I will relate the entire story. I visited the local Occulista here in Umbertide that I used once before for a checkup. She said I needed surgery because I have cataracts in both eyes. She recommended two doctors. I opted for Dotoressa Ricci who would give me an appointment in Città di Castello north of us a short distance. She gave me the option of getting in the queue for the operation in the National Health system (free), or to pay private. The differences were, for the public system 1) I would have to wait a year or more, and 2) I wouldn’t get a choice of the type of lens they implanted. For going private, 1) I get the operation now and 2) I get the exact lens that will correct my astigmatism and remove the cataract. I opted to pay private. The cost was €2,000 for all. Including follow-ups.
The operation took place this week on Tuesday in a private clinic in a town called Gualdo Tadino. It is a 50 minute drive, but it is a very pretty drive so… The actual procedure was not fun. I don’t know how it is done in the U.S. Maybe someone can tell me. It took maybe 20 minutes. And I went home to do drops for a month. I had to wear dark glasses inside and out.
Today was my “after surgery checkup”. This time in the Gubbio – Gualdo Tadino hospital. All of these facilities are unknown to me. I was surprised that the hospital was quite modern and new. It was also in what I would call the “middle of nowhere”. It is nice they have a good medical facility out there.
I had to wait for an hour for the doc to see me. But it was all good news. I can see well from this eye. I need to get my glasses refitted to have plain glass instead of prescription. I’m cleared to drive and do anything I want. One more post op checkup and I’m done. Second eye we will do in September. Summertime is fun time here. We are all going places and doing things. So no business to be done! I love this summer vacation mindset. ~~~~~~~~~ A little side step. I always loved, and used the Miracle Grow pellets back in the U.S. for my plants. But I just couldn’t find them here. Most things are liquid and you mix with water. I like the time release ones. Finally I managed to enter the right parameters and I found this…
Literally crescita miracolosa. Means … miracle grow!
Last week was pretty busy. I finished the final medical tests my doctor prescribed. I visited Ely, at Calagrana to pick up a chair a friend had left for me. It was early because I had gotten blood taken for the test at 7:15. The morning was lovely and I don’t think there is a more perfect, calm and beautiful spot than Calagrana’s terrace. Ely made us a couple of cappuccini and we sat on the terrace and had a nice talk. We should do that more often. ~~~~~~~ I also needed to pick up a couple of demijohns and a terracotta pot I bought from a lady nearby who is continuing to downsize her home here. They have lived here a long time but moved back to Maryland a few years ago for health reasons. They can’t yet let their home, up above Umbertide, go. I don’t blame them. It is pretty up there. You can see the city in the distance.
She also has cacti which were blooming. I am planning to make my planters, which are not irrigated, into a succulent garden and she is going to give me some of the cactus.
Next I did something I seldom do. I visited the Chinese store. You’re probably scratching your heads aren’t you? But this is a “thing” in Italy. I don’t know why I have never written about this before. Every town of any size in Italy has their version of a Chinese store. Owned by Chinese people (obviously) and full to the brim of all kinds of things. Too many to list but to name a few: office supplies, toys, kitchen tools and supplies, clothing, pool toys, pots for plants, art supplies, etc. To shop here is to get cheap stuff. Don’t look for quality or tasteful things. But for everyday things that people need, you can be pretty sure you can find them here.
What did I buy? Well, I bought a new wooden scraper spoon, some shelf paper, and a bunch of new clothes pins. Boring but necessary things. So there you have it! Another odd thing you’ll find in Italian villages and towns.
~~~~~~~ Otherwise, tomorrow I am getting cataract surgery. I’m very excited. I may not have to wear glasses anymore! And today we also did some planning for a short trip over to Sestri Levanti in Liguria for our anniversary. We went one other time, staying at Vis-a-Vis (thanks Matt🙂), just after Covid, and wow, what a difference between then and now. Then we had our pick of any room we wanted. We had two balconies, one sea view, the other town view. This time, I had a very hard time finding a nice room with a terrace and view at all. Back then, no one was traveling. Now, that’s not the case. It is the opposite. Anyway, it is not exactly on our anniversary, but we will celebrate as though it is.
That’s all the news fit to print. Enjoy spring. Our weather has turned glorious! Enjoy yours, and Happy Memorial Day.
