Author Archives: Nancy Hampton

What’s happened since my last post

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Today is Friday. We have had Luca with us all week. He finished the bedrooms and bath and next week he will move on to the big living area, hall, bathroom and kitchen. This next week will be more disruptive. We will need to figure out how to keep ourselves and the cats out of the way. Here are the finished bedrooms and the hall outside. We still need something on the walls and eventually curtains. The first is the guest room. The next is our room and the last is the hall outside. The walls look so clean and new!

We had a call from the kitchen people yesterday, they are coming next week! First on Monday to do the gas. Then later in the week to install the kitchen. Very excited! You don’t know how tired I am of washing dishes in the bathroom!

Yesterday was very exciting. At 4:05 in the afternoon, we had a terremoto…an earthquake! It was 4.4 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was only 5km from Umbertide Centro, about 3 miles. Because we were so close, we were really rockin’ and rollin’. Luca came out of the bedroom area, I had been walking across the living room. I had to hold on to steady myself. It was immediately recognizable as an earthquake. Several things fell. It didn’t last too long. Luca’s wife called him immediately. Everyone I know was checking in with everyone else.

Luther has always seemed to miss the earthquakes we have. We had a big one in Virginia and he missed it because he was driving. This time, he was jogging. He came back and exclaimed that people were all outside of the buildings all along the streets. I told him what had happened. He was disappointed he hadn’t felt it.

Then at 8:05 and again at 8:15 we had two more. One 4.6 and the other 4.3. Again, the whole building was swaying back and forth and there was a persistent deep rumbling. The glasses in the cupboard were clinking, the TV bouncing up and down. The cats were scurrying. THIS time he felt them. They again we’re short. They say you should get under a table. I didn’t even have time to think about getting under a table. There was no damage in Umbertide. The town just south of us, Pierantonio had four houses condemned due to damage. There were no injuries that I have heard of. Since last night it has been quiet.

The upcoming weekend we plan to visit the Saturday market. I’m pretty excited about the kitchen and I hope week after this I can resume buying veggies again. Saturday we think we will go out for dinner at the Enoteca which we have never tried. We have heard it is good. The weather should be superb on Sunday and I have a friend coming (maybe) so we can go for a walk and she can see our new place.

Buon fine settimana!

Luca’s gift

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So, I forgot to mention that on Thursday, when Luca returned from his pranzo, he had a bag of fresh lettuce and radicchio for us. He is so sweet. How many people have had their house painter bring them fresh garden veggies from their orto? I saw a crisp salad in my future.

Luca is a very typical Italian. They are super regimented people. In the morning, he greets me with how are you? Come stai? I always say “bene, bene, è tu?” Then we get along with the observations of the day’s weather. Later, when he leaves for lunch it is always buon pranzo! And at night there’s the obligatory buona serata. On Friday it is always buona domenica. They always have a coffee and a cornetto (pastry) for breakfast at a bar. Pranzo is mandatory and an hour and a half to two hours long. I ask Luca what he had for Pranzo and it is always pasta. This is what all traditional Italians have for lunch – everyday. But the fresh vegetables he brought made my heart happy. 🙂💕 Today, I had a big salad with the lettuce and I added a hard boiled egg and a ripe avocado. I whipped up a homemade ranch dressing. It was delicious. Luca came out while I was eating it and he seemed pleased I was enjoying his produce. But the amusing thing is, when he left for the evening, he mentioned bringing more veggies tomorrow and asked if I had something other than the salad. I said no. He was incredulous. How can someone have pranzo without pasta?! Amusing, but so typical.

We called the kitchen designers Friday to see when we can expect the kitchen. 2-3 MORE WEEKS! Argh! I hate, hate, hate not having a kitchen. 😡 They lied to us. Big surprise, 🫤

We are hanging close to the apartment until Luca gets done. It is mainly herding the cats. Keeping them in a part of the house where they can’t get into paint. He is painting the bedrooms now. The guest room and the “junk” room are in progress, then our room the hall and the bath are next. The big part is the living room and kitchen. That will take time. Looks like it will go into next week.

