My friends Hell (yes, they really cal him like that) and Silvia came visiting the Belbo Valley and the Astigianistan hills.
The week started with a crocodile spotted in the area, and with a strong rain, reaching a staggering 80 mm (3 inches) over 6 hours.
Then the wind began.
In the night between Monday and Tuesday gale force winds hit northern Italy, causing panic and devastation.
Genoa was hit hard (hard as in – boats beached in the streets a quarter of a mile from the sea), and the Astigianistan hills were equally blasted.
Here where I live, we almost lost a window blind, and the following morning we found the courtyard strewn with mysterious wreckage.
And then the web went dead – no internet, no phone, no nothing.
For thirsty-six hours.
But, like, who cares?
We found a warm spot in which we holed up and we basically talked writing and books, ate the local specialty “farinata” (a dish that deserves a post by itself), drank assorted beers, and had a hell of a good time.
No news from the croc – I guess he’s found a lift from some trucker and is now cruising south.
Now vacation’s over – tomorrow we’ll be back in the rat race.
Salgari was a strange man, that lived most of his life in Turin – where I was born – and the farther East he ever went was the local library. But he was animated by a colossal imagination, that fuelled his stories and hooked thousands of readers. He wrote pirate stories and swashbucklers, westerns, exotic adventure and the occasional Verne-esque science fiction.
As you can imagine, the next few days will be focused on promoting Hope & Glory, my steampulp game of exotic adventure. I will try to do this while staying true to the themes and purposes of my blog, because I know not everybody’s a roleplayer out there.
Karavansara 