More Candle Lighting Opportunities....

 

Did you know that if you double click on the collage (or other individual pictures), it will get bigger and thus easier to see?

Another Alessandria Gem...

November 20, 2008

While on one of our regular walks around the city, we often pass this garden p patch but it has always been locked. A few days ago, just as we were walking by, an older man was going in with large boards slung over his shoulder. We stopped to hold the gate for him and of course, followed him right on in.

The gardeners who were tending their plots were all older adults (70ish?) and it became apparent that it was a private setting. They did tolerate our wanderings and on the way out, one woman asked us who we were and where we were from. We had another one of our famous broken Italian chats and all left smiling.

Perugia....

After leaving Lucca, we headed for three nights in Perugia. What a city! Given that there are several universities and art academies, it's vibrant, with an air of electricity that only youth away from home for the first time, in a foreign country can put out. Today, Perugia is the capital of Umbria with a history dating back to the Etruscan civilization followed by the Romans. It's so old with its twisting and winding streets, a place to just wander and discover; a place that provides a "Kodak moment" every few feet. In addition to its historical fame and beauty, it is famous for Umbrian chocolate and did we ever imbibe. Ever had grappa in a hot chocolate that is so rich the spoon stands up? No, well Sr. Wendy and I did.

A Question To All Of You....

Okay, to all you kind folks out there who have said you read our blog, I must ask you a question. This is in regards to the posting from Perugia that, when opened, had the shot of someone's personal buttock anatomy. It took a kind reader to bring it to our attention, "Hey Kim and Rachel, what's up with the a------- that's on your blog; did someone infiltrate???"

Since then, we have heard from several people who said, "Oh yeah, I saw that; I thought it was a bit odd but.....". Someone else said, "I thought you were just trying to be artistic" another, "well, you are living in Europe....".

Folks, folks, folks. Does this sound remotely like Kim and me? Does it follow the pattern you've come to recognize in these last 5 months of blogs???????? Would we have put it next to the picture of the fountain and duomo in Perugia with no explanation??????

Sigh.

Cardoons Revisited

Just a quick update regarding cardoons. We tried them and we have both had our lifetime quota.
They taste somewhat like a very old, tough piece of celery with a rather unpleasant aftertaste. Perhaps they need to be cooked or added to a pot of something but, as you can see by Kim's expression, just plain raw doesn't cut it. Reporting to you from Italy......

Saving the best for last....

Why, you may be asking yourself, do we have a picture of a mattress as the focal point when we are writing about our last evening in Lucca? And if you were to know that these were taken on a Friday night at 9pm, might you be even more curious? Allow me to introduce what was one of our most "interesting" and "educational" times spent in Italy thus far.

It all started when Louise had emailed us a day or two prior to our visit, saying she had committed the 4 of us to an evening at the local school for what she understood to be a "mattress exhibit" that would benefit her local walking group/club. Her neighbor said a certain number of people needed to show up and Louise promised her there would be four of us attending. Rachel and I easily related to Louise's comment in the email that she "thinks" it's some sort of exhibit but given her Italian and what gets lost in translation, half the time you don't really know what you've gotten yourself into. Til you're there, of course. Now THAT we could relate to...

At 9pm after a delicious home cooked meal, we all walked over to the school for what we had been calling the "mattress festival." We could see a big spread of food and drinks in the lobby and fortunately we weren't at all hungry (because all the food apparently was for later). We were ushered into a classroom (maybe 12 x 12') that had about 40 chairs and almost that many local people from the village already there waiting. There were a couple of sleepy kids with their parents, numerous older men sitting close in front, a contingent of older women in skirts, scarves and woolen jackets looking slightly irritated but present in the row behind us,

and in the front of the room on a wooden platform was, behold, THE Mattress.
And about 15 minutes later THE "exhibitor" (or as we quickly figured out, THE salesman) entered.

For the next 90+ minutes, (yes, really!) the salesman showed us all the marvelous features of the mattress featured above, the frame, and its innovative construction and the crowd-despite the hour and what was later revealed to be an exorbitant price- never once acted impatient or impolite. They knew what Rachel and I didn't, that the good turnout meant a 5oo euro donation to their club and they'd put up with whatever they had to for their cause. So with the locals bantering back and forth, the salesman talking so fast trying to get through his spiel- complete with anatomy charts and requests for volunteers, the goodnatured teasing of the "lucky" volunteer/fellow neighbor/good sport bed-tester (see what appears to be a dead man in the picture below)

and the coup de grace: a cell phone ringing in the middle of this people-packed room, its owner answering and having a 3 minute conversation at full voice as if none of us were there. (Even the salesman just stopped and stared at her until she hung up). She, of the Harley Motorcycle couple, probably had a friend waiting at the local bar... and post phone call, off she and the boyfriend went, stepping over the crowd, noisily exiting (see bighaired couple 2 pictures above). As Rachel so aptly put it, it was like an Italian version of "Northern Exposure" (substitute Italy for Alaska and maybe Wasilla for Partigliano, and you have the idea...). What a night! And yes, at almost 11pm we were rewarded by a stopover at the potluck table and boy were we happy to see all that wine!

And finally... We had such a good time with Louise and Dom and look forward to having them see our neck of the woods in the Spring. If you want to get an even better description of our time with them (mattress festival and more!) or if you're in the market for a home in Italy (theirs is for sale) check out Louise's blog http://abbastanzabuono.blogspot.com She is a wonderful writer and has excellent descriptions of their daily life in Italy as well as pictures and descriptions of their various trips to neighboring areas. Highly recommended- a 5*****blog!

Lucca Visit Continues...

Our next fun adventure with Dom and Louise was to learn about olive harvest and just how the olive oil process occurs. A couple of weeks prior to our arrival, they had successfully finished their harvest and oil pressing from the small(ish) grove of olive trees on their property. It turned out to be their biggest haul to date and they worked very hard to see the process through from start to finish. During fall harvest, big nets are set down on the ground below the trees and the branches are basically shaken or raked so that the olives will drop. Louise and Dom, having only a relatively small number of trees do it the rake way. One can spend lots of money on special appliances that help with this process or one can just whack at the branches with bamboo sticks to make the olives fall. Apparently, among olive pickers there's a bit of an obsession to make sure that every last olive is picked. There are all kinds of discussions and opinions between the long time locals and the "Americani" regarding the best month of the year to pick (from October into January) and whether picking too soon will increase the oil's acidity. And, there's further discussion regarding just what increased acidity really does to the oil and its ultimate taste. The long time Italian olive growers just shake their heads at the new folks, and though the non-natives are armed with the scientific proof of success of their new ways, they would never be able to convince the old timers (nor would folks like Louise and Dom even want to try).

So once the olives are picked, off to the mill they go. The farmer makes an appointment ahead of time and depending upon the number of kilos involved it may take a good part of the day from start to finish. We were fortunate that when we were there, friends of Dom and Louise's were taking in their olives from several hundred trees. Plans were made to connect at the mill later in the day and watch at least part of the process.

Simply put (because otherwise we'd have to remember the details) the olives are processed through various machines that clean, separate, and mash out the oil. This mashing/separation process leaves a good deal of byproduct that looks like it will add much to a compost pile.

And voila, the final results! Out comes the oil to be collected in large jars, bottles, or stainless steel containers!

We so wish you could taste this....ahhhh... such a wonderful gift, homemade olive oil!