The weather is changing. The highs in the day are between 15 and 21 Celsius. Nice. Nights are still cold. I am itching to go somewhere, like to taste wine. Or, I saw a frantoio (olive mill) with tours that looks great. Ciao for now!

Thoughts

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So, since we moved here I have had plenty of time to think. I have also had a couple people ask about this. I am going to share my thoughts with you, my friends.

I have decided there are two Italys. I guess I have just really realized this since moving. We used to live in one Italy, and now we are living in the other Italy. When Americans think of coming to Italy, they think of life in the small, ancient and quaint hill towns, or life in the bucolic countryside. The houses always have beams and archways and terra cotta tiles, with outside loggia to enjoy dinners in the open air. Yes, that is one Italy. Life in the Centro Storico, where we lived before, was this Italy.

The other Italy I have decided is the real Italy. It is where the middle class Italians live in apartments. Almost always in a city or town and usually in a newer neighborhood. By that I mean newer than the ancient centers. Our building has four apartments off of our common stairway and elevator. The neighbors we have met are super nice and very friendly but living busy lives with jobs, children, dogs and Nonni. There are shops on the ground floor. Street parking along the streets. A couple nice coffee shops nearby. Butcher, pasticcerie etc. nearby too. But it is NOT quaint.

Me, being American, miss that quaintness very much. But there are big disadvantages to it as well. The old buildings are drafty. They have thick stone walls and no insulation. They get cold in winter and stay cold. They have numerous stairs. They are generally vertical. Systems don’t always work like we would like. Unless you completely strip them to the walls and rafters and start anew. Our newer building (it’s about 50 years old) is warm. With actual insulation! What a concept. We have had a few Italians in, workmen, my housecleaner, and they love the apartment. It is an Italian’s dream but not necessarily an American’s.

I’m not sure what point I am trying to make. I guess I just wanted to put into words what I’ve been thinking about. My observations.
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We just returned from a walk to the kilometer zero market. Not many stands right now. We are reaching the end of winter vegetables, and not quite to the spring vegetables. I bought more chard. We had a caffè at bar Mary and chatted with Irene. I took some donations to Books for Dogs. We checked the mail at our old apartment, went to the Carrefour and the butcher for spalla dì maiale, pork shoulder. I saw I can cook it in the instant pot.
Buon fine di settimana a tutti!

Pictures…

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So the “new to us” pizza craze never materialized. The pizzeria is not reachable by phone. Oh well.

Today is Friday. Our painter, Luca, has left for the weekend. He finished the upstairs and will start on the downstairs on Monday. This will be more painful to us since we live in the downstairs. I’m sure it will all work out. Here are a few pictures of the newly repaired and painted walls. They look nice. My blank slate!

Bodacious huh? I love it all clean and new. Much to do but as I said, a blank slate. My lemon tree is as happy as I have ever seen it. It is inside and has great sun. Look at all the new leaves and buds.

So things progress. Much left to do but I suppose I have plenty of time. Piano piano.

Ciao for now!

Step by step…

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We had a very nice weekend despite the weather. It has been pouring rain for a couple days. It wasn’t that cold but now it’s gotten colder. Italy REALLY needs rain, so, I’m not complaining.

We had a special invitation to a couple nice meals. Our friends in our old piazza had us over for a nice pasta and salad dinner. We always feel very comfortable with them. Good conversation. And yesterday, Sunday lunch with friends in our nearby hill town, Montone. Very nice meal almost German style with sausages and apples baked with onions, roasted potatoes. They had just been in Bolzano which is about 50/50 German/Italian. Before the main meal was a delicious platter of cheese and meat along with other treats like a special shortbread and…my favorite thing she made…pickled jerusalem artichokes. They were spicy and sour. Very yummy. I had not tried them before. I love our friends around here. They are so thoughtful and remember we have no cucina to cook in!

As of today we have a new roommate. Luca. Our house painter. He has begun painting upstairs and it looks so pristine what he as done so far. I can tell this will really brighten up our space. I think it’s going to take a couple of weeks to finish. But he isn’t committing to a finish date. Upstairs is fine and isolated from us. When he comes downstairs, that’s when it will get interesting. Trying to keep the cats out of the way is difficult. They are so curious! The paints they use have very little smell. That is nice since we have to live with it.