Lots going on in Umbertide today! I headed into the center of town to visit the market and also to do a short shift at Books for Dogs. I had forgotten that Sunday was the big, exciting day when the Giro d’Italia goes through town. See the banner below. It is a very famous bicycle race. Almost as famous as the Tour de France. Of course, ours is more important HERE. The cleaner up people were out mowing grass all along the route. Including the park next to the river.
It was a pretty day. The market was busy. Slow Food had a booth open. I bought some asparagus, spring onions, baby zucchini and some itty bitty new potatoes. But there was lots I didn’t buy, like new peas and fava beans. And the brand new local artichokes! It is so nice to see all these new spring veggies after a long winter of the same old winter veg. Inspiring.
I did my stint at Books for Dogs. A busy day. Now that the weather is nicer more folks come out. A couple of pictures of the goods. The winter things are gone and we are ready for the summer.
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In my own garden I took a couple pictures. The first is our Christmas tree. He is spending his summer on the terrazzo and seems quite happy, judging from all the new growth. The next photo is the lemon tree with all its flowers. it also is very happy. And last is a teensy, tiny lemon just forming from the flower. There are probably a hundred flowers so it is not possible for them all to become mature lemons, as time goes by, some fall off.
I am feeling better from my cough. So happy. I even have energy to do some gardening. I planted another tomato, this one Sardinian with a darker skin colour. I also planted a tabasco pepper because I couldn’t get a Jalapeño. They had scotch bonnets and habaneros but I didn’t want those. I also got two basil plants. Next week flowers, chives, sage will come.
It’s good to be home, even with this crappy cough. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow but I’m doubtful she can help. It is just una brutta tosse, a bad cough, that keeps on giving! I had a surgery scheduled yesterday for a cataract but had to cancel because of it. I was disappointed because I’m looking forward to perhaps not having to wear glasses! How exciting.
Anyway, the weather is pretty good now. Not super warm but nice. I visited the Umbria Iris farm again last weekend with my friend Doug. We also had un caffè in the piazza and shopped the market. I’m very happy to have fresh eggs readily available. But that’s only in the spring when the chickens are really laying. I love fresh, free range chicken eggs. Fifty cents each.
Iris farm. Views are to die for. The maintenance on this place must be daunting! And the money invested incredible. Very nice to visit.
Doug bought three of these.Iris’ for sale.
The day after we returned home we had our new handyman, called a tuttofare in Italian, Roddy, come and do the work we needed done around here. It took almost three days! The biggest part was the five windows that faced the weather that needed to be sanded and resealed. He also hung pictures for me and my curtains. And he replace a piece of wood that had been removed by another “helper” who never returned and he painted the two planters that looked really bad after their paint had sluffed off. It feels so good to get all the maintenance, and also things that I had waited for, for such a long time, done.
Here is the contact info for Roddy Gee owner and proprietor of Umbria La Vita. Www.umbrialavita.com +39-340-162-8854 umbrialavita@gmail.com
I chose a new color, a light gray. The former owner was into pink. I am NOT a pink lover. So the new color really makes the old pink look crappy. Sooner or later that must be painted. But they look spectacular. 😁
We had aperitivo with our friends Christie and Jane and some of their friends one evening. It’s always good to see friends. 🙂
We also had our new friends Sarah and Don, who just moved here (!) over to our house so we could look over their applications for their first Permessi di Soggiorno. The beginning of a long road. It is always so nice to have new friends move into town. And we love helping them with the arduous process. I can’t wait to see their progress in their new home in the Niccone valley.
For me, I have a long list of things I want to get done. It is planting time and I need to get the energy to go out and get soil and plants for the planters. That’s tops on my list. Here are the baby olives on our little tree.
I will be working at Books for Dogs this Saturday. I will visit the market before work. We are in a transition season. The spring veggies are slowly showing up. Yay for the change of seasons.
Hi everyone. Remember me? Yes, I’ve been bad about posting but you must forgive me. I’m still battling this coldzilla. Really! I’m entering my fourth week. Someday!
Anyway, this is a Trip Report. We had planned a trip and even though we both had this “cold” we had to go. We went to Valencia, Alicante, and Madrid. Three cities we had never visited. We love Spain. So here we go!
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We had both been sick for a week or more with a cold which was primarily a dry, hacking cough. We had improved somewhat when the time came to leave but we were still out of it. Nevertheless, we proceeded with plans and hoped we would improve during the trip.
