Views from Sausalito: It May be Sausalito, but it Feels Like Italy

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Views from Sausalito: It May be Sausalito, but it Feels Like Italy

by Ellie Klevins, OurSausalito.com Contributing Editor

Italians start their day in their local bar with an espresso and sometimes a pastry. It’s a morning ritual, and there is a designated time and specific place you must be to start your day. It’s where you see your neighbors, get caught up on what’s happening in town, and where you feel connected, and at home.

Visit a bar in Italy and you can get the true feel of the neighborhood. Locals arrive, down an espresso, and in less than a minute, they are off. Others who don’t have to rush stay to chat, read the paper, and ease their way into the day.

Marlena De Blasi, author of A Thousand Days in Venice, said that it took a long time before she was able to say anything more than buongiorno, grazie and ciao, to her neighbors at her local bar in Venice. It can take years if not generations to be considered a local and be included in Italian conversations.

But not in Sausalito. We have become regulars at our local “bar”, Poggio, after just a few weeks. Their menu says: “Completely surrounded by water and graced by breathtaking hillside vistas, Sausalito could be transplanted anywhere along the water between Cinque Terre and Viareggio and seem completely at home”

The wait staff greets us with a robust “Buongiorno!” each morning. After a few days, they start preparing an espresso, and a cappuccino as we arrive. When I leave, they say, “Ciao, bella!” And it really does make me feel beautiful And it makes my day.

Contributing Editor Ellie Klevins has lived in the Bay Area all her life, but moved to Sausalito just this April. Her posts will cover the perspectives of life in Sausalito for a new resident as she discovers the joys of our little town.

The opinions expressed in "Views from Sausalito" articles represent those of the authors and do not represent the opinions of OurSausalito.com. Poggio is a charter sponsor of this website. Top photo credit: Sub-Urban.