A big milestone. I finished putting away all the stuff that was scattered on the floor in the extra room. We call it the junk room. There are a few boxes with things I have no space for that will go upstairs and wait for the shelves we will have built. All that is left to put away is our summer clothes which are still in boxes but they can wait.

Today I made soup for lunches. I have to say, it turned out super good. I didn’t use a recipe because it was another instant pot experiment. I have a recipe for a “generic” soup which I kind of follow. I just add ingredients as I like. Todays started with the usual sautéed sofrito (celery, onion, carrot) then I added the two chopped parsnips I had left and one big chopped potato. I bought red Swiss chard at the Saturday market so that went in and about a cup of cannellini beans and a handful of soup grains that they sell here. Of course some herbs and a little peperoncini for spice and a couple of bay leaves. Pressure cooked it for 5 minutes. Really good.

Tonight I think we may try the new (to us) pizza craze from Rome called Pinsa. I guess it is an ancient pizza but has been rediscovered. Different yeasts and flour makes the dough different. A friend raves about these pies so I figured why not give them a try? If the pizzeria actually will deliver to us, I will report back!

Blessing of the house

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So we found a flyer in our mailbox telling us the local priests will be blessing our home on March 1. Don Mario is our assigned Priest for this address. The other one is Don Gaetano. There is a supremely ugly Catholic Church for this part of town nearby. We figure they come from there. Back when we lived in Centro there was the 15th century Collegiata associated with the three churches in Piazza San Francesco. And there was another church also 15th century, not far from our old house whose bells serenaded us. Not being Catholic I think we will pass on the blessing…but given the problems of moving here…maybe we shouldn’t! 🤔

We tried another Rosticceria than the one downstairs. Luther, being unadventurous got another half chicken. I got a pasta and we got some veggies. It was pretty good. Better than the downstairs one. Next time I am getting the Torta al Testo. This is a specialty around here. A dense but soft flat bread. You slice it in half and make a sandwich with it. The traditional filling is sausage and cooked spinach.

Our painter, Luca, starts the job next week. He said it will take two weeks. It is just a one man show and this is a big house. He will begin upstairs. This week I also had a cabinetmaker come. He was nice and had some good ideas. I will call him next week to have him come measure and tell him our final decisions. Not much exciting to tell right now but I plan to finish unpacking the rest of our boxes this weekend. Ciao a tutti!

Lunch was lovely

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As you know we went to the first lunch of the season at Calagrana on Sunday. We met friends who had not been yet. It is always good to get together with friends.

My friend Roselyne brought me tulips! My favorites and yellow is my favorite color. They have brightened my days ever since Sunday and I will be planting them on the terrace.

I am still trying to sort and unpack as best I can. I have reached out to a cabinetmaker because we would like some built in cabinets made as well as some shelving. He is supposed to come tomorrow. Our lighting is coming soon so we need an electrician. This will be a key improvement. Lights are good and I need to get rid of some lights and some loose wires here and there. I have a recommendation for an electrician so if we can get in contact… maybe!

We also ordered our sofa today for the top floor. It will be nice. But it will take about three months to get it. Piano piano…always! 🙄 This is similar to what we ordered. It will be taupe leather. It will also be reversed. Should be comfy for both me and Luther.

New stove delivered

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Here’s a picture of the new stufa. A pellet burning stove. Should keep it nice and toasty inside. So far, four days in, it is super efficient. Much more efficient than our old stove, and it is completely silent. This was very important to me. Happy with it.

Even though we are dealing with all these details to get ourselves moved we still have to deal with other things we need to get done. One was to get our VeeDub serviced and the bi-annual inspection done. This we accomplished this week.

Our house has two garages but one is still in use by our sellers, until the end of March. It is the larger garage and easier to park in. Right now we have a smaller garage without a straight shot into it. But between me driving, and Luther directing we are getting the hang of it.

I also drove the 20 miles north to Sansepolcro to get my hair cut. I feel I have put myself on the back burner and my hair was a real mess. So I got it cut. It feels great to get it done.

