[Leica] Hedonists, "Polka Pigs", and Leicas Part 1

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

 They always say that travel broadens the horizon, but they keep forgetting 
that it also broadens the body somewhat. Just back from Europe, after a month 
of distinctly hedonistic living - great food and handpicked wines as well as 
long and scintillating conversations about wine, food and Leicas - reality 
looks somewhat dull!
We started off with our usual stop in Brighton/Hove with the Krick's of Hove 
Camera fame. Moderation was the key word, Arthur and I only consumed modest 
amount of Scotch (but we did not cut back on the red wine - that stuff is 
good for you according to the French medical research). We had a chance to 
meet with Terence Dixon and his wife Jane, play with Leicas, try Terence's 
Land Rover 110 and discuss more Leica stuff. The next day was spent in Hove 
with Jonathan Eastland ( "The Leica M Compendium") and, as usual, we had 
lunch, discussed the new M-book that Jonathan is working on. I also gave 
Jonathan a chance to shoot with the Heliar 15/4,5, 2-3 rolls in 15 minutes! 
"I have to give it a good try with both color and black/white", he said. 
After a couple of days of this relaxed living in the English Country side we 
felt sufficiently refreshed to continue on to the Frankfurt Airport and pick 
up our rental car, as smallish blue Ford Fiesta. It looks boring and 
innocuous enough, perfect for travel. We shot out of Frankfurt and headed 
down to Switzerland, paid the Swiss ransom for crossing the country (about 
$35 road tax for 4 hours of driving through!) and crossed into Italy through 
the 23km long Gotthard tunnel (I did envision what would happen if there was 
an accident, but not even my imagination could foresee the inferno that 
happened a couple of weeks later at Mont Blanc Tunnel!). 
 Driving in Italy is fun. The most frustrated man there has to be the guy who 
paints the lanemarkings on the streets. He nicely puts down a couple of white 
lines, stands back and exclaims "Now there are three lanes here, traffic will 
flow much smoother!" The paint is not even dry, before six Italians charge up 
the street, abreast and at least 3 or 4 motorcyclists split the space between 
the cars. The rule is simple, do not touch that brake until you see the 
whites of their eyes! According to the locals, traffic lights are regarded as 
"consultativo" and the philosophy is that the less time you spend in the 
intersection while crossing on red, the less time you are a target. I don't 
know how they do it, but it flows, somehow and it certainly is not boring. It 
takes a day or two to get used to it, but then you happily proceed against 
the traffic on a one-way street and your excuse is "Well, I am only going 
one-way, am I not!" There is also a timeframe that is distinctly Italian - 
the definition of the shortest known time sequence is not some nano-second, 
it is the time it takes the light to change and the guy behind you to hit the 
horn button! You could not even catch that with one of those 1/8000 sec 
electronic shutters.
 Milan was in the throws of the spring fashion season and the place crawled 
with Art Directors, Fashion Designers and Models. They were all staggering 
around, wearing shoes completely unsuited to the cobblestones and clutching 
portfolios and tried to look like Somebodies. Now and then you saw a Fashion 
Photographer's assistant dragging props and equipment along the same 
cobblestones (at least they are wearing sneakers!) or some bleary eyed editor 
with a loup permanently attached to one eye looking for more and stronger 
espressos! We met and were wined and dined by fellow LUGger Diego Rigatti, a 
man with great taste - he had just forgone large motorcycles (after having 
wrecked Ducati's and BMW's in Milan traffic) and now he was moving through 
traffic with the "Smart" car. It is a 2 seater, designed by Swatch Watch Co 
and built by a Mercedes company - propelled by a 660cc turbocharged 
intercooled engine. I had always had the impression that Milan was only a 
big, industrial city with not much redeeming values. I was wrong! It is a 
very interesting place to spend some time. It is probably the showpiece of 
some of the best designs that Italy produces - not only fashion, but 
furniture, housewares, jewellery and it is a city that has some truly good 
food too, as well as being the birthplace of Campari, the slightly bitter 
drink that will cool you nicely after a long walk. 
 Diego took us to Parma on a Sunday to meet LUGgers Ernesto and Guido and 
after a walk around the centre of this town, home to the Great Cheese as well 
as Verdi and some truly outstanding buildings - the Baptismal in Parma is far 
more beautiful than the one in Florence. Of course being LUGgers, we all 
carried Leicas, took pictures of the buildings and each other and then did 
the only sane thing, went for lunch. Ernesto had picked the lunchplace, and 
picked exceedingly well too. Both Diego and Guido are sommeliers, trained in 
the art of picking the best wine for the food! Guido specialises in French 
wines and Diego in the Italian ones. For a while we had the "duelling" 
sommeliers selecting the various wines for the multicourse lunch. When you 
deal with experts, my philosophy is to lean back and let them pick what they 
think is the best and enjoy the selection. In Italy food and wine is 
important, you pick the right stuff, you take your time and you enjoy it. The 
Italian definition of "fast food" is a guy going home with some nice meats, 
some good cheese and a bottle of good wine, in a Ferrari!
  Our thanks to Diego and Anna and Ernesto and Guido for a memorable visit to 
Milan, for the bottles of wine and for the Parmesan cheese and also to 
Riccardo of "Osservatorio" (a VERY classy Leica store in Milan). It is 
amazing how much wine and cheese can be fitted in the trunk of a Ford Fiesta! 
                                                   to be continued in Part 2