Category Archives: everyday life in Umbria

Grocery delivery to new friends

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A few weeks ago, I got an email from a follower of this blog. She and her husband had purchased a vacation home here and would be arriving in late July. They are Italian/American dual citizens, which allows them to come. One of the few ways a person from the US can come here now.

Anyway, she wanted to understand what Quarantine really meant. Many people think it is like when we were all under lockdown here. When we could go out to the grocery or for an essential reason with a declarazione. But that’s not what it is. It means when you get to Italy, you take private transport (no train or bus), like a rental car, and drive directly to your house or hotel. Then you don’t leave for 2 weeks. And you can’t have anyone inside your house, like a workman, or friend.

Our new friends don’t have a way to get groceries or anything here so I volunteered to do grocery shopping for them. Turns out they could order on-line at the local Coop and we could pick up and deliver.

I didn’t want to arrive at their place with €300 worth of groceries and perishables unless I was sure I could find it. So, on my way back from the hairdressers I did some recon, and found their house. Interesting concept. An old farm complex that has been made into apartments. You’ll find these all over Italy. Especially Umbria and Tuscany. I took pictures of the view. The first one, if you look on the hill opposite, with the rows of cypresses, is Calagrana. Nice pool for the community.

This one is the opposite side of the valley with it’s pretty olive groves and the crops growing down below.

And this one is in a different direction. You can only see those high mountains when you are up high yourself.

We went out this evening after we got their key from Bar Mary where their Architect, Roberto, left it. All worked out fine. We got two grocery carts full of stuff and transported it in our car to their new place. We unpacked everything. It was cool that the Coop has color coded bags. One for refrigerated, one for freezer, and one for non-refrigerated. We stowed the cold stuff, put in the white wine. I for one, would be hankering for a vino when I arrived. But that’s me! 

We are getting a nice favor from them as well. Luther is out of Cigars and we asked them to bring some for us. Luther ordered and sent to them. Also a few wishes I had for a few items. Always nice. And since we can’t go get more we rely on the kindness of friends. 🙂💕
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Be careful everyone. It is not looking good in the United States. 😢. 🌈

Trivial issues and tomato sandwiches

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In the grand scheme of things, considering the really dire state of the human race on our earth, my small problems matter not a whit. It is true. And truly, if I never get Saran Wrap again but the Corona Virus is vanquished, I am more than fine with that.

Last night I used the last of my Saran Wrap. I can manage with the Italian plastic wrap, but Saran is much, much better. During normal times I would be traveling home to the US once a year or so. And I always stock up on all the things I like from there (I bring an empty suitcase). Needless to say we won’t be going home anytime soon. And we won’t have any guests from the US anytime soon, so I will make do.
Dead soldier…


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Tomato sandwiches were a staple of my childhood lunches. My mother adored in-season tomatoes. She would have called them “home grown”. She would make a sandwich with Wonder bread, mayonnaise and thick slices of tomatoes with salt and pepper. That’s all. And I grew up eating these. Since “home grown” tomatoes are only around a couple of months I tend to eat them everyday here. How? You ask? Watch me work!

First, and don’t you people be shouting about this because it is in all the Supermarkets here, I buy a nice loaf of American Sandwich bread. Just like Wonder Bread 🙂.

Then, I slather on lots of mayonnaise…and not just ANY mayonnaise but the real thing! Hellman’s! Also available here at selected supermarkets.

We don’t have what Americans call Heirloom tomatoes in our markets, but what we have are outstanding!

The Romas on the left are destined for Gazpacho. The basil will be pesto! Mmmm I love summer.

So, using all these fine ingredients 🙂… I make my daily Tomato sandwich. Mmmmmm. Sorry…half eaten 😋

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I also got my haircut this morning. First time since lockdown. Whew. Nice to get it cut. I drive around 40 kilometers from Umbertide to Sansepolcro. Nice small city in Tuscany. I love Stefano, my hairdresser.
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Stay safe everyone! 🌈

Lovely weekend

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We were fairly busy with fun things this weekend. It was one of the prettiest, weather wise, I’ve ever seen. I guess the temperatures were in the 80s. There was a beautiful breeze. The sky was brilliant blue with puffy clouds moving across, creating an ever changing vista. I don’t care what you were doing, the weather this weekend would make it better. Even chores! I was happy to be alive and free enough to visit friends in person. We ate outside at both places and tried to socially distance.

