The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
La Dolce Far Niente

The Italians have a concept for piddling around known as “La Dolce Far Niente,” which essentially translates as "The sweetness of doing nothing." Americans like to say "you gotta do what you've gotta do" ... but sometimes what you've gotta do is nothing at all. This turned out to be one of those days.

The concept of dolce far niente means so much more than its literal translation which makes it difficult for the typical task-oriented American mind to embrace. From that mindset it seems wasteful, almost sacreligious, so here's the way the Italians think of it.

Dolce far niente is the essence of doing nothing and enjoying it. Nothingness is that pleasant experience of enjoying time going by, letting your mind quiet down and allowing your thoughts to take over. It’s very much in the Italian mentality and recognized under different terms elsewhere in other southern European cultures. Europeans are lucky enough to have the beauty of amazing landscapes, from the coasts and seasides to the highest mountains. That is where dolce far niente is at its best, where all that matters is living the moment. No stress, no pressure, nothing matters; just live in the moment, a "doing nothing" moment.

Dolce far niente is a way of life. Italians live to celebrate with good wine and a plate of pasta, no matter whether it is a normal everyday lunch or the most important holiday in the country. It's a way of thinking always fixed to the moment, in which you can finally "do nothing" and enjoy it ... the sensation when you sit at a bar in an Italian village while you drink coffee and watch the passersby. Time slows and for moment you admire life in its simplicity, and you only want to smile.

Today didn't involve sitting in a sidewalk cafe watching the flow of life, but it was that kind of day for us. After a leisurely morning we were on track for our typical 1:00pm start, but then thought it would be wise to get caught up on the laundry so things would have enough time to dry before we had to pack again Saturday morning. So we made sandwiches, opened a few bottles of Portuguese beer and turned the day into a lazy afternoon of reading. We did manage to rally enough to walk down to the Mercado for late afternoon nibbles of pizza and risotto, but that was the extent of our adventures today.

Looked at one way, we did nothing ... but from a wiser perspective, it was a very productive day indeed. Try it. You'll like it.

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