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I met Bart in Leivi, the first time , in August 2008
Leivi is a small village along the Ligurian Riviera, east of Genoa, with its
houses spread on the side of the hill overlooking the sea of Chiavari.
Personally I’m from Milan and I ended up living in Leivi by accident. My
precise intention was to set up a B&B in such a picturesque region and
visiting the Tigullio area I had the luck to find a house in Leivi. I
immediately fell in love with that corner of Riviera and the house I was
offered, with an inviting front garden and two spacious bedrooms for the
guests, was perfect for to start my B&B
I knew I could rely on my knowledge of the English language and actually
the B&B proved to be successful from the very beginning, receiving
guests from all over the world. Beside that I got to know the landladies of
other B&Bs of the area, who were so courteous to make me feel settled
into Leivi’s environment and introduced me to the locals.
One of those landladies was telling me of a cousin of hers, an American
gentleman by the name Bart and with a common Leivi’s surname, who was
from San Francisco but used to spend some time in Leivi in her house,
every year in summer time. She was telling me that Bart was a gentleman
in his sixties, retired and widowed, with two grown daughters already
independent. She also said that Bart loved to plunge himself in his Italian
origins and enjoy some Italian style of live. She thought Bart could
appreciate speaking English with somebody in Leivi, as most no one in
Leivi spoke English well.
One interesting aspect of this cousin was that he could speak the Ligurian
dialect, a real good grasp of it compared his poor knowledge of Italian.
This was good for him as far as his communication skill with the locals,
but expressing himself in English would have helped him a lot during his
stays in Leivi.
Initially I didn’t take this invitation to know him into consideration that
much, with the excuse I was very busy over the B&B, but a year later, in
2008, I came across Bart accidentally.
Because of his facial features, very Ligurian, and his casual way to dress,
he looked perfectly integrated in the local countryside population, barely
recognizable as an outsider. As soon as we started to talk to each other,
him in dialect and I answering in Italian, I wondered within myself: “who
is this person, coming from the States and looking like a peasant, busy on
our terraced olive groves?”