We were invited to pranzo at our friends Stuart and Jill. They are such nice folks. They live in a place that is a bit hard to reach. They don’t think they are remote at all, but to us city mice, it is! Once you get there it is a piece of heaven. Up high on a hill with views of the rugged mountains and a distant hill town. It was a ruin when they bought it but now it is an amazing home. If I were making a house, this would be it. The flower pictures in my blog were mostly from their garden. It is their favorite pastime. It must be a lot of work. We sat outside under the retracting tende di sole, in the shade, facing the view. We had tomato bruschetta and crispy garlic toasts as nibbles. Then we had bowls of a cool gazpacho soup. Next a roulade with cheese and veg inside and a small salad with home grown beans and potatoes. Dessert was an apricot tart with a cheese plate and watermelon. Very nice and perfect summer lunch. Thanks Jill and Stuart. My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture!
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Sunday we were invited to another lunch. This time on a different mountain overlooking Lago Trasimeno. It is the biggest lake on the peninsula of the “boot”. We were guests of Oley and Krystyna who live in Colorado. They also have a home in Puerto Rico. They had gotten trapped in Puerto Rico by the Virus and returned here only a month ago. They had to quarantine for two weeks. Also invited were Vera, Graziano, and their two girls.

We had a lovely, very long lunch. Starting at 1:00 and we left at 6:30. They had magnums of Veuve Clicquot champagne to begin. We had chips with guacamole and salsa, Stuffed mushrooms, and a vegetable plate with two dips. We got to chatting about this last thing. Something so common in the US on every party table is totally unknown here in Italy. They are confounded by it. Next we had a fish dish in the Greek style. Then a plate of beautiful stuffed peppers. They were stuffed with ground pork and sausage and rice. The main course was beautiful steaks on the grill with potatoes and salad. Last, profiteroles and a Tokay slightly sweet dessert wine and grappa. We had several lovely red wines from Umbria and Tuscany. We sat outside under a rattan roof surrounded by roses on trellises and watched the clouds pass over the lake across the infinity pool . They have hundreds of lavenders planted and the scent was beautiful. Another little piece of heaven and we had a nice time. Thank you Oley and Krystyna.

This time I did take pictures. The first three are of the view across the lake. The last is the table.

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I’m watching the scary numbers in the US . The virus seems to be exploding! Please stay home and safe everyone 🌈.

Market day

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It was a beautiful Wednesday. Cool and breezy. I went out for a bit of shopping at the big market. I got tomatoes, which are so good right now. I got eggplant, little peppers, garlic, red onions. Beautiful produce. Also I bought some mozzarella…the little balls. So good with the beautiful tomatoes and basil.
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I am upset at what is happening with the CDC and Fauci. To me this kind of sums up the issues in the US. I love Fauci.

From the Washington Post.

On Fauci.
“What he cares most about is not his influence, but what’s happening — that things are going so badly and it’s going to cause so much disease and death,”

Four months ahead of Election Day, Trump wants to “reopen and move on,” said another senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal deliberations. Those who disagree with that approach are out of favor, the official said.“

It is not possible to just “move on”. It is not going away if you don’t look at it. If you try to ignore it. If you don’t test. If you open up. 😳 So, I guess it is STILL all about him. And his election. Screw the country. Who cares that people are sick and dying. Who cares…Fauci does.
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Things are still going well here in Italy. Inside of businesses we all still wear the masks. I noticed at the market this morning the Protezione Civile folks were chucking folks out who weren’t wearing masks. Good for them! Life is fairly normal here. It could be so in the US if everyone would wear a mask, distance, and mostly stay home and out of inside spaces.

