Friday, August 20, 2010
Day 5 – Saturday August 14th
Matteo and his mother came over. She’s cute; we talked and had some tea for an hour or so and then they headed off. It was pouring all day so Matteo had told us later that he/his friends weren’t going to be coming to Pieve tonight so we stayed in and started to play cards. We ended up just watching My Best Friend’s Girl on my computer, talking, and falling asleep.
Day 4 – Friday August 13th
It was storming outside, the thunder was enough to shake the house, it sounded like it was right outside our window. It’s been a dreary day today, so I decided to read my book Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik. It is such an interesting book, he moved to Paris with his wife and newborn in 1995. He has such an insider/still American look on Paris and it’s culture.
We ate tortellini de brodo – which is tortellini stuffed with veal in broth. It was very good sprinkled with some Parmesan. We left the restaurant and walked down the street to La Dolce Vita for an espresso.
I spent the afternoon with Tanya – Tat’s cousin – and her family. We got gelato (hazelnut and pistachio) and then I drove to Flimalbo with her family. It is a beautiful town. It has an older feel to it. There are built in stone arches and tunnels under buildings like you see in old movies. It has a more gothic and stone city feel than Pieve. Fimalbo is really cute. Its interesting because the US is so flat, especially the Midwest, but coming here, the towns are built in valleys and on hills. They flow with the earth and natural surroundings; they don’t combat it and conquer it.
Tanya is doing a fashion show with her cousin Alicia for the town. So she tired on clothes for an hour – the outfits were such a different style, almost 80’s throw back with a bit of Len Druskin feel to them. We walked about Flimalbo for a bit and then headed up to Indoca to see Monte Chimone.
Monte Chimone is thee highest mountain in Italy at 7,000 feet roughly. Looking out from the top you get to the see the valleys of the mountains. It was such a beautiful site, seeing the different shades of green in the different tree and gassy spots. It was a beautiful day so I lucked out. It is interesting to look out and see the expansive mountains of Italy and compare them to the Rockies back home that I know so well. It’s a bit hard to grasp that the mountains in Colorado are 14,000 feet and the highest one here is half the size. They really feel much smaller and more gradual compared to the steepness of the Rockies. The houses on it are from the old farming days where they would put planks across the roofs and layer straw and hay on top, where the two parts were at different ground levels, so the animals could walk in to the basement from outside down below and the people could walk in at ground level for their house on the level above.
Tat and I made our own dinner – pasta with red sauce. It was good and we listened to music. After dinner we got ready and went out. We met Barbara at Albergo Galli – which is the rooster hotel – and had some drinks. I drank blueberry vodka with blueberries in it called Mirtillino. I guess that’s a traditional Italian drink usually used as a digestive after meals. Then we stopped by the new bar down the street and then off to the Picsina, we ended up closing the place down and came home around 3:00. We went to bed and woke up at 3:00 the next day. Thankfully her family had gone to Tuscany for the day.
We ate tortellini de brodo – which is tortellini stuffed with veal in broth. It was very good sprinkled with some Parmesan. We left the restaurant and walked down the street to La Dolce Vita for an espresso.
I spent the afternoon with Tanya – Tat’s cousin – and her family. We got gelato (hazelnut and pistachio) and then I drove to Flimalbo with her family. It is a beautiful town. It has an older feel to it. There are built in stone arches and tunnels under buildings like you see in old movies. It has a more gothic and stone city feel than Pieve. Fimalbo is really cute. Its interesting because the US is so flat, especially the Midwest, but coming here, the towns are built in valleys and on hills. They flow with the earth and natural surroundings; they don’t combat it and conquer it.
Tanya is doing a fashion show with her cousin Alicia for the town. So she tired on clothes for an hour – the outfits were such a different style, almost 80’s throw back with a bit of Len Druskin feel to them. We walked about Flimalbo for a bit and then headed up to Indoca to see Monte Chimone.
Monte Chimone is thee highest mountain in Italy at 7,000 feet roughly. Looking out from the top you get to the see the valleys of the mountains. It was such a beautiful site, seeing the different shades of green in the different tree and gassy spots. It was a beautiful day so I lucked out. It is interesting to look out and see the expansive mountains of Italy and compare them to the Rockies back home that I know so well. It’s a bit hard to grasp that the mountains in Colorado are 14,000 feet and the highest one here is half the size. They really feel much smaller and more gradual compared to the steepness of the Rockies. The houses on it are from the old farming days where they would put planks across the roofs and layer straw and hay on top, where the two parts were at different ground levels, so the animals could walk in to the basement from outside down below and the people could walk in at ground level for their house on the level above.
