WE'RE OFF TO VENICE!
We leave tomorrow for some time in Venice and the Dolomites. The thunderstorms in the north have apparently cooled things off a bit, so at least we won't be sweltering in Venice. Unfortunately the forecast is for rain while we're in the Dolomites, but maybe things will change.
I'm planning on being waaaay too busy to post while we're gone, which means I'll have a lot of catching up to do once we're back home.
Don't forget that tomorrow is Memorial Day in the U.S., a day to remember all who have given their lives for our country.
THE ITALIAN WAY
 Last night, just as we were finshing our 'clean out the refrigerator before we go on vacation' dinner, Belinda called to ask us if we'd like to join them in Poggio Aquilone, a tiny, tiny little spot not far from here. I don't think Poggio Aquilone even has a bar, but if it does, that's about all it has. It's just a collection of buildings, all strung together, perched on the side of a hill. 
What Pollgio Aquilone does have is it's own WEBSITE!, and last night they were having a sagra di Umbricelli. Umbricelli is a fat, hand-made pasta. similiar to spaghetti, found all over Umbria. How could we resist? We arranged to meet them in Poggio Aquilone, thinking that we could have a drink, maybe sample a dessert.
We warned Nicholas that sagras didn't have games and booths filled with cakes like a typical Catholic church picnic, but still we hoped he might enjoy seeing how Italians fill thier summer evenings. We explained that sagras are really just an excuse to have a meal with friends because Italians are such sociable people.
Giacomo and Belinda brought another couple with them, Giacome Servoli, whose family owns the large grocery store in San Venanzo. This Giacomo works in real estate, and once our friend Giacomo gets his license, they'll be able to help one another. With Giacomo was his girlfriend Laura. We'd met both a them a few times before and were happy to see them again.
 Everyone raved about the food, but the crostata we ordered for dessert wasn't all that great. I much prefer a (good, flaky) American-style pie crust to the Italian crostata crust, but what I really didn't like about this one was the filling. I'm not sure what fruit it was, maybe prune, but it just wasn't to my liking. Nicholas took a bite, but he wasn't won over either. I think he was a little disappointed he couldn't get a gelato!
Here's Nick, obviously NOT overwhelmed by the crostata!
The placemats had several Sudoku puzzles on them, so Nicholas asked for a pencil and went to work. We chatted with our friends as they ate their dinner, enjoying their company and the nice evening. The wind had picked up, and somewhere it had probably rained, but not near us! At least it cooled things off considerably.
As usual for a sagra, the music began around ten, but instead of the crowd taking the dance floor, there was a demonstration for various dances by a couple who were regional dance champions. Personally I'd rather watch the locals, young and old as they swirl around the dance floor. It seems that everyone in Italy knows how to dance....not just rock and roll gyrations, but old-fashioned, hand to hand dancing. We left about 10:30, with plans to return tonight so that we can sample the umbricelli ourselves.
SATURDAY
Whatever was scheduled for the park this mornign never happened. Supposedly the school was going to 'adopt' the park. Flyers were posted around town, but if there was a ceremony, it wasn't in the park. Oh well.
Nick walked down to the grocery store to buy a souvenir for his mom. He'd planned to go by himself, but Art decided to go with him. They told me that when they passed the school, the kids yelled out to him "Ciao Americano!"
Later on the two guys went to the new soccer field to see the match between the carabinieri (local police) and the townspeople. Later they planned to go down to Marsciano to buy a charger for Nicholas' Gameboy-thing. For some reason his charger wouldn't work with our voltage converter, and when we'd been in the grocery he'd spotted the charger with an Italian plug.
I warned him to be very cautious about what he bought, since returns and exchanges just don't happen in Italy. He accepted the gamble, and as luck would have it, the charger worked just fine.
The soccer match wasn't quite as successful. The first match had been a women's match, and not many people were there. Nicholas was of course hoping to find some of his friends at the match, but apparently they hadn't yet arrived. Art and Nicholas decided to go to the grocery store, then return to the match later, but discovered that there would be an admission charge of €5 when they came back. Since neither one of them was that interested, they just came home.
Nicholas is out wandering around right now, trying to see if any of his friends are out. We're leaving for the sagra in a little while, and I don't expect to see anyone we know....last night we didn't see one familiar face, apart from the ones at our table. We were a little surprised, but things here are so localized, and maybe people from San Venanzo don't have any friends or relatives in Poggio Aquilone......but who knows?!