Latest news is that US tourists are still not allowed to come to Italy. I’m in agreement until the US can get the virus under control.
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As always, we enjoyed our dinner on our terrace. So beautiful. I could not live without this view and outside space.

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Be safe. Wear your masks. It is the easiest way to slow this virus.🌈

Activities on the weekend

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Summer weekends have always been a very busy and active time here and it has become so again. Friday and Saturday nights the young people come to the bars which oftentimes host rock bands. Last night the band set up on a narrow walkway, or maybe you could call it a balcony above San Giorgio, the best restaurant in town. The band was one of the better ones I’ve heard here. My picture didn’t come out too well but you can get the idea.

Here are a couple of the crowds. Not a lot of masks to be seen and little distancing. Luckily Umbria has very few cases. Unless someone from outside comes in I suppose the danger is minimal.

The band quit at midnight but the partying went on until nearly three. Luckily, our bedroom is in the back and we can’t hear the noise.
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Saturday, kilometer zero market. Today for our added entertainment we had a visit from the Briganti. They are the bad boys from our annual festival. Don’t know why they decided to serenade us but they stayed for most of the market. This video is a little slow I hope you can see it. Just click the arrow…

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Please stay safe everyone! 🌈 Wear your mask.

July 5 — Luther’s birthday

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Special day for Luther. We were invited to a BBQ up in the mountains. Our Italian friends who are our Italian famiglia invited us. It was a beautiful, breezy day. Not at all hot. We were nine people. The family of four, two young girls and their parents, who own the lovely property, and her father from Slovenia. Me and Luther, and another couple with a house in Umbria. They are Polish and live in Colorado and also in Puerto Rico.

The meal was wonderful. We started with a guacamole dip and a tomato salsa and chips. Wine flowed right from the start. I brought chocolate chip biscotti, the Poles brought a hunters stew. This property has a great pizza oven and BBQ in it’s own stone structure. We had grilled sausages, pork, beefsteaks. Also a very spicy eggplant dish which took me by surprise by its spice 😳 and also salad.

After a short time frozen vodka flowed as well as lemoncello. There was a cake for Luther to cut. My cookies and chocolate we brought rounded out the desserts.

View of had
View of the yard and oven.
Picnic Pavillion
Pizza oven.
The group
Outside dining
Vera and Luther
Dessert. Luthers cake, my biscotti, and a chocolate bell.
Birthday boy.
Me, Luther and Vera.

Home, and enjoying summer weather!

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What lovely, hot weather we are having. It is in the 33-34C range or around 93F. I went out yesterday morning and enjoyed a coffee with a friend at Bar Mary. I’d call her a new friend except we’ve known “about” one another but never had a face to face chiacchierare (chat). Her name is Elizabeth. She wrote a book called Sustenance which I really enjoyed. She just managed to return to Umbria from San Francisco where she has been trapped for months due to Covid. What an ordeal. 22 hour flight with two changes! Only because she has a Permesso di Soggiorno and a medical reason was she able to return. And then she had to quarantine for two weeks. She is just freed. She said she would never leave Italy again! She used her quarantina to plant her garden, which is going gangbusters already, she reported. Anyway, it was lovely to get to know her and I’m sure we will meet again soon.

I went out to the Saturday local market today. Pretty day, a bit cooler with a nice breeze. The early summer produce is abundant now. I got beans, fennel bulbs, zucchini and zucchini blossoms, and lots of tomatoes which I “hope” will be good since it is coming onto the best time for them. I also took a few pictures 🙂

Bar Mary is always busy on market days.
Cafe Centrale too.
There is always this man with his Prosciutto. He cuts it so thin it’s almost transparent.
Market
One of the streets in Centro.

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A friend posted these two graphs from Worldometer. Excellent way to see the differences. Pretty scary.

So, there is danger out there, everyone be careful. Safe Fourth of July to you all. I miss that here! 💥 🧨

Road trip!

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So, tomorrow we are off on our first excellent adventure since total lockdown here in Italia. A heady time! Also, a little nervous-making. 😳  But you have to put your toe in the water sometime as I say.