We picked up our cat sitter from the Perugia airport a day before we left. A nice British woman named Lucy. I feel comfortable with her caring for them. ~~~~~~ April 28 We drove to Bologna to the airport hotel where we always stay. We didn’t feel like going to the restaurant so we ordered room service. One of my issues is lack of appetite. Not much is appealing. And my taste for wine had disappeared which is serious! ~~~~~~~ April 29 Next morning we had an early flight to Valencia. All went well and we arrived on time around 11am, we taxied into the city which didn’t take long. Our hotel is Only You Hotel which always makes me sing the song ☺️ Very nice. It was impacted by the country-wide power outage the day before. It took out their network of the TVs. So no TV anywhere worked. Otherwise no big deal.
We had lots of time so we went out heading for the Central Market. Before going Luther had a recommendation for a tapas place for lunch. . . so we went there. It was quite good. A quirky little place. Nearly empty when we got there it filled right up. Here is the cute little restaurant and pictures of some of our food.
I must mention the mussels especially. They were fresh, the first of the season, and harvested just off the coast of Valencia. I have. Never. Had. Better. Mussels. So sweet.
Then we headed back and crashed for a while. Remember, we were still felling bad. At around seven, we tried the TV, no go. Turns out all the hotel info was accessed on the TV. Too bad for us. We wanted to do room service this night but no menu available. Luther managed to get a bunch of paper printouts of the menu . We were not impressed. Finally, we decided to get a drink at the bar. There, we had issues accessing the menu online. What’s new? We went up to the ninth floor for a tapas dinner. I did this for Luther because the cold I had had made me totally not have an appetite. We had tapas. I managed to eat some.
We crashed and I had a good nights sleep. We both felt better next day. We had booked breakfast on the first morning. It’s expensive for all three days though, so we will go out for the other days. The breakfast was excellent. There was nothing you could have imagined that wasn’t there.
We headed out to visit the Central Market, finally. It was amazing. Big building chock full of anything you could want. We bought our dinner. A small goat cheese cake, two packets of Iberian ham (super famous) and a baguette. Plus wine. Back to the hotel for naps and relaxing.
After naps we headed over to the Cathedral. I really enjoyed it. The site has been used by the moors for their mosques and the Christians, for their churches since the 600s. Admission was €6 for us seniors. It came with a great audio tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Back we headed to the hotel. We went straight to the hotel bar where we had some wine.
Dinner was the stuff we had bought at the central market. Nice picnic. The cheese, a fresh goat, was amazing! I wanted to go back and get several more little rounds of it. So good!
~~~~~~~ May 1 – May Day Up late. A very windy day. Not too warm or cold. We planned a walk to the City of Arts and Sciences. Luther wanted to see the building. We walked about halfway but the wind was just horrible so we turned around and returned. Everything, I mean everything was closed.
On the way back we encountered a parade! For May Day. Labor Day. The day for the workers. Lots of communists who are alive and well here. And I saw one group with 37.5 signs, advocating for a 37 hour work week.
We had reservations for lunch Civera. Seafood is its specialty. But it was too early so we had a glass of wine in our hotel.
The restaurant was very good. The only reservation was outside but thankfully the street and buildings sheltered us. We decided on some tapas. Big surprise. I ordered mussels and the little fried peppers they make here. And Luther got teensy fried fish with ham and an egg on it. The fish were so small, you could just make out the tiny eyes. Fries with eyes our friends call them. After finishing, they brought a small bottle of Muscat and cookies 🙂. Then we got coffee. And Luther got brandy, Grand Duca d’Alba. They poured him an enormous glass! 😳 and he had to stop them pouring more. As it was I had to “drive” home. i.e. navigate back. Well, needless to say naps were in order.
We stayed in and finished the cheese, ham and bread we had left. Next day we were off to Alicante on the Spanish train. Our first time using the Spanish trains. ~~~~~~~| May 2 – Alicante We had 10:20 reservations on the train so we got up and all packed up and out the door by 9:30. Being unfamiliar with this new system we wanted plenty of time. We taxied to the station, about eleven minutes away. Decided to have a cappuccino while waiting for the gate to come up. Then we waited on the platform until the train showed up. We had reserved seats so found them, no issues. The ride was a bit cramped and we arrived at 12:45, so it was a two hour plus trip.