Tat and I made our own dinner – pasta with red sauce. It was good and we listened to music. After dinner we got ready and went out. We met Barbara at Albergo Galli – which is the rooster hotel – and had some drinks. I drank blueberry vodka with blueberries in it called Mirtillino. I guess that’s a traditional Italian drink usually used as a digestive after meals. Then we stopped by the new bar down the street and then off to the Picsina, we ended up closing the place down and came home around 3:00. We went to bed and woke up at 3:00 the next day. Thankfully her family had gone to Tuscany for the day.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 3 - Thursday August 12th
I woke up around 7:00 today and decided to sit out on the balcony and journal. It is a beautiful morning, the mornings are a little chilly in the shade but keep you warm with the sun. Looking out from her balcony, you can see one of the two entrances into Pieve. It's a little street lined with Apartment style living all the way through the tiny mountain town.
I ate breakfast with Fabrizio and Patricia – Tat’s parents – we had coffee, little mini toasts with cream cheese, butter, and Jam (which Fabi’s brother makes fresh). We sat and talked about the history of Pieve and such. Their house was built in 1949, it’s cute and little, the kitchen is tiny with a sink about at the height of my knees.
Each town, or area, in Italy, has medieval reenactments and such every year where they have banquet tables, roast pigs, royalty dressed up etc. They set up in the piatzas of the town. Patty was talking to me about the book Under the Tuscan Sun, they drove through Tuscany – specifically Cortona the town where the woman buys her old farm house. She said the town is so grateful for this women and the exposure she’s brought the little town. Ever year she holds a festival, the Sun Festival, and has people performing and such. Sting and his wife have a house there and frequent the town when they are visiting; Sting and his wife both were performing at the festival this year.
After breakfast, Tat, me, Patty, and Fabrizio and his brother Umberto, went up the mountains to Roccopegio – which is a little town with a castle from the 1400’s. It was a very wealthy area with much agriculture. It was highly valued so people kept trying to conquer it by force, eventually, since it was never successful, the castle and surrounding houses (originally for the court and subjects under the rule of the Duke Obelsite) was bought and subsequently deserted in the 1500’s. They buried the castle under dirt and in the 17th century built a castle over the remains. Today archeologists are trying to slowly uncover the buried castle and configure the rest of the structure. When we got back from Roccopelegio Tat and I sat out on the balcony until Lunch.
It’s Fabi’s birthday and he cooked us pasta with sausage red sauce. We had some peaches, grapes, salad and tomatoes.
Tat and I walked down to the Fume, which is the River and sat next to the river, which runs through Pieve. There were young boys throwing stones and fishing, and the weather was beautiful, spouts of sun but mostly perfectly cloudy. On the way home we stopped on had Gelato – my first on my European tour – I had straccitella and chiocolato, Tat had noiccela and soya (Hazelnut and Soy). It was delish.
Me, Tat, Patty and Fabi all walked down to the restaurant for his surprise BDay party. Matteo and Fabi’s brother met us outside. We walked in and got an aperitif – it was orange something and white wine, it was awful. Fabi was really surprised. There were around 50 people there. We all sat down and had more crestines again, then the next course was pasta fritte, which is fried pasta dough – it balloons up and ends up becoming a little pocket you can stuff things like more pancetta or salami into. We also had crisp bread and then the finale was pizza – or pizze with anchovies. It was good although I hate anchovies.
Greta arrived – Fabi’s brother’s daughter’s child – who is 6 and adorable. I’m not sure if she’s so cute because she’s 6 and speaks Italian, I wonder if she would be as cute if he were speaking English, probably not. We ended the meal with birthday cake, a yellow sponge cake layered with creamlike frosting and fresh fruit on top. It was very rich.
We hopped into Matteo’s car and drove through the mountains to a neighboring town and went to a bar to meet his friends. We met his sister and Matteo’s friend Diego. After I drank a shot of grappa – blech – I wouldn't recommend grappa straight and in a shot, we left and headed to aquapelago or another neighboring town like a 30 plus drive away. We were driving forever, through the hills in the dark. You couldn’t see anything; it’s impressive how they know where they are going and how to get there. After sometime, we finally pull up to this beacon of light in the midst of all the dark foliage. We parked and got out, Tat didn’t come with, she just slept in the car. So Tanya, Matteo and I went in, and met up with his friends Diego, Matte and Margharita others. We danced for a bit but after about 45 minutes we decided to leave.