Today was all about packing, ironing, doing last minute errands, and buying picnic stuff. All of which we have finished. We also went out for an apperitivo at Bar Mary. Almost all the tables were taken. We sat at a table next to a guy alone at another table. Heard him talking, British. But I recognized him….then I finally got it. Ralph Fiennes. I knew he had a place here in Umbertide but never I had actually seen him. Wow. I had a drink next to Lord Voldemort! 😳
 
I have friends who are avid bikers. They took this picture on their recent ride. One million happy Umbrians – thanks James and Virginia Lupori!

Permesso di Soggiorno #7

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June 25 is an auspicious day for us. On this day, we flew from the US to Italia to begin our excellent adventure! Here is my post from the day of our flight — June 25, 2014 —  Our journey is Accomplished. 

Picture  from our first summer here…

Since we had to get our Elective Residency visa to start on the day we planned to go to Italy, it expires on the June 25 date every year. It just so happened that our appointment at the Questura was today. This is the appointment where we get ourselves fingerprinted and turn in more paperwork and our photos.

The experience was a little different. The former waiting room was devoid of chairs and the old disused windows in that room were now open and functional. So we didn’t ever enter the building. Our old favorite police officer, Latizia, whom I had missed for the last two appointments was back. She’s super nice and after seven Permessi, she knows us. Only the two people at the two windows were allowed inside. We waited outside until our turn. The horrible fingerprint experience ensued. I hate that part the most. But we always get through it. Piano, piano as Latizia said. Another bureaucratic hoop has been jumped through. Maybe next year we can again try for the long term permit. Sigh. I hope so. It’s not terribly hard to renew yearly but it’s just a lot of time and tedious work. Plus, now that our Permessi are officially expired we can’t travel within Schengen. People think they can with the postal receipt, but it is not true as that is not an official EU document. If we get the long term permit we won’t have this issue. 
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Dinner tonight was something new. Pizza from the wood oven at Calagrana. The downside, I had to drive there to pickup. The upside, the pizza was excellent!

Excellent pizza! Mmmm.
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I am so sorry to be watching the numbers in the US on TV. It is frightening to me. Everything seems so out of control. Anyway, please, all my friends, keep yourselves safe…stay home, if you must go out wear your mask. It is a no brainer…it saves lives. 🌈

Market day – ho comprato i pantaloni!

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Hi all, beautiful day. We are having near perfect weather and long summer days. What’s not to like.

I have been anxious to have our market back since last week I bought a pair of casual pants that it turned out I loved. They are nicely made. Not cheap.  I liked them so much and hoped she had more. Turns out, she had tons and I couldn’t decide amongst the colors and patterns so I bought 3. 🤪 they are cotton and nicely made with drawstrings, elastic and a nice inner sleeving of beige cotton canvas to hold the drawstring. The inside of the bottom of the leg has pretty eyelet lining and can be turned up. Nice and summery and casual. Right up my alley.

Tell me, does the pair on the left closest to us look like it’s got marijuana leaves on it? Haha haha! Brings back memories!

Governor Andrew Cuomo is on CNN right now. He’s talking about a quarantine plan for NY, NJ and Connecticut. They will require a 2 week quarantine for people coming from States with high virus infections. This is kind of amazing to me! 😳

From the Washington Post…

Even as Florida hospitals are rapidly filling up with a spiraling number of new infections, authorities have changed how they measure the number of beds being used in intensive care units that will likely lower the figure. The move comes as the state eyes the next phase of reopening in July.

I have decided not to weigh myself anymore. That way, I will never gain any weight. Well, true, right? If I don’t look, I don’t know, so it isn’t real. Sorta like testing for the virus. Or counting the beds differently to show lower numbers. Right?
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News from the EU today is that the US will not be among the countries they will allow to come in on July 1. Any future date to reconsider is TBD. This is a baseline decree. Each country has their own last word.  The EU ruling is for all member states. I think a country can set a more stringent plan if they want. This will change when the US gets their virus house in order.
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Stay safe everyone! 🌈