Spain is reminiscent of the desert southwest of the U.S. scrubby, dry, canyons and gulches. There were areas with lots of what looked to be fruit trees and grape vines, but in dusty dry fields. Tall mesa type rocks and mountains devoid of greenery. So very different than Italy. It is where the spaghetti westerns were filmed.
Then after a while, it greened up and was very pretty.
We arrived in Alicante and taxied to the hotel. Hospes Amerigo. We were too early to check in so we left the luggage and went to the tapas restaurant place in the hotel bar. I have been totally remiss on the photos of the food. I wish I had done the tapas which were beautiful. We had amongst the two of us, a container of fried fresh sardines. A seafood salad served cold. Curried chicken samosa. Flatbread with titaina, sardines and mollitas. Super yummy and we were stuffed.
We checked into our nice room. With open bathroom plan. Later the steward brought us a bottle of bubbly on ice with a thank you note from the manager. We didn’t do anything special so I assume they do this for everyone? 🤔 Anyway it was nice and we drank it 🙂 We ordered room service. I was craving a simple salad. They are definitely short of salads here. All I could find was a Cesar salad with chicken. I ate the salad, not the chicken. Luther got a sandwich. ~~~~~~~~ May 3 – Alicante We got up late and went to breakfast about 10:15. It was good but not spectacular. Then we went out for a walk. I had bought a linen shift the day before because I didn’t have anything appropriate for a beach place. It is very comfy even if it makes me feel like I look like the cleaning woman.
We checked out random streets and went looking for the mushroom street which I had seen pictures of. We went on a circuitous route but eventually did find it.
Then Luther led the way and we just window shopped and looked at menus. We happened upon the big market. It’s divided up into meat, seafood, and veggies. One whole floor was meat. Incredible. It was fun to check it out.
Now, I was Jonesing to go back to a restaurant I saw that advertised Mojitos. I thought that would be perfect. It’s been a while. And it was amazing. Fresh squeezed limes and a bunch of mint. Very delicious.
We went to the seafront. Along the way I photographed the amazing Banyan tree in the park. The canopy is so large it shades the whole park. The trunk is enormous. The roots tall. I’m in awe of trees like this one. There are two huge cruise ships here. I guess it is a destination. The promenade is nice with walkways lined with palms.
Back and relaxing in the room. We went to dinner at 8:30 in the hotel restaurant. I wanted a green salad badly. So odd they are not common. They were kind and made one for me. Then Luther and I shared a paella with shrimp and cuttlefish. Good, but not my favorite. Was super dark in color. The rice was very dark from squid ink. It was a nice meal and we had a nice conversation mainly about public TV and NPR. I was always a doner, subscriber and listener. Big fan. But I guess those who use it will need to up the ante and support them more. They say the rural stations out in the middle of the country will probably go dark. Sad that where they need it most a reputable news source will be lost.
~~~~~~~ Sunday – May 4 — bullet train to Madrid We had plenty of time before we needed to check out. We had a good breakfast and packed up but remained in the room until checkout time. Then we waited at the outside tables until it was time for a taxi.
The train was already there so we could board. It was a super long train with engines in the middle as well as the ends. We had to walk a very long way to get to our car. The seat was much more comfortable than the one two days ago. Wide seat, spacious drop down tray and foot rest. The trip was about 2.5 hours. The scenery was varied. At first it was a dead ringer for the Arizona desert. As my friend said, home of the spaghetti westerns and this type area in Spain is exactly where they were shot. The it got lusher. Not sure what the crops were but they were green and there were forests of pines.
We arrived in Madrid at 1:15. And it was COLD! 😳 I was flabbergasted. The reports a week or two ago showed Madrid warmer than our other towns. Now, looking at the weather I see it will be highs of around 62 and rain all of our days. Oh well. I did not pack for this so we may need to pick up some coats or sweatshirts.
We checked into the Hotel Urban. I had been pretty excited about our stay but I was very disappointed . The suite I booked wasn’t available for at least the first day. They had a junior suite. I had no choice really. The room is not suitable to me. Poorly designed. On the central courtyard. Very dark. Lighting lacking. Size much smaller. Of the rooms so far, this is the worst. I waited to decide the next day if I wanted to change.