OLD PLACES, NEW FRIENDS
Nicholas is settling in. After sleeping over twelve hours his first night, I think he’s over any jet lag and ready to start living on Italian time. Yesterday, his first full day here we took a walk to the nature trail just outside of town, then spent most of the day inside because it was HOT!
It’s a shame that the Italian kids are in school until June 9th, but that’s the way it goes. We hoped to find some kids out and about yesterday afternoon, but no luck. Either they were doing homework, or were smart enough to say out of the heat.
Today, after Art stopped in the doctor’s office to refill his prescriptions, we headed to Orvieto. I explained the significance of the Duomo to him during the drive, and told him a little about the town and it’s other attractions I knew he wouldn’t be very interested in the Signorelli frescoes in the Duomo, but still, he was exposed to them, and I told him that maybe one day when he reads about something we’ve seen during his visit he might remember that he saw the sight in person….or maybe his curiosity will bring him back to Italy when he’s older, who knows.
 After visiting the Duomo we took the Underground Orvieto tour of the caves dug out by the ancient Etruscans, and  expanded by later generations. Of course he didn’t bring his camera so I snapped a few pictures for him, but he probably won’t care about the pictures as much as his parents do.
At least I’ll have proof that we showed him a good time!
We walked  back to the car to eat the lunch we’d brought with us, then Nicholas and I visited St. Patrick’s Well while Art relaxed. As the son of  engineers, I thought the concept of the well might appeal to him….or at least burn off some energy! We stopped at the grocery to buy some ribs for a cook-out on Sunday. Belinda and Giacomo are coming over, and we’ll grill and talk. We drove to their place last night just to sit out on their back patio, to watch the stars come out and the fireflies light up the area. This afternoon I was on my way to the garage to get water for the garden when two young boys walked by. “Hey guys!” I shouted to them in Italian, “How old are you? Do you speak any English?” They told me they were both twelve, and hesitantly acknowledged that they knew a little English. I know they learn it in school, but with no one to practice with, there’s not much point. I explained that my grandson was here, that he was fourteen years old, and that he knew only a few words of Italian. I asked if they had time to help him, and they said “Sure! We’ll introduce him to some other friends too!” With that I asked their names and yelled up to Nicholas. When he stuck his head out the window I said “Nicholas, this is Eduardo and Marco. Come down and meet them.” Amazingly, he didn’t hesitate a bit, came out the door and we made the introductions in person, then the three of them took off down the street. Where they’re going or what they’re doing, I have no idea, but I know he’ll be safe, and maybe even have some fun. ……………………….. Nicholas just returned home, dropped off by his friends. I asked him if his brain was tired and he say “Yes!” I know the feeling. He said his new friends did speak some English to him, so good for them for trying. As the boys left, I asked them about the soccer game tomorrow afternoon and told them maybe we’d see them there. Life in a small town does have it’s advantages!
MACCA'S NEWEST VIDEO!
It looks and sounds as if Paul's newest album, "'Memory Almost Full' will be great! Enjoy this sample.....
NICHOLAS IS HERE!!!
After months of wondering and pleading, followed by weeks of worry over the passport and finally a six hour drive to Chicago to secure one, Nicholas arrived in Rome this morning!!!! So far he's had a panino, pizza, and gelato, walked around San Venanzo, then took a hot shower and crashed! I'm betting he'll be up and ready to go early tomorrow morning. We'll take it easy for a few days before hitting the road for Venice and the Dolomites!
HOME AGAIN....AT LONG LAST!
Our vacation to the states was going to be hectic, we knew that from the start. We'd arrive in Tampa and spend a few days with the grandgirls, then fly to Louisville. We had an entire week in Louisville before Art had to start work at Churchill Downs, so we knew it would be a hectic week, and it was.
Once the track opened, our one car status meant that I had to drive Art to and from work each day....quite a long haul from the condo we'd exchanged our house for. Never-the-less, things worked out okay, and by the end of two weeks, Art was ready to go back into retirement.
We turned in the rental car, had one last dinner with family, then checked into an airport hotel for our early morning flight to Boston. Our friends Paul and Mer filled our 2 1/2 days there with so many interesting sights...we toured Fenway Park, toured Boston itself, even drove to New Hampshire and Maine! The weather was unbelievably fantastic, and we had a great time.
Early on Tuesday morning we left Boston for one last day in Tampa. As luck would have it, Tuesday was the day our little redhead graduated from pre-school, so we were able to be there for the celebration.