Let me tell you, if I had been drunk in any sense of the word and had to sit in the back seat through this drive back to Pieve I would have died. Yikes.
I ate breakfast with Fabrizio and Patricia – Tat’s parents – we had coffee, little mini toasts with cream cheese, butter, and Jam (which Fabi’s brother makes fresh). We sat and talked about the history of Pieve and such. Their house was built in 1949, it’s cute and little, the kitchen is tiny with a sink about at the height of my knees.
Each town, or area, in Italy, has medieval reenactments and such every year where they have banquet tables, roast pigs, royalty dressed up etc. They set up in the piatzas of the town. Patty was talking to me about the book Under the Tuscan Sun, they drove through Tuscany – specifically Cortona the town where the woman buys her old farm house. She said the town is so grateful for this women and the exposure she’s brought the little town. Ever year she holds a festival, the Sun Festival, and has people performing and such. Sting and his wife have a house there and frequent the town when they are visiting; Sting and his wife both were performing at the festival this year.
After breakfast, Tat, me, Patty, and Fabrizio and his brother Umberto, went up the mountains to Roccopegio – which is a little town with a castle from the 1400’s. It was a very wealthy area with much agriculture. It was highly valued so people kept trying to conquer it by force, eventually, since it was never successful, the castle and surrounding houses (originally for the court and subjects under the rule of the Duke Obelsite) was bought and subsequently deserted in the 1500’s. They buried the castle under dirt and in the 17th century built a castle over the remains. Today archeologists are trying to slowly uncover the buried castle and configure the rest of the structure. When we got back from Roccopelegio Tat and I sat out on the balcony until Lunch.
It’s Fabi’s birthday and he cooked us pasta with sausage red sauce. We had some peaches, grapes, salad and tomatoes.
Tat and I walked down to the Fume, which is the River and sat next to the river, which runs through Pieve. There were young boys throwing stones and fishing, and the weather was beautiful, spouts of sun but mostly perfectly cloudy. On the way home we stopped on had Gelato – my first on my European tour – I had straccitella and chiocolato, Tat had noiccela and soya (Hazelnut and Soy). It was delish.
Me, Tat, Patty and Fabi all walked down to the restaurant for his surprise BDay party. Matteo and Fabi’s brother met us outside. We walked in and got an aperitif – it was orange something and white wine, it was awful. Fabi was really surprised. There were around 50 people there. We all sat down and had more crestines again, then the next course was pasta fritte, which is fried pasta dough – it balloons up and ends up becoming a little pocket you can stuff things like more pancetta or salami into. We also had crisp bread and then the finale was pizza – or pizze with anchovies. It was good although I hate anchovies.
Greta arrived – Fabi’s brother’s daughter’s child – who is 6 and adorable. I’m not sure if she’s so cute because she’s 6 and speaks Italian, I wonder if she would be as cute if he were speaking English, probably not. We ended the meal with birthday cake, a yellow sponge cake layered with creamlike frosting and fresh fruit on top. It was very rich.
We hopped into Matteo’s car and drove through the mountains to a neighboring town and went to a bar to meet his friends. We met his sister and Matteo’s friend Diego. After I drank a shot of grappa – blech – I wouldn't recommend grappa straight and in a shot, we left and headed to aquapelago or another neighboring town like a 30 plus drive away. We were driving forever, through the hills in the dark. You couldn’t see anything; it’s impressive how they know where they are going and how to get there. After sometime, we finally pull up to this beacon of light in the midst of all the dark foliage. We parked and got out, Tat didn’t come with, she just slept in the car. So Tanya, Matteo and I went in, and met up with his friends Diego, Matte and Margharita others. We danced for a bit but after about 45 minutes we decided to leave.
Let me tell you, if I had been drunk in any sense of the word and had to sit in the back seat through this drive back to Pieve I would have died. Yikes.
Day 2 - Wednesday August 11th
I take a seat next to the arrivals area, thinking that if Tat and her Dad show up, they’ll come there first and try to get on the Internet. I buy 7 euros worth of Internet and then Fabrizio (Tat's Dad) walks up. I was so happy to be found! We then get to the car and make our way up through the mountains into Pieve. It’s about a 2 hour ride, and after a half an hour we stop and get lunch and a Trattoria. We sat outside and had tortellaci filled with ricotta and spinach with meat sauce. We drank the best Lambrusco I’ve ever had. We sat outside and watched people parachuting and planes and gliders land in the tiny airport out on the fields under the balcony. After lunch we finished the 2-hour trek through the tiny switchbacks of the mountains overlooking beautiful valleys and towns nestled into them. The view was amazing; I fought back heavy eyelids the whole way home.