We went out to dinner at Casa Varona. We sat at a tall table. When we arrived it was empty, when we left it was packed. I had an asparagus dish with cherry tomatoes. We had fresh anchovies. Luther got the calamari sandwich. It was fun. Not great but fun. A 15 minute walk from the hotel. There is an interesting bunch of small streets behind the hotel full of shops and restaurants. Very fun. Home to bed.
~~~~~~ Monday, May 5 We decided to switch rooms. Really worth it. That room was like living in a cave. Horrible. It meant we had to pack up everything but I never had a less appealing room than that one.
We had the breakfast this day. It was nice. More formal than most breakfasts. We both ordered the scrambled eggs and got other stuff from the buffet.
Then we were off to visit the Reina Sofia museum. Mostly Spanish artists and architects. Very interesting. My back bothers me after a little while standing so I tend to go and look and then find a place to sit a while. Luther really enjoyed it.
It was well past normal lunchtime but not past Spanish lunchtime. We walked back toward the hotel and headed into that restaurant area and came upon Tabarina Elisa We sat at the bar. We had a few tapas. I finally got a Gilda. The “Gilda” tapa, a classic Basque pintxo, is named after the iconic film character Gilda, played by Rita Hayworth, in the 1946 movie of the same name. And I also got the mussels which were nothing like I imagined but were delicious. Luther got dado of cod and croquettes of Iberian ham and cheese. All delicious.
Gilda
Back to finally move into our new suite room. Infinitely better. Big. Comfortable, windows all around with sunshine!! A table and chairs and a sofa and chair sitting area. Same type bathroom. So much nicer. The owner of this hotel group collected art from Papua New Guinea. These were in our room.
We went back to a restaurant we had passed today on our walk back. Triciclo. It is Michelin rated. I really loved it. It was very eclectic. I had cevechi of bass. And then a taco of stewed chicken and shrimp. Luther got the taco and suckling pig. They have three sizes for everything meaning you can get the small portions which works for me best. Very yummy meal. ~~~~~~ Tuesday May 6 Today was the day we planned to visit the Prado. The amazing art museum of mainly Spanish artists. We spent two hours in there and didn’t dent it. It was incredible. Many artists we didn’t know who were amazing. Then the well known Goya, Bosch, Velazquez, El Greco.
By then it was nearly two so we went in search of lunch. We ended up at Marina Ventura near the hotel. We each had Spanish anchovies with toasts and tomato mush. Classic dish. Then I had a big salad. It had white asparagus and that was the draw for me. Also all the usual things in salad plus boiled eggs and tuna. Luther got the fried seafood plate. But nothing seemed fried. He had razor clams, mussels, clams and prawns. A feast,
We planned a picnic in the room so found a grocery and I asked the man to help with a picnic. His face lit up and he enthusiastically helped pick out cheeses. I got three. Than some Iberian ham. And a bottle of white wine. Back to the hotel to kick back. ~~~~~~~~~ May 7 – Homeward bound We flew back to Bologna and retrieved our car and drove home. Always nice to get home to our Boyz Simba and Rocky. ~~~~~~~~~ Thoughts on the trip. Three interesting, and very different cities. We enjoyed them all for different reasons. I loved Alicante because of its laid back vibe. Valencia, although Spain’s third largest city, was very walkable and we loved the food. Would have preferred a different paella. Madrid, Luther’s choice, and the reason we came, was a pretty city. We were right next to the Congress and a lot of embassies. The little streets behind our hotel were fun and accessible with lots of restaurants. Hotels. Only You València. Perfectly located. They made the mistake of having all the hotel info on the TVs which are on one big network. The countrywide power outage took them out so it was impossible to see what they had. Room service etc. The room was a suite with sofa in one room, bed in the other. Nice bathroom but the maids sabotaged us by leaving the powerful squirter facing straight out. Everything was drenched. Only one treat was offered on one evening at turndown Hospes Amerigo Alicante. Room was not as big but they brought treats. A bottle of Cava, bubbly Spanish wine first night, and a bag of cookies the second. Nice bathtub for Luther. Very nice shower. Open plan. Our favorite hotel. Hotel Urban in Madrid. Good location. They stiffed us on our reservation and lied about why. They didn’t want to give us much restitution for the screw up. I was adamant they give us more which they finally did. They had a nice bar. The restaurant, Cebo, a recently awarded Michelin starred restaurant was way too precious. I would definitely NOT go back.