On Wednesday morning we drove back to the airport, ready to go back to Italy. Our first surprise was when we discovered that somehow our reservation had been cancelled! After getting things back on track, we boarded the plane, then sat on the runway for over an hour, waiting for a storm in Philadelphia to pass through.
Once we finally took off from Tampa, we had a few concerns about making our connection to Rome, but those hopes were dashed after we ended up circling Philadelphia....apparently the storm hadn't quite finished.
Of course we weren't the only plane circling, and had to wait our turn. Eventually we ran low on gas and had to fly to Atlantic City to re-fuel! The storm followed us, forcing us to sit on the ground for waaaay longer than we'd planned. We eventually landed in Philly well after 10 p.m., and joined the line with everyone else who needed to be re-booked and put up for the night.
Things moved excruciatingly slow, but eventually we were able to speak with an agent. Of course there were no seats available for the Thursday flight to Rome, meaning that we'd be in Philly for at least two more nights. Ugh.
When we tried to collect our luggage we discovered that because our luggage was tagged for Rome, it was now locked up for the night, and the chances of retrieving it in the morning were small. Great....we had no toiletries and no clean clothes for the next few days!
We were given an emergency toiletry kit and sent to a local hotel for the night. Once we checked in we discovered that our voucher was good for one night only, but since we'd planned to return to the airport the next morning in search of our luggage, we hoped to get this taken care of too.
Apparently the USAir/American West has really been difficult...or at least that's the excuse they were using! Every time one agent would tell us one thing, the next agent would tell us it wasn't possible...always due to a change in policy under the changed administration.
The good news was that we were able to get our luggage, but the bad news was that we'd still have to wait until Friday to fly to Rome. The good news was that USAir did pay for our second night's hotel, but the bad news was that we had to change hotels, meaning we had to trek back out to the first hotel to collect our stuff.
The good news was we were able to spend a day in Philly (which we didn't like as much as Boston, for whatever reason). We checked in bright and early the next morning as we'd been told, hoping to get two seats together, but that didn't prove possible. We spent the day hanging out in the airport, and were soooo ready to get on that plane!
Thanks to the generosity of one very nice woman who offered to change seats, we were able to sit together on the plane....with seats as tight as they are now, at least we could lean on each other without fear of offending!
Thanks to the help of my daughter, we'd been able to contact our friend Wendy who picked us up at the airport. It was a wonderful treat to not have to worry about train and bus schedules, and I promptly fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Today, after sleeping past noon, we're doing laundry, putting away the American treats we brought back with us, and enjoying being in our own home again.
My daughter will drive to Chicago on Monday in hopes of getting our grandson's passport so that he can fly out on Tuesday for three weeks with us...meaning that we'll be back at the Rome airport on Wednesday to pick him up.......fingers crossed!
A SAGRANTINO BUZZ
I received an email the other day from Rick Steves, recapping his recent visit to Italy. This comment left me laughing....and wondering what percentage of people will now rush to find this wine, and what percentage of people will be scared away! What do you think?
"Had some mind-blowing wine: Sagrantino de Montefalco —Umbria's answer to Brunello de Montalcino — was almost like marijuana, evoking flames and dancing girls.
You know when the fancy wine glasses come out, it's going to be a particularly complex wine. These glasses seemed designed to function like a gas mask…drug paraphernalia, if the truth be told."
Although this might be the most bizarre wine review I've ever read, I guess it beats reading about 'a pretentious wine with undertones of leather and cherries', or similiar descriptions that always leave me puzzled.
MOVING AGAIN!
Hard as it is to believe, our time in Louisville is almost over! Art has two more days to work at Churchill Downs, then on Friday we'll pack, clean our friend's house, then check into an airport hotel. Early on Saturday morning we'll fly to Boston to visit friends, then on Tuesday we head back to Tampa for one last day with the grandgirls.
To say that our time here has flown wouldn't be 100% true....but it has been extremely busy. We've accomplished a lot, seen a few friends (too few, as usual!) and enjoyed the heck out of Diet Coke, Mexican food and daily newspapers.
Although we're both excited to see Boston for the first time, and to spend time with our friends, I have to say that I'm really ready to be back in my own house, in my own bed. I want to see how my garden is doing...to see if the roses need pruning, to pinch off the suckers from the tomato plants, then to just sit and enjoy a quiet moment in our back yard.
|
Spina Bifida
