscany where the guitars played and the food was impeccable. Where my friend and the major  announced their love and engagement to be married. It was regal, it was elegant, it was a true fairy tail. An American woman goes to Tuscany and finds live with the mayor of Arezzo.

It was meravigliosa!

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