Today, Saturday, is market day. We had a few things to get done, first we went to the stufa seller and paid for the stove. Then we drove to the Centro to get the two bags of pellets we had left there. I also got my cleaning supplies I had left. Then we parked. I had some things to donate to books for dogs which I dropped off. Next we went to see Angelo in his Alimentari. We bought a few necessities and went to the market in the piazza. I got ingredients for another soup. Finally I visited the farmacia and Luther went and got his haircut appointment. We got much done. But I really miss having all that within steps of my home. 😥

Once home I made a soup for my/our lunches. I got bietola at the market so I made the cannellini soup with bietola in the instant pot. (Recipe) Worked out fine.

At 2pm our potential house painter, Luca, was coming with a preventivo (estimate). It was eyewateringly expensive. But this house is really big so I guess it wasn’t unexpected. We are going with him and he will be our roommate for the foreseeable future I am sure. I like him and he came highly recommended by a good friend.

Tonight I tried pasta in the instant pot. I tell ya, we’d be toast without this pot. We went last night to the Indian takeaway and the Piadina we got was, to me, inedible. The food in the rosticcerie down stairs is much the same. Keeping us fed is up to the Instant pot. There are other rosticcerie so maybe we will try them next week.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we are going to the first Calagrana lunch of the 2023 season with three friends. Something to look forward to.

Big delivery day!

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Yesterday was the day Bastianelli was going to deliver my furniture. And furniture for the buyers of our old apartment. I have been waiting for this so I could finally put away some stuff.

Here are my new table and chairs for upstairs. I think it is very pretty, rustic with a nice patina. It easily seats six. It has a drawer and is pegged. I don’t know it’s age. I picked out similar but different chairs. All have a rush seat. Then fate struck, someone offered up two chairs with rush seats free on the Umbrialiens Facebook group. She lives in Montone and kindly brought them to me. They will work fine with the others.

See Monte Acuto in the background. Pretty sunshine.
Rustic. Just what I like.
One of the free chairs.

Here are pictures of the other items I got.

A room divider with mirrors. I can use it lots of places. This placement allows the sofa bed to be a bedroom with bath.

The above cabinet is right outside the now, non-existent kitchen. They asked what color I wanted and after a little thought I said a wine red color. Well, this is slightly brighter but I do actually LOVE it. The top photo makes it look pink, but it is not. The bottom one is more representative. The inside is clean white. Ready for all the pots and pans.

Below is another wardrobe that I picked out. They asked me what color and I thought it would be a crime to paint it so I said – wood. I want it wood. And I do think it is lovely. It will hold all my Deruta ceramics and bowls, dishes and things I don’t use everyday.

Next, I am excited to order some rugs. For under the new table, in my office, in both bedrooms and a runner for the hall. That will make it feel more homey. We switched around the carpets in the living area because the big orange one was too close to where the stufa goes and also impeded a door to the balcony. What a job for two old people! But we did it! High fives!

The chimney sweep came today. Now we are ready for stufa delivery. The next big ticket items are a sofa for upstairs, a table and chairs for outside, and a sofa for outside. Maybe next week we will go on a buying spree! Except for the spending of the money, it will be fun!

Finally last night I made another pretty good instant pot dish. Chicken stew. Very yummy. No pictures. Sorry! I cannot WAIT to get my kitchen! The instant pot is helping us to eat in, but it is difficult in limited space with no sink no matter what.

Sunday lunch out

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Luther and I decided to have Sunday lunch in a restaurant right next to us that we love. We lucked out and got the last table. Note to self: remember to reserve next time. C’era una Volta is the name of the restaurant. It means Once Upon a Time. It is a family run place with no menu. They just come and read what they’ve got. They are known for their antipasto platter so we got one to split. And then we each got a pasta. I got tagliatelle with cinghiale (boar) ragù bianco. Luther’s came with guanciale (pork cheeks) and potatoes. It was all good. First three pictures are the antipasto, next my pasta, then Luther’s.

It was good to get out for a bit without having to get something done!

On Saturday we picked out a stufa. We have a chimney sweep coming to clean and then they will come to install.

It is Monday. New week. New things to get done! Ciao for now!