Once we got into Pieve, we pulled up to the Galli’s house and got settled in. I didn’t even unpack, Tat and I went into out bedroom and fell asleep the moment our eyes hit the pillows. I slept for 3 hours. When I awoke, we had dinner – crestinine – that is dough that is cooked on the stove top and then cut open and stuffed with various things. The traditional way to eat it is with a layer of lard with herbs – it’s a kind of butter type substitute – then some Parmesan cheese or a slice of pancietta or other lunch meat. I ate mine with cream cheese or butter and some Parmesan or just some pancietta. With that we also had sciatica, which is bread wrapped around pancietta or other lunch meat.
It gets colder than expected in the mountains at night. Tanya (her cousin) came over after we got ready and we sat at the dinner table with Patricia (Tat's Mom) and had some tequila – Gila – and anarancia juice – orange.
Tat took me to the piscina – pool – bar. We drank Grappa Mele Verde shots – green apple grappa. Grappa is a vodka-like distilled beverage made from the waste of wine making. All the leftovers from the grape, such as the skin, stem etc, are distilled and made into grappa. It’s potent and delish. We then went dancing on stage – my personal favorites of the night – Mamma Mia and Black Betty. It was great; such a fun first night.
We got back at 2:30; I washed my face, brushed my teeth and was out like a light.
Day 1 - Tuesday August 10th
My flight to Philadelphia is at 11:15; I get on the plane and relax. They man next to me, who is as hairy as one can imagine, curly hair too, and strawberry blond tight curls like afro Jew curls, shoves a tampon-like stick apparatus into his nose. At first he was pulling it out and taking long sniffs of it, I was convinced he was doing drugs. My guess is that it was some sort of aromatherapy type thing for flying. He also had earplugs in and wore a studded man purse. He was a strange man.
We get to Philadelphia around 2:45 and my connecting flight to Frankfurt is at 4:15. I literally walked like 3 miles to the other side of the Philadelphia airport to get to my terminal. Its very nice, modern, glass everywhere, pretty. 3:45 rolls around, our boarding time, and the lady announces we have plane problems and will be boarding now at 4:15 instead. A half an hour later she tells us the plane is going to take longer and that we are switching planes and need to get to a different terminal at a new gate. We all get up and walk the 3 miles to our new gate, and then wait there until 5:30 when the woman announces that we will be boarding soon. I was so worried that I would miss my connecting flight to Bologna.
I sat next to a German family who were deaf and signing to each other. The whole time I couldn’t help but think about if sign language was universal, or if there were dialects and short had and things for different countries that their languages. I got a hold of Tat and told her I might not make it on my connection, and boarded the plane. I had an entire 4-chair row in the middle of the plane to myself until an old Asian woman came and stole the left two. I watched 3 movies: Last Song, Date Night, and started to watch Dear John but didn’t finish. As we were beginning to land the Asian woman’s son, Jeffrey, sat next to me instead. We made small talk, he was also connecting to Bologna for vacation with his Mother and Sister, and he went to college in Nevada –University of Nevada – and was 19. We ended up landing with barely anytime – like 20 minutes – to catch our flight to Bologna. The airport workers, shepherded us onto a shuttle, and whisked up pass security and onto our flight, which was also empty. After a short flight I was in Italy!
Friday, July 9, 2010
My New Travel Blog
Hey all,
This is my new travel blog!
I will be using this and updating it while I travel for the next 6 months to Colorado and then around Europe during my Study Abroad Semester. Hopefully it will be useful, fun, and entertaining for everyone to read. I'll try to update as often as possible, explaining my explorations with pictures and text. I know its super nerdy but I thought it would be a nice way to document my traveling as well as succinctly keep everyone informed.
Hope you all enjoy!
Love,
Jillian
This is my new travel blog!
I will be using this and updating it while I travel for the next 6 months to Colorado and then around Europe during my Study Abroad Semester. Hopefully it will be useful, fun, and entertaining for everyone to read. I'll try to update as often as possible, explaining my explorations with pictures and text. I know its super nerdy but I thought it would be a nice way to document my traveling as well as succinctly keep everyone informed.
Hope you all enjoy!
Love,
Jillian
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