July 9, 1986 Marble, Swimming and Disco!

Here is the entry for my diary for July 9, 1986. "Today we went to the marble quarries and factories around Massa and Carrara. it was very beautiful. I wanted to buy so many things. I was so thirsty today from all the wine yesterday. All I bought was a couple of bangle bracelets. Then we went to La Spezia to swim at the beach there. There were lots of waves. I was a bit embarrassed at first. I lost my sunglasses thanks to a wave. We did not have any chairs or towels so we just sat on the sand. We had dinner at camp and then went to a disco. It was called "pop in". We all got one free drink. I got a beer. All the other drinks cost 8000 Lire!!! so expensive. They played lots of funky music. I bought a Negroni, which has campari, gin and vermouth in it. (Pretty strong stuff). The entrance to the disco had a lavendar hedge. I picked a sprig on the way home. They played The Cure at the disco and Alain danced to it. I sat with him in the bus on the way home..."

This was the first disco we went to. The next one was a few days later.

We got to see how they cut the huge chunks of marble with a saw that is constantly wet and the milky water that flows off the blocks. The shops were your typical souvenir ones, but then I was so impressionable. They had chess sets and animal scuptures in various sizes. Did you buy anything there? My bangles broke really quickly.


The disco was new and flashy. It was not very big, if I remember correctly. Not like the one a few days later. It had a large square bar in the disco and I sat there near Francesco Carpena, our "leader". It was loud and fun. I still have the sprig of lavender in my photo album.

Ok, time for others to post some comments about the discos. I am sure there are lots of good stories to tell. Ciao!